If you’re looking for something a little different from Hollywood’s steady stream of big moneyspinners, how about a buddy cop comedy set in medieval China?
Young Master (Nicholas Tse) and Brad (Nick Cheung) are two bottom-rung police officers in White Horse Town. Living in the shadow of higher ranking constables, the two are reduced to washing clothes and preparing food for the Court instead of utilizing their crime-fighting talents. When an all-star team of bandits kills everyone in a wealthy man’s compound to steal a life-size white jade statue of the Goddess of Mercy, they get their chance to prove themselves—but not before they’re framed for the crime. They escape with two faux thieves, Water Dragon Girl (Charlene Choi) and Fire Dragon Girl (Huang Yi), and ride through the desert to Treasure Inn, where the statue will be sold.
Part classic wuxia, part crime show spoof and part martial arts comedy, Treasure Inn has a good number of laughs in it. It’s at its most original in its early stages when Young Master assesses the murder scene CSI-style, including grainy, color-drained shots of the killings. Of course, instead of people being dispatched with guns and knives, they meet their ends through acoustic power, eagle claw attacks and showers of fire. The film does shift from parody to imitation though, and inspiration from the likes of Stephen Chow is evident. Kung fu food preparation, a string instrument used as a lethal weapon, a guy getting bitten on the face by a snake and all-round intentionally ludicrous special effects— we’ve seen it all before in Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. The rest of the laughs come from Nick Cheung’s portrayal of the horse-faced vain pot Brad—a sequence where he overdoses on an aphrodisiac is particularly side-splitting.
Humor aside, Treasure Inn is held together by a somewhat compelling story which makes it a Chinese Western of sorts (not the chicken chop with brown sauce variety); there’s romance, double-crossing, gratuitous violence, fighting for honor and lots and lots of sand. This flick sustains entertainment value better than your average American comedy and its kitschy feel ensures that when it gets bad, it’s so bad it’s good.