The Emperor is guarded by an elite group of heroes known as the Forbidden City Cops. The title is hereditary, so when hapless Ling Ling Fat (Chow) also qualifies to be a guard, he is kept out of the way with menial tasks. One day, the heroes are killed by a group of martial arts masters who are out to kill the Emperor, and only Ling Ling Fat remains. He has no martial arts skill, but he alone must protect the Emperor against his enemies, and find him a beautiful new concubine.

First impressions of FORBIDDEN CITY COP indicate that Chow was recycling some of his gags – the opening titles are a rehash of the Maurice Binder spoofery from FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE, and Chow’s character’s name is a pun on the Cantonese for “007”. However, the similarities more or less end there. FORBIDDEN CITY COP is a pretty funny film, it has to be said, and it is more a parody of the period Wuxia films of the 70’s and early 80’s than another James Bond send-up. In fact, the Wuxia elements are surprisingly inventive and convincing, and if you were to walk in on this film at certain points, you would be forgiven in thinking you were watching the real thing.

The character of Ling Ling Fat is introduced (after a pre-title sequence where he breaks up a duel between two legendary swordsmen) in typical Chow style. The Forbidden City Cops display their immense martial arts skill in front of the Emperor one by one, and then Chow comes running out, crouches down and does a couple of extremely lame forward rolls. It’s hilariously naff, and gets the viewer onside for the rest of the film. He’s a frustrated inventor who comes up with lots of ingenious (but ultimately pointless) gadgets as well as a bored and inept gynaecologist – a job he is given to keep him away from the Emperor’s palace for as long as possible.

Chow’s character is a little different from usual in this film, and unusually for a film that has rom-com aspirations, the two lovers are married even before the film begins and are blissfully happy. Carina Lau is Chow’s wife and sparring partner, and does a decent enough job of it. Chow regular Law Kar-Ying is featured heavily and is his usual crazed self, although he does seem to be unable to keep a straight face at times. What seems like a sub-plot is introduced about halfway through the film where Chow is sent to woo a concubine on behalf of the Emperor. This actually has more of a bearing on the plot than you would realise (for what that’s worth) and introduces Carman (sic) Lee’s concubine character – whose encounters with Chow create much of the humour for the second half.

Like a lot of Chow’s films, the tone is somewhat uneven, but this can be overlooked in FORBIDDEN CITY COP as the changes are never as jarring as in, say, FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE or KING OF BEGGARS. As with all of Chow’s films, though, a strong knowledge of the language is necessary to get the most out of the mo lei tau (makes no sense) dialogue and Cantonese wordplay. However, even without such knowledge, the film’s a hoot and most of the sight gags are universal, making this one of Chow’s more accessible films of the ‘nineties.

The version on review here is one of the old Mei-Ah straight-from-VCD travesties that they were so keen on producing (maybe they thought DVD wouldn’t take off?). It’s rubbish on all fronts and has the old burnt-in subtitles, but there are a load of howlers that mangle the English language to within an inch of its life.