Before viewing, I had purposely kept away from any descriptions of this film so I wouldn’t know what to expect (I apply this rule to all films I watch).

What awaited me was a touch of genius.

Set in 1940’s Shanghai, I can honestly say I was gripped from start to finish.

This film is original in every way possible and is a joy to behold.

We are introduced to the mafia style Axe Gang who run the city and brook no interference, lest a blade part you with your life.

Though the violence borders on the slapstick and comical, it packs a punch and never once feels cheesy.

We are then taken to Pig Sty Alley, a kind of overcrowded housing estate, run by a ruthless landlady (Yuen Qiu) and her hen pecked husband (Yuen Wah).

The characters populating this estate are clearly caricatures but visually entertaining.

However, things are not as they seem and this makes for some great moments throughout the movie.

Our main lead, Sing (played by Stephen Chow) is a small time thief who travels with his portly sidekick (Lam Tze Chung).

They enter the wacky Pig Sty Alley community and try to blackmail a resident barber by pretending to be members of the Axe Gang.

Chaos ensues and soon the real Axe Gang become involved which serves to ramp up the action.

The story is absolutely brilliant and extremely satisfying on every level.

Featuring twists galore, you’ll never guess where the narrative is going which makes it even more appealing.

The villains are inspired and look out for ‘the Beast’ played by veteran martial arts actor Leung Siu Lung.

This is a madcap comedy film in the vein of the hugely successful ‘Shaolin Soccer’ and it comes as no surprise as it is produced, directed and stars the same man who gave us that masterpiece, Stephen Chow.

Stephen Chow is the new Chinese martial arts film superstar and follows Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

You’ll be hearing a lot more of him in the years to come (though his acting career began in 1989).

It is filmed in spoken Mandarin and Cantonese with English subtitles.

In a greater masterstroke, many of the co-stars are former Hong Kong martial arts film stars which gives the film extra gravitas and is a homage to these former masters.

The choreography for the fight sequences is breathtaking and there’s a nod and wink to a famous scene from The Matrix Reloaded.

The fight scenes are choreographed by Sammo Hung and Yuen Wo Ping (Matrix).

Which brings me to the CGI special effects.

Wow.

That is the only word that can describe what we see on screen.

Effects that really are special.

New ground is indeed broken with every fight and it all looks and feels very fresh.

It raises the bar for all future comic book style action scenes.

The emotional quotient is higher than you would expect from a brazen comedy such as this and the main characters are all three dimensional with a certain depth.

A particular scene where the lead is remembering his childhood has particular resonance and is quite stark.

We learn how a naïve child became a cynical opportunist.

His childhood sweetheart, Fong (played by Huang Sheng Yi) who is mute steals very scene she’s in.

She exudes emotion by facial expression alone and will yank your emotional heartstrings.