cover


Rating:

4


Year of release: 2005

Genre: comedy/gambling

Director: Wong Jing

Producer: Wong Jing

Writer: Wong Jing

Stars: Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Cherrie Ying, Sammy Leung, Terence Yin, Patrick Keung, Wong Jing, Wong Tin-Lam, Kingdom Yuen, Zuki Lee

Rated IIB for crude humor and language


DVD Information

Company: CN Entertainment

Format: widescreen

Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin

Subtitles: Chinese, English

Extras: none

Notes: A pretty blah DVD, but what were you expecting?


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Kung Fu Mahjong 2

Kung Fu Mahjong 2

When you think about all of the films out there that deserve some sort of sequel, Kung Fu Mahjong probably doens't run near the top of that list. But this is Wong "anything for a buck" Jing we're talking about here, and since Kung Fu Mahjong did make some money at the box office (stunningly, it actually topped the HK charts when it premiered), a sequel was inevitable. While Kung Fu Mahjong was a moderately enjoyable comedy/gambling picture, it was pretty clear that the production was running on the fumes in Wong Jing's gas tank of creativity. Its' sequel unfortunately points out that the tank might now be bone-dry.

Kung Fu Mahjong 2

The story has a young woman named Fanny (Cherrie Ying) who is blessed with an extraordinary ability to play mahjong, but is forbidden to do so by her husband Johnny (Terence Yin), who is trying to move up the Triad ladder by aligning himself with a tough dai lo named Demon (Patrick Keung, sporting one of the worst haircuts seen onscreen since the days of Flock of Seagulls). After Johnny is seduced by Demon's sister Curvy (Zuki Lee), Demon forces him to leave Fanny, which also causes her to lose her gambling prowess. Seeking solace from her sifus in gambling (Wong Tin-Lam, Yuen Qiu and Yuen Wah), Fanny decides to enter the world mahjong tournament in order to bankrupt Demon and get her revenge.

Kung Fu Mahjong 2

Kung Fu Mahjong 2's plot isn't going to win any awards, and the script doesn't help matters any. It's pretty foul, even by Wong Jing's "flying paper" standards. For instance, during the tournament, there's a character from Italy named "Mr. Spaghetti" who talks like Super Mario and another one from India who uses the smell of curry to distract his opponents. This sort of stuff is not only just not funny, it's damn insulting to the viewer. If it wasn't for the eye candy of the female leads and a few good scenes between Yuen Wah and Yuen Qiu, Kung Fu Mahjong 2 would have been a total stinker. Come on Wong Jing, give the audience some credit here and actually start putting some thought into your productions, or else they're going to start turning away in droves - if they already haven't.