Review: While incredibly popular in his native Hong Kong, it wasn’t until the insanely funny ‘Shaolin Soccer’ that Stephen Chow really made an impression on the wider Western Audience. His ‘Mo lei tau’ (‘makes no sense’, or ‘nonsense talking’) comedy uses a lot of cultural references and jokes specific to the complicated Chinese languages. When Chow’s films throw physical humour onto celluloid, they often produce some hilarious moments, and ‘Forbidden City Cop’ is riddled with them.

Have you ever laughed so hard that your beer sprays all over your trousers? Have you ever giggled so much that you make an effeminate squeaky noise that sounds like a gay gerbil at an Anne Summers party? There are moments during this that you will. At times its not very funny, especially when it becomes obvious that you should be laughing, but the jokes are all in Cantonese, and this is never a real problem with the film because something of interest is always happening. Then, when you least expect it, BAM! There are a few moments in this that have the power to reduce the audience to tears, and to mention any specifics would only lessen their impact.

Without being too specific, expect to see cross-dressing, Kung Fu with magnets, human helicopters, a bad guy with no face, and a rodent powered sex machine. There is a lot to see, some of it funny, some of it confusing, but all of it is good.

Stephen Chow is on top form, crossing the language barrier by way of his expressive face and ability to fall over at just the right moment. Carina Lau, playing his wife, seems to have real screen chemistry with Chow, and (disturbingly) Lee Yeuk Tung makes great eye-candy, even with a moustache. The ensemble of HK stars are all hilarious and well defined, and once again show that Chow has a soft spot for ugly, gormless men. As usual in a Chow film, the guy with a goatee and a finger up his nose turns up in drag – one of the greatest running gags in cinematic history.