Genre legend and perennial villain Wilson Tong had a respectable catalogue of films behind the camera. ‘Two Jolly Cops’ sees him team with ‘Dirty Ho’ co-star Gordon Liu for an action comedy inspired by the buddy cop films that were all the rage in the 80s.
Two Hong Kong cops are assigned to the case of an heiress and her missing fortune. Along the way they clash with their superiors, fellow cops and especially an oily lawyer (Tong) who had previously been a thorn in their side.
I struggled to remember the plot of ‘Two Jolly Cops’; this was a film that washed over me like a barely remembered daydream, albeit a dreadfully dull one. The synopsis on the internet (which served as a reminder to me of that nebulous plot) suggests that this is ‘full of laughs and action’ and if ever the term ‘misinformation’ could be used, it was now. ‘Two Jolly Cops’ starts with a modest spark, but pours a bucket of water on this immediately; what follows is ninety minutes of utter boredom.
The buddy cop film was a staple of 80s cinema and it was often done very well in Hollywood. Hong Kong occasionally tried to replicate this, but rarely came close to the heights of something like ‘Lethal Weapon’. ‘Two Jolly Cops’ is a particularly moribund effort and what makes this surprising is the talent involved; Liu Chia-Hui is obviously a Hong Kong legend while Wilson Tong has been effective behind the camera before. Sadly, this is one of those forgotten 80s ‘action’ comedies that should return to an unmarked vault in Kowloon.
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