From Seasonal Films and Ng See Yuen, comes one of my favourite Chow Sing Chi (and Jeff Lau) films, All For The Winner - a ridiculously hilarious comedy that spoofs Wong Jing's mega-hit, God Of Gamblers, parodying many memorable scenes, music and even artwork to excite any fan of Hong Kong film!
Of course, it has a lot of its own originality also, including some great action scenes courtesy of co-director Corey Yuen Kwai - who also co-stars. He is joined by the always fantastic Sandra Ng and Chow's regular right-hand-man, Ng Man Tat who plays his uncle Tat, with the majority of the films comedy based around the incredible on-screen chemistry these guys have together due to their long working career alongside each other.
Co-director Jeff Lau gets his obligatory role, this time as a big boss gambler, and the rest of the cast is pretty strong with the great (Sharla) Cheung Man and Wan Yeung Ming - both of which play the aids of King Of Gamblers, Paul Chun, a very recognisable face from almost 200 Hong Kong movies. Even the great Chow Yun Fat gets a brief appearance albeit through a video when Chow and Ng are watching God of Gamblers in order to learn how to behave at gambling matches...
And of course, when you have a country bumpkin as daft as Chow Sing Chi trying to play the suave, cool city slicker (now known as the Saint of Gamblers), you know its just going to get even more ridiculous! Cue the slow motion walking, insane card tricks, and hilarious reactions which shows Chow at his best with lots of laugh-out-loud moments!
Ironically, Chow Sing Chi would also star in God of Gamblers 2 the same year playing a role pretty much exactly the same in director Wong Jing's satirical sequel that also stars Andy Lau as his character from the original.
The great Corey Yuen provides some fantastic action scenes, even giving us a great shot of Cheung Man in a slo-mo, John Woo/Chow Yun Fat inspired, double-gun moment before letting loose on the bad guys in a rescue mission. The chubby faced Sheila Chan gets in on the action in a restaurant fight, along with Ng Man Tat in a dress... As per usual, when Chow Sing Chi gets a bit of action time, the Bruce Lee moves start coming out - including one such moment that may have inspired him to do Fist Of Fury 1991 and leaves the cross-dressing uncle Tat foaming at the mouth...
A lot of people I know (and other critics) can't handle Chow Sing Chi's kind of humour, but I love it and do think he is one of the funniest actors ever. Personally, I believe he has inspired many a Jim Carrey and Will Farrell moment with his insane style of comedy, and probably don't laugh out as loud at other comedies like I do when watching his! And in All For The Winner, there are far too many to mention!
Overall: I can't love this movie enough. Definitely one of the best action comedies from Hong Kong's golden years!
