Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 10/26/2005 A pair of bumbling cops (Jacky Cheung and Stephen Tung) are on the trail of a gun runner, but keep turning into their own worst enemies with their overzealousness, which eventually costs them their jobs, and has their boss (Lam Ching-Ying) demoted to a desk job. However, with the aid of Jacky's cousins (Loletta Lee and Alfred Cheung) and a wily mamasan (Bonnie Fu), the cops manage to close in on the bad guys. Even though this movie is lauded for its' shootout at the end, for most of the running time it is closer in tone to a romantic comedy rather than a John Woo-style squibfest. Though I didn't find the first bit hilarious or touching, it was enjoyable in a fluffy (weightless) kind of way. The actors do a good job with what they have to work with and manage to create some likeable characters. I especially dug Lam Ching-Ying; he steals the show as the tough captain, especially during one sequence where he acrobatically re-enacts how a killer (Austin Wai) completed his job. Getting back to the climatic shootout, it's really quite good. Stephen Tung was one of the action directors on A Better Tomorrow, and Woo's influence clearly shows, but the sequences knows enough to tread that fine line between homage and ripoff. There are some definite "Woo-isms" (characters firing at each other through holes in walls, along with the reqisite slow motion and dynamic camera angles) but there are also some refreshingly original gags, such as one part where Stephen and Jacky, low on ammo, must toss a gun back and forth to each other. I would almost say the finale is too good -- it shows what this movie might have been like if the film-makers decided to concentrate on the pyrotechnics rather than romantic fluff. Still, Pom Pom and Hot Hot is a pretty enjoyable movie, but if you're a die-hard action junkie, you just might want to skip the first hour and head straight to the goods. Note: this movie has no relation to the previous Pom Pom films directed by Joe Cheung. And, no, I don't have any idea what the title means either. [review from www.hkfilm.net]

Reviewed by: danton Date: 02/11/2002 A movie with an English title as ludicrous as this must have something going for it! In fact, the Cantonese title (literally: "Top Marksman and Curry Chicken") is equally inept, so I suppose whoever picked the English title rightfully figured "Why not just go nuts" and came up with an instant classic... In any case, the movie itself is actually a fairly good example of the ever-popular buddy cop genre, with some exceptional acrobatic gunplay that easily measures up to anything found in some of John Woo's best HK offerings. Unfortunately, I was only able to watch the second half of the film, for reasons that still leave me a little bewildered: When I tried to pop vcd disc 1 into my player, the disc literally cracked into two parts in my hand!!! Maybe I am actually a master of the Cracking Fist style and simply never realized my own power, or maybe it was some fluke accident or a quantum fluctuation (somewhere there's a universe out there where the disc didn't break and I'm actually enjoying part 1 of the movie...), whatever the reason, my player decided it can't read a disc that is actually two half discs so I was stuck with being able to only watch the second half of the film. However, the good thing is that once you're familiar with genre conventions, you don't need the first half of the movie. So I was able to immediately get into the movie, despite not really knowing who was who. It all seemed familiar enough, just like any buddy cop movie with Dragon or Tiger in the title... Jackie Cheung hammed it up, Lam Ching Ying looked cool in a non-Taoist role, and lovely Loletta Lee provided some eye candy. Also, the big showdown is in the final reel, and that's really the raison d'etre for a movie like this. The flick doesn't disappoint, the last 20 minutes are a superbly staged shootout that features plenty of acrobatic gunplay of the finest calibre. The vcd is atrocious (and not just because one of the discs cracked). It's one of those cheap Ocean Shore discs with horrible picture quality and an intermittant Ocean Shores logo popping up on screen. Add to that the fact that the film is shown in fullscreen and the extremely unreadable subtitles are consequently cut off on the sides of the screen, and you have the recipe for an extremely unpleasant viewing experience, mitigated only by the fact that the movie itself was enjoyable. I'll give it half a thumbs up.

Reviewed by: MrBooth Date: 10/21/2001 Summary: Highly enjoyable bullet ballet POM POM & HOT HOT - Buddy cop type movie with Jackie Cheung and Alfred Cheung as the 'unconvential' cops with attitude, and Lam Ching Ying as their long suffering chief officer. The cops are sent undercover in a case of weapons smuggling, which all gets a bit dangerous. Features a large sub-plot involving Jackie's cousin from Mainland China and his absolutely dreadful treatment of sister Loletta Lee, and a bunch of incredibly OTT gunplay sequences. Lots of leaping, diving, swinging from ropes with guns blazing and all that is most enjoyable about HK approaches to gunfights. Sadly the Ocean Shores DVD is full frame with original theatrical subs that are frequently clipped at the sides, but the movie remains enjoyable regardless.

Reviewed by: leh Date: 12/09/1999 Most of this cop/comedy is nothing special, but the finalewill leave you slack-jawed: it's the most amazing gun-blazing inferno ever seen outside a John Woo movie. Too bad there's not much of a story to back it up, but the final 10 minutes makes this worth sitting through.

Reviewed by: hokazak Date: 12/09/1999 Video Madman Catalogue says: "Buddy cop action starring Jacky Cheung and Lam Ching Ying. This film showcases the most outrageous gun tricks as Lam and a professional assassin spit their bullets, twirl their guns, and kick their clips." Much of the film (leading into the final two or three main "confrontation scenes" between our heroes - including Lam Ching Ying in an excellent role, as the cop "gun-meister" - and the villains) is taken up by amiable comedic interactions between two HK cops who share an apartment, and their two Mainland Chinese houseguests, who are Jacky Cheung's cousins (one male, one female) in the story. There are also some "on the job" cop-stuff antics - as the two unorthodox members of HK's finest repeatedly wreak havoc, and end up having to be bailed out of hot water by their stoic commanding officer and mentor, Lam Ching Ying - and a related side plot about the rekindling of an ancient flame between Jacky's opinionated, old-fashioned Mainland cousin and Loletta Lee's "sophisticated" night club owner character. Likeable characters and an amiable comic plot give way, in the final twenty minutes or so, to some of the most creative, jaw-dropping, guns-a-blazin' action choreography seen anywhere outside of a John Woo movie! Recommended for fans of Hard Boiled, etc., who haven't found something new to satisfy their "jones" in a while...

Reviewed by: spinali Date: 12/08/1999 Summary: NULL HK cop Jackie Cheung, his partner Curry Chicken, and their master marksman boss try to bust a triad drug ring in seriocomic fashion -- in other words, the same thing that happens in every HK flick. Its only distinguishing characteristics: (1) gorgeous Loretta Lee (in the role of the mainland girl gone HK), and (2) the sensational concluding gun-battle in a noirish warehouse, with weapons, bullets, and bodies flying everywhere. (2.5/4) [Reviewed by Steve Spinali] Reviewer Score: 6