Full Strike (2015)

Hong Kong Vicol Entertainment edition



A Stupid, unashamedly trashy and nonsensical Hong Kong comedy where the honourable sport of Badminton is
highlighted in all it's elegant intricasy. The Speed, the agility, the power of the players and ........

Stop! Wait! Have you seen the film? Eeeh, No, not yet, but wh ..... Enough! Please see the film before writing
stuff as above. OK, i will .... (1 hour and 48 minutes later) ....

Well, now i've seen the film and i'm so Sorry about that speaking with myself but i feel a bit split sometimes.

I, myself has played some badminton when i was younger, weighed less and was faster. I had a good reach and
a deadly smash but wasn't too agile and often got tired before my opponents did. Had to keep the points short.
So, i was excited seeing a Hong Kong film about badminton. Maybe something like the japanese Ping Pong film
from 2002 that i liked very much. A Film that really enhanced the speed and coolness of the game.
At last, such a film about Badminton - But No.

There's some badminton playing in the film, but not "real" badminton by "real" players (except in the long shot
scenes) and this is a quite fun comedy that's as much about badminton as Stephen Shows Shaolin Soccer is about
football. Too enjoy this you have to Re-set your Brain settings from 100 % alert to 10 % reptile brain lurking mode.
All Stephen Chow lovers know what i mean, Hong Kong comedy with a lot of burlesque gags - and some really
BAD badminton playing. So now we're ready, and let's get on with the Fun -

The Story:

Josie Ho plays the depressed and unhealthy Ng Kau Sau. She works (poorly) at her brothers fastfood joint and she's
harassed by everyone - she's, as the narrator tells it, Not Me, a fat, lazy, dumb cunt.
10 years ago though she was Beast Ng, The Queen of Badminton with 7 (seven) championships under her belt.
Known for her hideous temper and disgraceful behaviour against her opponents, trainer and teammates she was finally
banned for life from playing professionally.
One night she sees a meteor shaped like a shuttlecock (fjäderboll) and she sees that as a sign to start playing again.
She joins the One Spirit Badminton Club as a coach and player, a dirty and shitty club managed by 3 gangsters and
ex-bankrobbers, Lau Dan (Ekin Cheng), Lam Chiu (Edmund Leung) and Ma Kun (Wilfred Lau) and with the Head
coach Drunken Master "Flying Devil" Chik, played by Andrew Lam in the funniest part of the movie.

Yeah, sounds like serious badminton playing doesn't it? But somewhat funny though. Soon the new team is challenged
by The Fury Club managed by Beast Ng's cousin, the odious Suck Nipple Cheung (Ronald Cheng, funny too).
They will meet each other in the TV broadcasted tournament The Fantastic 5 Asia Pacific Badminton Championships,
and they start to train in just the same was as they did in the old martial arts movies from the 70's, carrying water etc.
This is some sort of light hearted homage to the old martian arts movies where some kung fu clubs challenged each
other but here instead of hitting each other with fists they hit each other with shuttlecocks.
And yes, 2 of Chinas real badminton champions appear at the end

This film is Fun for the viewer with a knowledge of Hong Kong film comedy and with a brain adjusted to the assault of
nonsensical humour. Beware of burlesque. Josie Ho, so glad you didn't butcher people this time as in Dream Home.
anamorphic widescreen, DTS 5.1 or 5.1 cantonese with english subtitles.
Extra: 2 commentary tracks with director and cast in cantonese without english subs and a second DVD with:
Trailer, teasers, making of 14 min without subs, music video (were Josie Ho and Ekin Cheng sings), behind the scenes
no subs, deleted scenes, a thank you to the audience and a slideshow

 

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