''Forbidden City Cop'' (; literal translation: "Imperial Secret Agent 008") is a 1996 Hong Kong ''

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Vincent Kok Vincent Kok Tak-chiu (; born 15 August 1965) is a Hong Kong actor, scriptwriter and film director. Vincent's ancestral hometown is Shandong province. Kok is best known for his frequent collaborations with Stephen Chow, acting and co-writing wi ...

and

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for '' Shaolin Soccer'' and '' Kung Fu Hustle''. Early life and education Stephen Chow was born in Hong K ...

and starring Chow,

Carina Lau Carina Lau Kar-ling (, born 8 December 1966) is a Hong Kong-Canadian actress and singer. She started her acting career in TVB, before going on to achieve success in films after 2nd year at the college. She was notable in the 1980s for her girl-ne ...

, and

Carman Lee Carman Lee Yeuk-tung (born 16 August 1966) is a Hong Kong actress who has appeared in films such as '' The Wicked City'' (1992), ''Loving You'' (1995), ''The Odd One Lives'' (1997), and the North American ''Knock Off'' (1998) with Jean-Claude V ...

Synopsis

Ling Ling-Fat (Stephen Chow) is one of the

Chinese Emperor ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heave ...

's four elite personal bodyguards, the "Baolong clan" () - whose names form the Cantonese

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () a ...

's greeting: "Kung hei fat choi" (). Ling Ling-Fat's own name also doubles as a

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

wordplay on the code number "008", a reference to

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

, whose number was 007 (see '' From Beijing with Love''). Instead of studying

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

like his fellow bodyguards, he devotes his time to making practical yet often mundane and/or cumbersome inventions, such as

cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder dur ...

fired from the mouth,

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

blades, and

magnets A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel ...

. He also practices

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined ar ...

, and spends time with his loving wife (Carina Lau). In the beginning of the film, Ling Ling-Fat fails to apprehend four ugly swordsmen who are trespassing in the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrifi ...

. He does, however, manage to acquire a

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

manual, Flying Fairy (, ''Tin1 ngoi6 fei1 sin1'', lit. 'Outer Heaven Flying

Fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

'), from one of them. During an imperial audience, Ling-ling Fat's seemingly useless inventions and lack of any martial arts skills enrage the Emperor, who demotes him to various menial tasks around the palace. Meanwhile, King Faceless of the Kam Tribe plans to assassinate the Emperor and overtake China. The Kam Tribe creates a diversion by inviting all the doctors of China to a medical exposition in which a

Grey alien Grey aliens, also referred to as Zeta Reticulans, Roswell Greys, or Grays, are purported extraterrestrial beings. They are frequent subjects of close encounters and alien abduction claims. The details of such claims vary widely, but typicall ...

- a 'flying fairy' - is to be dissected. Ling Ling-Fat and the Emperor separately depart for the event. While Ling-ling Fat and his wife feast at a string of restaurants, Kam's men kill the Emperor's three remaining bodyguards. The assassins put the unconscious Emperor in an alien costume to present him as the alien for dissection. Just as Ling Ling-Fat and the other doctors discover the Emperor's identity, Kam's assassins begin to slaughter everyone in attendance. Ling Ling-Fat uses his wits and inventions to defeat the assassins. The Emperor honors Ling Ling-Fat for his success and gives him an enormous pearl as a reward. For his next assignment, the Emperor charges him with investigating a prospective concubine, the beautiful prostitute Kam Cho (

). Ling-ling Fat meets with Kam Cho without his wife's knowledge and has difficulty restraining himself from her seductive advances. He gives her the enormous pearl and lies about it to his wife. Later, Kam Cho surprises Ling Ling-Fat at his home, forcing a violent confrontation between Ling-ling Fat and his wife's family. Ling Ling-Fat forsakes his tearful wife and leaves with Kam Cho. When Ling Ling-Fat brings Kam Cho to the palace, he and the Emperor throw Kam Cho in chains and reveal that she is actually Faceless in disguise. Ling-ling Fat had deciphered Kam Cho's true identity during their meeting and enlisted his entire family in a ruse to fool Faceless. The Emperor begins handing out acting awards to Ling Ling-Fat's various family members, but Faceless manages to break free. Once again, Ling Ling-Fat uses his inventions and wits to combat Faceless, but Faceless fights back with powerful martial arts techniques. On the verge of defeat, Ling-ling Fat is accidentally struck by a lightning bolt meant for Faceless which awakes his potential and enables him to use the Flying Fairy technique, thus destroying Faceless.

Cast

as Ling Ling-fat *

as Ling Ka-ting *

as Kam Cho / Faceless *

Cheung Tat-ming Cheung Tat-ming () (born 2 July 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, director and writer. Personal life Cheung married Ho Nim-chi, a psychiatrist, in September 2001, subsequently announcing their divorce in 2016. They had one son and one daugh ...

as Emperor *

Law Kar-ying Dr Law Kar-ying BBS MH (born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong Cantonese opera singer and actor. Background Born Law Hang-tong on September 22 (August 27 Lunar), 1946 in Shunde, Guangdong as the eldest son of actor Law Kar-kuen (羅家權) ...

as Fat Yan *

Tats Lau Tats Lau Yee-Tat (; born 23 February 1963) is a Hong Kong musician, songwriter, singer and actor. Music career During the 1980s, Tats Lau was active in Hong Kong's independent music scene. He established several underground bands including D ...

as Forbidden City cop * Lee Lik-chi as Court official *

Wong Yat-fei Wong Yat-fei (born August 19, 1946) is a Hong Kong cinema actor who has acted in numerous Cantonese films. Wong is best known for his role as Iron Head in ''Shaolin Soccer'' for which he won popular awards. He has appeared in more than 139 film ...

as Yip Ku-sing *

as Doctor *

Manfred Wong Manfred Wong (; Wong Man-Chun; born 5 June 1957, in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong radio personality, film producer, screenwriter, film director and actor. He is best known for his involvement as a writer for the ''Young and Dangerous'' film series. ...

as Luk Siu-fung * Yuen Cheung-yan as Evil mother *

Kingdom Yuen Kingdom Yuen King-dan (苑瓊丹; born 11 September 1963) is a Hong Kong actress with a long history working with TVB. Life and career Kingdom was born in Hong Kong, her father was an ivory carver. She started her acting career with HK ATV during ...

as Brothel procuress *

Mimi Chu Mimi Chu (), born Choo Yit Mei () is a Malaysian-born Hong Kong actress and singer. She lived in Singapore before moving to Hong Kong. She has appeared at many events. As an actress, she is a recognised face in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia ha ...

as Fat's mother-in-law *

Elvina Kong Elvina Kong Yan-yin (; born 6 July 1967) is a Hong Kong television actress and presenter currently under contract to TVB. Background Kong was born in British Hong Kong on 6 July 1967. She was a finalist in the New Talent Singing Contest 1985 ...

as Fat's doctor patient * Stephen Au as Presenter of Flying Fairy *

Wilson Yip Wilson Yip Wai-Shun (; born 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and screenwriter. His films include '' Bio Zombie'', '' The White Dragon'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', '' Dragon Tiger Gate'', ''Flash Point'' and the ''Ip Man'' series. Early caree ...

as Brothel customer

Box office

The film grossed HK$36,051,899 in Hong Kong.

External links

*
''Forbidden City Cop''
at

Hong Kong Cinemagic Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual (French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The websit ...

* {{Vincent Kok 1996 films 1996 action comedy films 1990s police comedy films 1996 martial arts films Hong Kong action comedy films Hong Kong martial arts films Hong Kong martial arts comedy films Wuxia films 1990s parody films Hong Kong slapstick comedy films 1990s Cantonese-language films Films directed by Stephen Chow Films set in 12th-century Song dynasty Films directed by Vincent Kok 1990s police films Chinese New Year films 1990s Hong Kong films