Aces Go Places II
Director: Eric Tsang
Year: 1983
Rating: 7.5
The second film in
this popular series from Cinema City was also directed by Eric Tsang and
like the others it is full of chases, pratfalls, gadgets galore, incredible
stunts and a little romance. Now this is all tied to a plot that has the
brainpower of a 1-watt bulb, but if that doesn’t interfere with your enjoyment
of a film then this can be a fun ride. The emphasis of this one shifts somewhat
from comedy to more action, stunts and technological mayhem. This is a good
thing because the comedy bits felt weak and the constant mugging to the camera
and the skit like nature becomes somewhat tiresome after a while. The action
pieces though are terrific and some of the stunts are truly breathtaking.
Beginning soon after the first film ends, the Mafia is still trying to recover
the diamonds and kill Hui. The first fifteen minutes of the film is a classic
non-stop romp that is hugely entertaining and imaginative. A number of miniature
helicopters controlled by a hitman crash through Hui’s apartment window and
transform themselves into a giant killing robot. After a grueling battle
with this, Sam escapes out of the high rise window by diving into a pool
far below and is then instantly pursued by six motorcycles around the streets
of HK. There are some eye opening moments here – in particular one stunt
in which a motorcycle lands on top of a moving bus and then drives off of
it.
Before one can catch their breath, four hoods are chasing a beautiful damsel
and Sam fights them off and is instantly smitten by her beauty. She is a
major scam artist though and hoodwinks Sam into helping her rob a bank. And
again the chase is on – with some lovely bicycle maneuvers from Hui. It turns
out that he is the best man at the wedding of his friend Baldy (Karl Maka)
and his much put upon girlfriend (Sylvia Chang). Sam manages to botch up
the wedding much to the displeasure of Sylvia. Of course, Sylvia often has
a good reason to be angry with the both of them.
The Mafia still hasn’t given up and now sends another professional killer
to HK. He is called Filthy Harry (but dresses more like the Eastwood character
from his Westerns) or Black Glove (brother of White Glove) and his agent
- Henry Kissinger! – gives him his assignment - kill both Hui and Maka.
The plot just gets sillier and sillier –
and is often just an excuse for some great stunts. There is a car chase that
is quite amazing as at one point a car does a backward jump over another car
and then later gets split in two by a pole with Hui driving in one section
and Maka riding in the other – and both sections continue to roll on.
Throw into this Yasuaki Kurata (brother of the damsel in distress) who forces
Hui and Maka to help him in his evil doings by tying a bomb around each of
them. One of the sweeter moments in the film is when Maka can’t disengage
the bomb and it looks like final curtains for him – and Sylvia stays at his
side holding him – leading Maka to admit he loves her.
Both Tsui Hark and Walter Cho show up again in this film – Cho again as the
police captain (as he also is in the Lucky Star series) and Tsui as a loony
mental patient who thinks he is an FBI agent.
There are some inspired moments in this
film – the stunts, a fabulous brawl in a nightclub that demolishes the place,
the crazy little robots – and of course always Sylvia – but for me the in
between moments and comedy never quite click.