Review of Kung Fu Mahjong (2005) by Robert B — 09 Sep 2012

Jeuk Sing (Siu-hung Chung and Jing Wong, 2005).

Jeuk Sing, released in English-speaking countries as Kung Fu Mahjong, was enough of a success in its native China that it inspired two equally cheap sequels (as I write this in August 2012, you can see the entire trilogy on Netflix Streaming, though how long it will last there is anyone's guess). But, honestly, this cheapie action-comedy is so badly-written and fails to rise above its potential for mediocrity so often it feels just like a typical Hollywood rom-com, only the âromâ? parts are replaced by mahjong games. Does it work? Not really.

Plot: Chi Mo Sai (Kung Fu Hustle's Wah Yuen) is a professional gambler who loses his shirtâ"literallyâ"in a game and finds himself locked in a cage by a couple of loansharks. He escapes from them and ducks into a local diner to hide out, where he meets waiter Ah Wong (Visible Secret II's Roger Kwok), known by the diner's regulars for his eidetic memory. Chi Mo Sai sees the obvious potential if he can get the kid educated in mahjong, and takes him to old friend Auntie Fei (Rumble in Hong Kong's Qiu Yuen, returning to the screen after a twenty-year hiatus), the Queen of Mahjong, to train. There's more to it than that: Ah Wong is enamored of Cheryl (Fatal Contact's Theresa Fu), an amateur badminton player he passes every day on his way home from work, and Chi Mo Sai concocts a way to get these two kids together...

...all of which is well and good, except that, well, it isn't. The loanshark plotline disappears into thin air after about twenty minutes, the romantic subplot after about forty. And Chi Mo Sai's lifelong pal, who he gets kidnapped with in the opening scene? Where did he go? No idea. All of this kind of gets swept under the rug as the plot whisks on too quickly for such niceties. Which makes this a fun, fast-paced little comedy, as long as you're willing to ignore the bits that go missing. **.