BLACK COMEDY (黑色喜剧) DVD (2014)

SYNOPSIS: Detective Johnny Du (Wong Cho Lam) was smart and agile but his short height has hindered him from joining the G4 protection detail for the HK Chief Executive. His sassy girl friend bullied him all the time, leaving him depressed at work and at home. His helplessness attracted Vincent, the devil Prince (Chapman To) and Jim, the Angel to fight for his soul.

MOVIE REVIEW:

The ever-prolific Wong Jing and Chapman To reunite once again in this “scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel” movie, Black Comedy. But in the end, the ironically titled Black Comedy is neither dark, satirical or remotely entertaining.

Produced and written by Wong Jing and directed by Wilson ‘Lan-Kwai-Fong’ Chin, Chapman To plays second fiddle to Wong Cho Lam’s Johnny Du (a lame reference to director Johnnie To) as a devil prince who plots to capture Du’s soul to Hell. Du is a cop who dreams of joining the G4 protection team but his career is hampered by a useless boss played by Hui Siu-Hung. Even though he has a pretty girlfriend, Angel (Kimmy Tong), he is constantly bullied by her for instance rebonding his super-long armpit hair in public.

When the devil prince offers Du four wishes in exchange for his soul, Du readily agrees. And liked any other movies regarding the generous devil, Du realizes things are not what he expects in the end. Can he reversed time and get back with Angel? 

Black Comedy actually has a promising opening at least it’s ticklish to say the least. Then it starts to spiral downwards to the point of no return. There are occasional sparks liked Siu Yam Yam’s devil mum poking fun at the Chief Executive, a timely joke given the current political climate. Then there’s a sissy angel by the name of Angela Jimmy played by Jim Chim whose sole purpose in the movie is to quibble with devil prince. The third act which features Shirley Yeung and Wilson Chin as an adulterous couple is a drag.

Chapman To, the official spokesman for male organ jokes and dry humping doesn’t disappoint as he continues to milk his raunchy image in an absolutely bland, lifeless performance (okay he is the devil prince so I guess that’s appropriate). Liked I mentioned in an earlier review, Wong Cho Lam’s comedic performance is enjoyable in small doses sadly he can’t carry an entire full-length movie to make it a worthwhile journey to follow.

For a better Chapman and Wong Cho Lam pairup, seek out La Comedie Humaine. Black Comedy just isn’t worth the time. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

This DVD comes in both Cantonese and Mandarin soundtracks. Visual quality is serviceable. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee