[1999 was a good year.] I really enjoyed Tricky Master. Of all the summer movies I saw, this was one of the best. It was quite clever in the use of some digital special effects, like the "mantis" shadow on the wall behind bad guy Dragon Ferrari, played by Wong Jing. Quite the 'actor', Jing steals the show as the bad guy.

I had quite a few belly laughs from the performance of Sandra Ng. The comedic business with Stephen Chow Sing-Chi and his bodyguards' arms was very funny, although he did seem to be sleepwalking through most of his scenes. There is a lot of kung fu comedy and tributes to Bruce Lee, of course, sprinkled throughout the movie. It is a major spoof of several HK film series; God of Gamblers, Conman, Wong Fei-Hung, Young & Dangerous, etc. Nick Cheung Ka-Fai is much funnier here than Chow.

Stephen Chow Sing-Chi worked 12 hours a day on Wong Jing's Tricky Master, got paid 1.1 million and has 8 scenes. Wong Jing used several directors to help finish the movie quickly, including Aman Chang [Raped by an Angel 3], Bosco Lam Hing-Lung [Underground Banker], and Andrew Lau Wai-Keung [The Storm Riders]. However, Mr. Lau could not take it and left after working one day with Chow. In the end, Wong Jing had to wrap it up. In the HK press Wong said, "Besides me, who else can stand him! A lot of people are hard to take. Sing Jai has his own style. Those who can accept it call it style, those who can't call it hard to take. I can accept anyone."

Another GOOD Wong Jing movie!

copyright 1999 J. Crawford