Paper Marriage
Review
Format: VCD
Stars: Sammo Hung, Maggie Cheung, Billy Chow, Dick Wei, Phillip Ko (cameo)

Sammo (Po) is in debt, and will go to the extreme to pay it off. Doing so brings him and his paper marriage wife, Maggie Cheung, under severe situations.

Yea I won't go into the plot much more because I really can't. There isn't much else to it. I thought that this movie was cute, hilarious, and had some of the absolute best kickboxing scenes I've ever seen, including a REGULATED MUAY THAI BOXING MATCH WITH SAMMO AGAINST BILLY CHOW!!! Yea!! Dick Wei comes into it later, and then EVERYONE fights. But I'll just say that the comedy is strictly slapstick, a little of it adult oriented but overall the movie is very funny and had me cracking up quite a bit. No real tragedy or anything, it's basically a cutsie film with really good action. Man I can't believe how other people review this unknown gem, really it gets no credit anywhere.

There isn't any action really until near the end of the first VCD, where Sammo gets in a regulated boxing match with Phillip Ko to make some cash. This isn't a great piece, it almost reminds me of Gorgeous, except not as good. I guess the reason I don't like this fight is that it's boxing, with gloves. This leaves little room for movement up close, and the hand movements don't go through as well as I would like them to. But still, the choreography is decent (better than anything Americans can put out). Ko has a double at the very end.

And don't forget that Maggie Cheung mud wrestles. That's the reason lots of people watch this movie I hear.

Sammo fights Billy Chow in a Thai boxing match. Chow, as many of you may know, was a Thai Kickboxing champ back in the day, and it shows here. The man can kick coming out of an elbow faster than I can throw 2 punches. Sammo does a great job too. Lots of Thai moves, like kicking the hamstrings and elbows. Awesome fight, and it's like 5 minutes long too.



The final bunch of fights are amazing. Sammo goes home to find Dick Wei waiting there. Wei goes mad on Sammo and beats the hell out of him, and he looks really good kicking. Sammo does a bunch of stunts, all of them in slow motion which I always enjoy. He falls on a table, and the two of them exchange fists. Wei looks unreasonably pissed off, which I like also because it makes him move faster. Sammo gets kicked onto a chair and breaks through the arm of it, and Sammo throws Wei through a rack of nick nacks and he hits his head on the arm of another chair. Was that intended?



Sammo goes to the mall, bringing Chow as his partner, and meets Wei as well as some Americans (or Canadians, depending on where this was filmed). It starts off with Chow against a white guy, and I thought, "Oh, nevermind this, get on with the good stuff." But, amazingly, the guy stood a chance against Chow and looked good too, and he kicked well. Both of them are tall, so it made an interesting kick fight. No BS either. Chow finishes him off (actually his double does) with a front flip kick to the right side of the neck. Cool looking move.



Dick Wei and Sammo fight again on a display pirate ship with some cool music in the background (for once, really. I always wanted a fight with good music). Again, great kickboxing, camera angles capture everything, and the two of them go off eachother's timing and movements flawlessly. Wei throws his kicks lightning fast, and then end up inside the ship. Lots of stunts here, like Maggie Cheung ('s double) falling backwards down a bunch of stairs, Sammo falling down them on his stomach, Sammo catching Dick Wei ('s double) during a kick off the high stairs and slapping him to the ground, Cheung ('s double) getting kicked off the ladder off into the wall, Sammo falling onto a chest and breaking it apart, and Chow ('s double) jumping from the ladder, tackling Dick Wei below. The two of them go at it (what a treat! This only happened in Pedicab Driver, and Wei was killed too soon!). Having 2 of the best screen kickers beat eachother up was refreshing. It doesn't last for a long time, but again, better kickboxing isn't found in many other places.



Among the fights, there were many stunts, some of which I mentioned. Sammo does one where he gets kicked through glass, down 10 feet onto a canopy, boucing off it another 10 feet down to a man made beach. Cool stuff. Fans of Project A and Project A 2 will like this movie, fans of Sammo will like this movie, fans of Billy Chow will like this movie, fans of comedy will like this movie, fans of Dick Wei will like this movie, hell fans or movies will like this movie. I recommend to everyone.

Here's Sammo falling from that window way up there, onto the canopy, bouncing off, down onto the beach below. Ow.



10/10 - One of the best new Sammo movies I've ever seen, left a better taste in my mouth than Pedicab Driver because of so many fights at the end. Great ending!!

UPDATE 10/9 - Rating System Change

5/5 - Still awesomely entertaining.

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