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 od of Gamblers 3" is my first entry into the popular
"God of Gamblers" series. I believe there is 4 -- GOG1 to 3, and then
two GOG3's, this one and another one, which is supposed to be a prequel. This
movie is supposed to be a comedy, and it is a very funny movie, although I could
have done without the opening, which has a sight gag about our hero in a
portable toilet doing some hard squeezing and concentrating which we assume is,
well, you know, but turns out not to be. Pretty standard Chinese humor, the kind
that leaves non-Chinese people wondering, "Wha--? Was that funny?' But the
movie quickly gets better, and gets even more funny, and more awkward moments.
Let me once again paraphrase this review with my understanding
of Chinese humor. For the uninitiated (and even for the initiated such as
myself) it is a shock to the system to see what Chinese people consider
"funny." Like everything, I suppose it's a matter of POV. The Chinese
have, in my opinion, a pretty warped sense of humor. Even in comedies such as
this, you'll get some very bloody moments played straight, like hundreds of men
shooting and cutting each other up with guns and knives, respectively, and
others getting the shit beat out of them. And the very next moment everything
will be groovy and everyone is laughing it up, despite a bloody massacre having
just taken place. That's what I'm talking about when I say, "Chinese
humor." Unlike the rest of the world, the Chinese have the ability to jump
from bloody massacre to fart jokes without missing a beat. Personally, I find it
somewhat hard to "get," and even a little, well, "disgusted"
by it. But this is Chinese humor, and if you can't handle it, you shouldn't
watch so-called Hong Kong "comedies."
"God of Gamblers 3: Back to Shanghai" is about Tiger
Lui, who, while defending himself against a small army of super-powered gamblers
(don't ask), is sent back to Japanese-occupied Shanghai in the 1920s along with
his uncle. There, we get the usual "Back to the Future" themes, like
Tiger Lui trying to set up his uncle (who may or may not be gay) and keep the
future straight while at the same time trying to get back home. Oh, and
incidentally, despite having been transported 60 years into the past, Tiger's
cellphone still works and (I kid you not) can call the future, where he
has quite a few spirited conversations with the police chief and the police
department's local super-powered cop. Yes, all of this is true, I am not making
up one single thing.
Plot aside, the movie is quite funny, if you can get over some
of the more ridiculous sight gags that seems to come out of left field. Once
again, the warped sense of Chinese humor shows its ugly head when Tiger
mistakenly falls in love with the retarded twin of an attractive woman, but
doesn't know she's a twin, and thus keeps pursing the un-retarded twin, while
the retarded twin is locked up in a basement somewhere. This becomes even more
awkward and made me a little uneasy when they tell us the retarded twin has the
IQ and understanding of a 5-year old, and the actions of Tiger and the retarded
girl left me with images of child molestation. Yes, I know, it's my western
background coming to the fold. I suppose this might have been considered funny
in Hong Kong. Hey, I could always use a good retard laugh, I guess. *shrug*
So does our hero and his uncle get back to the future? Yep, but
not without the help of a group of super-powered police SWAT team, who opens a
portal into the past, ropes down machineguns blazing to kill about a thousand
Japanese soldiers (remember, the Japanese occupied most of China pre-World War
II). The movie is pretty kooky, and you have to check your common sense and a
lot of "civility" at the door or you won't enjoy this movie. I enjoyed
the movie for what it is -- a warped Chinese comedy.
Maybe you'll like it, too, but if you don't, don't come
complaining to me. You've been warned.
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