cover


This movie is available for purchase at www.hkflix.com

HKFlix


Rating:

4


Year of release: 2004

Genre: comedy

Director: Law Wai Tak

Producer: Sam Leong

Stars: Timmy Hung, Wayne Lai, Miku Ueno, Tats Lau, Law Kar-Ying, Chin Kar Lok, Gloria Yip, Carlo Ng, Meng Hoi, Sammo Hung, Sam Lee, Lee San-San

Rated IIA for mild violence


DVD Information

Company: City Connection

Format: widescreen

Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin

Subtitles: Chinese, English

Extras: trailer

Notes: The picture quality isn't that hot, but the sound mix is surprisingly robust.


Related links:

Sammo Hung biography
Sam Lee biography
Movie Review index
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Osaka Wrestling Restaurant

Osaka Wrestling Restaurant

Being a fan of both wrestling and good food, the prospect of a movie that combined both of those elements was pretty appealing. Unfortunately, Osaka Wrestling Restaurant is a dull excuse for a motion picture from beginning to end. The comedy falls flat, the wrestling "action" is anything but exciting, and the attempts at drama are downright hammy. Even if this movie had Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, all of the Iron Chefs, and Asia Carrera taking on each other in a steel cage hot oil battle royale to the death, I still don't think it would be all that much more interesting. Osaka Wrestling Restaurant is frankly just not very good.

The film's slim plot has Timmy Hung and Wayne Lai playing brothers who inherit a chest of gold after their father's death. Timmy wants to use the money for a serious venture, but Wayne wants to use it to open a restaurant with a wrestling ring inside of it. Despite not having any real wrestlers, the restaurant becomes a success, but Timmy's old boss (Law Kar-Ying) is out for revenge and becomes a threat to the business.

Osaka Wrestling Restaurant

Osaka Wrestling Restaurant is hampered almost right off the bat by some horribly excuted attempts at comedy. It's the type of over-cranked Warner Bros.-esque stuff that makes most western fans of Hong Kong films cringe. Most of the jokes don't make any sense, and the ones that do just aren't funny. This hurts matters later in the movie when some attempts are made at creating drama (most notably through a subplot where Wayne tries to get back with his ex-wife) come off as flat and hollow.

I did like Timmy Hung in the movie -- he's really the film's saving grace. Like his father (Sammo Hung, who also has a small part in the picture), he has natural charm which comes through on the movie screen. I just hope he can pick some better quality projects to work on though. If he does too many more films like Osaka Wrestling Restaurant, his career will be over before it even gets a chance to get started.

Osaka Wrestling Restaurant