Explosive
Summary
Magic Cop uses uses crazy stunts, innovative special effects, and a gonzo comedic tone to deliver a real treat of a supernatural action film. 88 Films once again give us a rel winner loaded with special features.
Plot: A cop with serious skills in the supernatural goes up against a powerful witch.
Review: It’s established right away that police officer Feng (Lam Ching-ying) is no ordinary cop. On the one hand, he’s extremely by-the-book, but on the other, he’s a Taoist with extremely formidable skills in both the martial arts and in the supernatural. He’s basically a ghostbuster walking a street beat, and the lowly, everyday people he deals with know and respect him, but when he gets paired with a yuppie cop named Lam (Wilson Lam) with grabby hands in the workplace, Feng’s first agenda is keeping his cute niece away from him despite the fact that the two are attracted to each other.
The second agenda is figuring out how a dead woman was able to deliver a briefcase of drugs in full public view and resist arrest while being shot in the kneecap and manage to drag a cop handcuffed to her ankle halfway across the street before being neutralized by an oncoming truck. The answer – according to Feng – is simple: A powerful witch (played by Michiko Nishiwaki) is using “vampires” (zombies) to do her dirty work and build her criminal empire. Once the witch figures out that the police have a Taoist with impressive skills working for them, she amps up her attacks, using more zombies and dark magic to launch a full-out assault against Feng and his partners. The climax is a doozy.
Magic Cop really surprised me. It’s like I Come in Peace (a.k.a. Dark Angel) with Dolph Lundgren, but with over-the-top (and how!) supernatural stuff instead of alien shenanigans, but it’s also completely original and totally in command of its own universe. Within the first five minutes I was within its wacky spell, and it uses crazy stunts, innovative special effects, and a gonzo comedic tone to deliver a real treat of a supernatural action film. Director Stephen Tung uses really slick editing and cool camerawork to entertain his audience, and Ching-ying is a hoot as the super cop with super powers. This one is a winner. Too bad there weren’t sequels.
88 Films has just released a loaded Blu-ray edition with a limited edition slipcase and a double-sided poster. It comes with multiple language tracks and subtitles, a new audio commentary by Hong Kong Film experts, a Taiwanese version with a different score, an interview, an image gallery, and more.
