Adapted from a novel “The Dear and the Cauldron” written by Jin Yong/ Louis Chia, this madcap kung fu comedy from Wong Jing has Stephen Chow doing what he does best and winning the hearts and souls of cinema goers not only in his native land but all over Asia. Furthermore, it went on to become one of the top five grossing films in Hong Kong in 1992, starring the great man himself in the lead.
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Set at a time of turmoil during the Qing Dynasty, the story is about the struggle between the Han Chinese and the invading Manchurians. Chow, the master of the “Mo Lei Tao” (makes no sense) style of film making, plays Wai Siu Bo, a witty and sly man who lives in a brothel; incidentally he is also well known for regularly getting out of trouble by cheating and deceiving others.
On one such day, a group of Qing guards turns up to arrest Chan Chin Nam, leader of the Heaven and Earth Society who is taking shelter at the brothel. Although not skilled at kung fu at all, the resourceful Wai manages to help Chan escape and in return, Chan accepts him as his new member. Accordingly, Wai's first mission is to disguise as a eunuch and infiltrate the Palace where he could steal the “Sutra of Forty two Chapters” which contains secrets that could help the rebels to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.
While in the Palace, Wai serves under Hoi Tai Fu, the boss eunuch who also teaches him some interesting kung fu styles, and eventually he gets promoted in the ranks after winning both Hoi and the Emperor's trust with his usual cunning ways. But there are dark secrets and schemes hidden among the players at the Palace and moreover, the all-powerful military Commander Obai is keen to take over the throne and Wai soon finds himself getting caught right in the thick of it.
“Royal Tramp” kicks off with an impressive start, showing a colorful parade made up of hundreds of dancing men and soldiers escorting Obai (Elvis Tsui) Qing Dynasty's fearful military Commander. Before long, a group of rebels attack them from under the ground but they are no match for the ruthless kung fu expert Obai and get themselves decapitated by him. The fight sequence showing the airborne Obai unleashing hell on the attackers, choreographed by Chin Siu Tung is nothing short of dazzling and inventive. In fact, thanks to his expert use of wires, the action throughout the whole film and the end fight in a forest is amazingly creative and fluidly executed.
Although Chow doesn't show any fighting skill here, he shines in his wacky style of performances, be it witty or cunning, he sure brings his character to live. Furthermore, his rapid fire and copious wordplay is a thing of beauty, cleverly written and delivered with great timing. It is indeed a delight to see him displaying such a confident and faultless presentation. In addition, Ng Man Tat's portraying of Hoi Tai Fu is equally amazing and the interplay between these two actors on the screen is so natural, full of charm and definitely the icing on the cake.
The supporting cast is equally memorable; starting with Wong Jing's regular, the delightful and charming Chingmy Yau, seen here as the horny Princess Kin Ning. Upon their first meeting, she immediately takes a shine to Wai and after discovering that he is in fact not a eunuch at all, she goes all crazy and pursuits him all over the Palace in order to get him into her royal chamber. Elsewhere, the beautiful Sharla Cheung Man turns up as Empress Dowager who is skilled at kung fu but hides a dark and sinister secret. Furthermore, she looks convincing doing her combat scenes besides looking amazing in her elaborate royal costume. Likewise lending their noticeable support is Deric Wan playing the young Emperor Hong Hei and Natalis Chan shows up briefly as eunuch To Lung.
Needless to say this film has Stephen Chow's stamp all over in which he puts his unique talent to great use. However, viewers who understand the Cantonese dialogue will definitely get more out of it because the English subtitles can't really do the film justice. Nonetheless, this is a wonderful wacky wuxia comedy with a bit of history and great action.
