Love on Delivery (1994)

[Drunk Monk]

It was great to come home to a fresh cache of classic Hong Kong films on Netflix.  And how this gem got by me for so long, I'll never know.  This is a Stephen Chow precursor to Shaolin Soccer - it features virtually the same cast and some similar themes like a limping Ng Man Tat as the Sifu.  It's also precursor to Kung Fu Hustle because it really plays with those classic Kung Fu film tropes. Chow is a coward trying to woo the always cute Christy Chung, the hottest student at the Judo dojo.  It's Chow at his sharpest mo lei tau humor and got some good laughs out of me with it's hairpin comic turns and it's film homages.  Also, it's pre-CGI, which adds to its campiness.  If you like Chow, this is a must see.

[cranefly]

I saw this a few days ago, was negligent in not reviewing it here.
In fact, I watched three Stephen Chow films on three successive nights.

Unfortunately, I saw this one first.  It's the one that shines, for the reasons DM gives.  And yes, I was blown away that this could have escaped me until now.

After I finished watching it, Lady Cranefly (in another room) remarked that I was laughing a lot.  Well, yes.  I was.  I miss the old Stephen Chow so much after seeing this.

The other two I saw were Look Out Officer! (1990), which was horrible, and The Mad Monk (1993), made just the year before Love on Delivery, which was perhaps even worse.

What's shocking about the latter is that it had Maggie Cheung in it, and Anthony Wong, and it was directed by the duo of Siu-Tung Ching (A Chinese Ghost Story, The East Is Red, etc.) and Johnnie To (Exiled, Election, Triad Election, etc.).  Just too much effin' talent, and it blew up in their face.

There are two or three flicks with Maggie Cheung in them on Netflix, as well as the many martial arts additions.  I need to check some of them out.