The opening few minutes of The Big Deal is quite possibly one of the daftest and most absurd introductions to any film I have ever seen. It comprises of a beach packed with people gambling with birds, a woman having a bubble bath, a man taking a dump on a toilet in the sand with a queue of needy people swinging their toilet roll beside him, and more random madness. Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima appear soon after, dressed in black with Batman glasses on, to rob some Chinese Arabs who stopped by the beach and had their men shoot up the public because they were making too much noise. The Arabs fire a rocket the size of a small car, after the girls as they run down the beach. When a film opens like this, you can only think of two things. The first would be, WTF am I watching? And the second would be, WTF am I watching? And it only gets sillier from there!
Directed by Tony Liu who gave us the classic Devil Hunters, Angel Terminators 2, Mission Of Justice, and Dreaming The Reality starring this trio of Lee, Oshima and Sibelle Hu; seems to have lost his mind here. The comedy, although often hilarious, is so broad and insane, The Big Deal plays out like a live-action cartoon with crazy characters, outrageous action scenes, and each of the main cast members lampooning themselves from roles they have played in the aforementioned Liu movies...
Sibelle Hu is hilarious in this, spoofing her usual hard-cop roles as Super Canon. She is partnered with the great Tommy Wong Kwong Leung as Lethal Weapon, who is constantly mistaken for criminals - with him playing multiple roles to carry the joke, as the criminal in question always happens to be arrested next to him. The cast is filled right out with the wonderful Yuen Cheung Yan starring as the hilarious mentor to the girls, as well as brother to the fantastic Yuen Wah, who of course, plays the big over-the-top baddie, Saint Hero.
Wu Fung, Gabriel Wong, Isabelle Chow and a host of recognisable HK film faces fill out the cast with Tony Liu himself getting a cameo as the director when they break the fourth wall. Brit-kicker Sophia Crawford gets to play Wah's sidekick, in a rare comedic role, and gets to go toe-to-toe with the girls of course. The action is directed by Yuen Cheung Yan himself with some great moments of martial arts and femme-fatale fighting, as well as comedic squabbles, crazy stunts and gravity defying moves that won't disappoint action fans, or that of its stars!
The Big Deal is pretty much non-stop, and you may need a second viewing to catch many of the jokes that come thick-and-fast in between the constant fight scenes. It takes Mo Lei Tau comedy to another level, but in doing so, delivers an insane and often hilarious film. I really enjoy it. While all the starlet's are fantastic to watch and handle their comedy just wonderfully, I have to admit that its Moon Lee for me that steals the show. Her comedy timing, anime-like-cuteness, and kick-ass moves are brilliant. I only wish they had all done more films like this while in the business...
Insane, hilarious and not shy of action, The Big Deal may not make a lot of sense to many, but proves to be one of the most entertaining and fun films of the Hong Kong girls-with-guns and femme-fatale genre. At one point, Tommy Wong has a police radio disguised as a vibrator, offering many laughs as he rubs it in all directions to communicate. There's even a fart-gag that starts a gun-fight that had me howling, but I do have a weird sense of humour. The end battle takes place at an amusement park, giving everyone involved the chance to show some moves - and it certainly doesn't disappoint!
Overall: Takes the madness of a Chow Sing Chi movie, and cranks it up to 11 with great action and fights from the finest girls of HK cinema!
