Rob-B-Hood (Hong Kong)Three men and a baby!
The Gist
Jackie Chan, Louis Koo and Michael Hui are three smart and big time robbers looking for a retirement job. They are given a task to kidnap a baby and the pay is $30 million! For some reasons they have to baby sit the baby for 10 days before they give the baby away. During that time, the forged a bond with the baby which made them reluctant to give him away.
What Do I Think?
During Jackie’s “Project A” days, his movies were filled with many familiar faces in the HK film industry and superstar cameos. In the middle 90’s, Chan realized that he is the star that matters, so he made movies like “Who Am I?”, “Mr Nice Guy” and “The First Strike” which featured only one recognizable actor. Yep, you’ve guessed the name correctly. These films were also ambitious as they were targeted mainly for America audiences. The end results were bland and dry as the comic elements were also stripped down to minimum.
Instead of creating movies for the Americans, he then went to make films WITH them, like the successful “Rush Hour” and “Shanghai Noon” franchises and the quite disastrous “The Tuxedo” and “Around the World inn 80 Days”. He later returned to HK and gave us “The Medallion” a HK English production that featured A-grade American actors. Still, the movie was a flop until he came to senses with “The New Police Story”.
Now we have “Rob-B-Hood”, a title with clever wordplay that also symbolizes the fun factor of the film. Reminisces of “Project A” days galore! Familiar faces and cameos aplenty, ranging from Yuen Biao, Life, Nicholas Tse, Cherrie Ying, Charlene Choi and Teresa Caprio. When I said fun, I really meant FUN! Audiences can get laughs every five minutes and from the NG takes, we can see that the actors had fun making the film
Though Chan shed his egoistic appearance in films, he stated that this is his first time working with a baby and the first time playing a bad guy. Bad guy? He can never do it, I tell you. The only “bad guy” moment I can get from him is during his argument with his father. You see, he is a thief with conscience, only to steal from the rich, no murder, no rape, no drugs and no kidnapping. As far as ego is stretched, Chan also shows that he is the most skillful thief in HK cinema, with his ability to be invisible and picking locks faster than using a key. Even his trait as a compulsive gambler isn’t convincingly portrayed. Flaws aside, I can’t deny his onscreen presence, which is always a delight to watch. Chan does the right thing too, as he does not hog the screen time, giving equal time to the other actors in the film.
Louis Koo serves as a very worthy and reliable sidekick, with his comic chops generously distributed on every corner of the film. Every time he appears on screen, laughter is guaranteed. With his solid versatility in acting, he is steadily climbing up the ladder to achieve status of the likes of Tony Leung, Andy Lau and Chow Yun Fat. Oh yeah, he also serves as eye-candy for the female demographics of the audiences. In this film, he is a smooth talker and a womanizer kind thief.
Michael Hui, the King of HK comedy, has less screen time than others and he could merely serve as the “Third Man With The Baby”. He is cast against type, and tries to act as an emotional man coming in terms with old age and family commitment.
Though she is not really the leading lady, Charlene Choi appears to be surprisingly beautiful on screen! No longer cute and pop-ish, just plain beautiful. Most of the time she appears to be sad and depressed but I don’t mind a bit. My wish for 2007, is that she gets more acting offers as a film lady lead, to ease off the heavy reliance on Cecilia Cheung.
The story is simple and loosely based on “Three Man and A Baby”. In terms of commercialism and packaging, this one rises many notches above all the HK films that were released this year. Chan still has a few tricks from his bag of stunts to showcase. Watch out for the scene where he jumps from one air-conditioning unit to another from a top floor of a building, land safely on the ground AND speak a few lines to Yuen Biao, all in ONE take. Tony Jaa in Tom Yum Goong anyone?
Oh, how can I forget baby Matthew? He doesn’t really act in the film (like he can?), he does have the charm to get everyone around going all childish and foolish just to make him happy. He is also the attraction to the people who want to watch this film. And the girls all go “awww… he’s so cute” on him. Sheesh.
If not for the theme of kidnapping, this film should have been released during Chinese Lunar New Year.
Rating: 8/10
In the times of depression, Jackie Chan has successfully put a smile on everyone’s face with Rob-B-Hood.
Notes:Co-funded by Huayi Brothers Pictures Company Limited, the same company that has produced The Banquet.
Last updated: 2009-08-12 01:08:55 by joekhor
