This is more of a family picture than I guess most of Chow's movies. It's got a little bit of everything for everyone. That's actually what bothered me. I didn't really care for the naked man calligraphy or the portrait of Chow that looks like a dog or whatnot. I expect Chow to be his crazy self but here we've got some lame jokes thanks to the writers whoever they are. But Chow is doing his very best in elevating the movie. You know he makes up his own lines because they're always much funnier than the rest of the movie. When he calls that dead cockroach "Johnny" or when he raps about his family tragedy.

This is possibly Chow's worst movie. Yet he's still so very funny and I still had a blast, especially all that literary duel stuff--too bad people who don't understand Chinese would have to put up with the WORST, THE WORST translation (if it's translation at all) ever. Only Chow can put these eloquent Chinese phrases and real graphic vulgar phrases in one sentence. That's what makes him a genius rather than a funny guy. I mean, anyone funny nowadays is a "genius". It's probably the most abused word in the world, especially in movie reviews. But, I'm gonna cross my line here today and declare Chow a genius. Yes I'm comparing him to Groucho Marx and Buster Keaton--not just Eddie Murphy or Mike Myers. I'm saying that if he were a scientist, he'd be in the same ball park as Hawkins and Einstein, I'm saying if he were a painter he'd be Michaelangelo. That's what Stephen Chow has done in comedy. Too bad Chinese comedies don't translate well overseas. So gwailos are still going to rush to their theaters for "Joe Dirt" and "Dude Where's My Car."
You don't even know what you're missing.

I think Stephen Chow is the best reason to learn Chinese.