I watched this film expecting very little, and was very pleasantly surprised: What a fun film! I haven't seen an energetic, funny genre mix with such an "anything goes" spirit coming out of HK in years!

Instead of delivering another predictable romance comedy, Ringo Lam manages to effectively combine comedy and action into a 90 minute thrill-ride that feels like a throwback to the kind of films HK was so good at producing over a decade ago. The movie goes from low-brow comedy to exhilarating action to sappy romance at a moment's notice, and everyone involved seemed to have lots of fun during the shoot, judging by the energetic vibe and on screen chemistry.

The plot is a mix of formulaic genre conventions: Shu Qi plays a HK detective who tries to escape two bumbling suitors by accompanying her female friend to an advertising shoot in Thailand. Soon both of them find themselves warding off lusty producers, and other assorted characters, while also becoming entangled in a crime caper that involves Simon Yam and Ruby Wong as two charismatic criminals and Andy On as the straightforward cop on pursuit. None of this makes much sense, and there's lots of screwball comedy, farce and typical Wong Jing type shenanigans going on, but the movie takes none of it too seriously, and furthermore, there's great action setpieces!

I haven't enjoyed HK action this much in a while. Great setpieces that are imaginatively staged and choreographed, and yes, there's even martial arts involved! This is the type of film that Jackie Chan used to excel at, or going back even further, the kind of genre pioneered in the Aces Go Places series (which, incidentally, also featured Ringo Lam at the helm for one of the instalments).

Known more for his grittier, darker movies, Ringo Lam proves that he has a knack for comedy with this movie. But he doesn't neglect the adrenaline factor either: the final action setpiece starts out with a car/motorcycle chase and ends on a dock with hands to hand combat involving, among other things, an assortment of fruit.

Have I already mentioned how much I enjoyed this movie? Definitely recommended!