No Risk, No Gain (Casino
Raiders - The Sequel)
Director: Jimmy Heung; TaylorWong
Year: 1990
Rating: 7.0
Hmmm? First, from
what I have figured out, this film is really in no sense a sequel to Casino
Raiders even if it does have the two main actors back and even if their characters
are similar in makeup. Since Andy Lau and Alan Tam don’t know each other
when the film begins, I thought perhaps it was a prequel - but that
doesn’t really fit the facts either. There is also another film simply called
Casino Raiders II with Lau and Wu Chien-lien, but I was informed that this
film is also not really a sequel. It’s a bit confusing, but HK and Wong Jing
often do their best to capitalize on the popularity of other films (and Casino
Raiders had sat in the theaters for nearly three months) and sequels or sequels
in name only is a fairly common practice.
Though the film shares the name and the actors from Casino Raiders, it certainly
doesn’t share the mood of that film. This film makes no attempt to create
melodrama or tension – it does though make an effort to have you laugh and
it succeeds to some degree. I never thought the day would come when I would
admit that Andy Lau teamed up with the usually dreaded Natalis Chan was funny
– but these two riff off one another quite effectively and I found myself
fairly amused by their slap stick interactions.
In fact, Andy is the best thing about this film just as he was in Casino
Raiders. I certainly never expected to say that about a film that has Michelle
Reis in it! I better control myself here – the next thing I know I’ll be
buying Andy's Idol cards and holding candles at his concerts. Well – no –
probably not – but he is actually very lively and engaging in this film.
It’s a piffle of a film – and never takes itself too seriously – and Andy
fits in fine. It's no wonder one of the women says to Andy "You are so cool
and so full of mandom".
Alan Tam is considered the King of Asian gamblers and is working at a US
casino when he is forced by a Taiwanese gambler - Cheung Shan Ho -
(he places three bombs in the casino) to come to Macau for a big gambling
match to see who is really the top gambler in Asia. Tam though makes a stopover
in Hong Kong where he is charmed by the lovely May Lo (Jackie Cheung’s real
life wife) and then is easily scammed out of his suitcase by Andy and Natalis.
When they open it, they discover a suitcase full of hundred dollar bills
and a pass to the big match. So what do they do – decide of course to impersonate
Tam and take his place at the gambling table.
Simple enough – except the host of the match (Tien Feng) and his adopted
son (Anthony Wong) have a plot underway to take over their triad by killing
Tam and framing Cheung for the murder. Then the Mafia that Tam works for
will revenge him. Before all that happens though Natalis finds himself
well attended to by Christine Ng and Andy falls for the charms of Cheung’s
daughter – Michelle Reis. Then Tam shows up but decides to keep the charade
going – because it may be safer for him if everyone thinks that the idiot
Natalis is really him. Anthony Wong as the totally evil son is perfectly
despicable and delightful as he plots their demise. Shing Fui On makes an
appearance as well as the hired killer from Hong Kong.
The film moves by quickly – has the requisite big gambling scene – has some
silly laughs, a little romance and has one big shootout. Hey, what more do
you want in ninety minutes?
