IT's a no-risk gamble to predict that God of Gamblers Returns will rank near the top of this year's local box-office sweepstakes. Director/writer Wong Jing has come up with a fool-proof cash cow, in which superstar Chow Yun-fatt recreates one of his most popular roles, that of gambling ace Ko Chun.
The combination of low comedy, high stakes gambling, and high voltage action is also high in entertainment values. Director Wong and his team shot on location in France, Taiwan, the Mainland, and Hong Kong to tell the tragi-comic tale of Ko and his revenge against Chou (Wu Xingguo), a certifiably insane Taiwanese billionaire who childishly pouts that he himself is the real god of gamblers.
Ko has every reason to seek revenge, for during the film's first reel Chou and his henchmen invade the god's French chateau and murder the pregnant Mrs Ko (Sharla Cheung Mun), placing the foetus in a jar. Ko and his best friend (Hung Wah-keung) go on the rampage, massacring 22 of Chou's sharpshooters, making this one of the highest body counts for the opening moments of what is ostensibly a comedy.
Actually, there are many moments of genuine mirth when Ko journeys to China and encounters such diverse characters as the precocious son (Tse Miu) of a Taiwanese gangster (Or Sau-leung); a surly inn-keeper (Ng Seen-leen) and her gambling brother (Tony Leung Ka-fai); a bumbling-but-cruel PSB cadre (Tsui Kam-kong); and secret agent Simon Tart (Law Ka-ying).
What with Tony Leung in a role highly reminiscent of his 1992 award-winning The Legendary La Rose Noire, God of Gamblers Returns has everything except a mature, well-constructed script - but then again, that didn't stand in the the way of Part One's success.
The first God of Gamblers was number one at the box-office in 1989, grossing $37 million at a time when ticket prices were roughly half of today's. At 126 minutes, God of Gamblers Returns is a half-hour too long, but the extra length justifies the distributors raising ticket prices by a further five dollars, making it an odds-on favourite to out-gross the original.