I liked this film, but I have to say that something about it is lost in the translation. Or so I have to assume because it's a very popular movie in China, with several sequels I believe, while watching it with subtitles it was only occasionally amusing. But there were some laugh out loud moments, and I assume that it has a lot more humor that I just can't access because of the language barrier.
Chow plays Star Chow, a rookie cop who's sent to a school undercover to find a cop's missing handgun -- sort of like "Stray Dog" meets "21 Jump Street." He's an excellent fighter, but not a natural leader, so his school experiences basically serve to make him understand the value of working together with others to accomplish a common goal. He also falls in love with a pretty schoolteacher who takes an interest in him (Sharla Cheung), and befriends an eccentric janitor/spy (Man Tat Ng -- Chow's coach in his more famous later film "Shaolin Soccer").
The chemistry between all the leads is excellent. The school fight scenes have some of the same flavour as Chow's later film "CJ7." Chow himself is very funny with his deadpan expressions and so forth. But this film lacks some of the visual nuance of his own directorial efforts, or of some of his later films with Vincent Kok. It lacks resonance and becomes just a diversion. But not a bad one at that.
Chow plays Star Chow, a rookie cop who's sent to a school undercover to find a cop's missing handgun -- sort of like "Stray Dog" meets "21 Jump Street." He's an excellent fighter, but not a natural leader, so his school experiences basically serve to make him understand the value of working together with others to accomplish a common goal. He also falls in love with a pretty schoolteacher who takes an interest in him (Sharla Cheung), and befriends an eccentric janitor/spy (Man Tat Ng -- Chow's coach in his more famous later film "Shaolin Soccer").
The chemistry between all the leads is excellent. The school fight scenes have some of the same flavour as Chow's later film "CJ7." Chow himself is very funny with his deadpan expressions and so forth. But this film lacks some of the visual nuance of his own directorial efforts, or of some of his later films with Vincent Kok. It lacks resonance and becomes just a diversion. But not a bad one at that.