Leofwine_draca FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE is a fun and low budget scattershot spoof of the James Bond films, Hong Kong style. It's an outing for star, writer, and director Stephen Chow, who brings his quirky eccentricity to all three roles: this is the type of film that can have cheesy romance in one scene, violent death and murder in the next, and mix it up in a plot absolutely chock full of humour from film references to slapstick to some quite surreal moments.Chow plays an ordinary butcher from the mainland who has a second life as a secret agent. When a dinosaur skull is stolen (this film came out after JURASSIC PARK) he is tasked with tracking it down, beginning a fraught relationship with female aide Anita Yuen (who is very good). The twosome face internal conflict and lots of low rent action scenes, most of which are rather funny. There's a Jaws clone and Pauline Chan as a hot femme fatale. The low budget is very apparent in the staging and occasionally in the special effects, but overall the film works very well indeed and I had something of a ball with it. Sure, it's not as polished as the bigger budgeted likes of SHAOLIN SOCCER and KUNG FU HUSTLE, but it always entertains.

countvasquez I am amazed about the fairly high ratings this rather boring picture got. As far as James Bond spoofs go this one is forgettable. It suffers partly from being a JB parody - JB is in itself a parody - and more from an uneven script which can't decide if the main hero is a kind of Uber James Bond (with knives) OR kind of stumbling wannabee (Get Smart, Austin Powers).The suits remember more (bad taste) gangsters of the 70s than Secret Agent "dressed to kill"-code. For better spoofs from Hong Kong try "Magnificent Warriors" (Indy Jones "coveress").Rating 3.5/10

secrective Standard comedy about a wannabe spy who gets double crossed by his boss, except hes got a chopper (butcher knife) and knows how to use it!The plot is pretty thin, but this is still a funny movie, as are most of Chow's movies. Be sure to add this to any Stephen Chow marathons you might be hosting, otherwise, you can miss this one for another of his better films.

buddhi When I first saw this film I didn't know what to make of it - is it a Chinese James Bond or is it a Chinese Austin Powers. Well its neither and both at the same time if you get the drift.Nevertheless it is totally insanely funny with its very silly plot and characters that had no credibility and I really enjoyed watching it. Fairly violent - but what else would you expect from a Hong Kong action film.