King of Beggars - Release
Year: 1992
Director: Gordon Chan Car-Seung
Gordon Chan directed this entertaining kung-fu comedy that features heavy production values in place of the customary Stephen Chow shenanigans. Chow is the legendary Beggar So, who starts off as a spoiled would-be scholar. He may be a fine martial artist but his lackadaisical, superior attitude and shameful illiteracy make him a prime target for various nefarious evil-doers. Thanks to their efforts, as well as his own spoiled laziness, So receives a fitting fall from grace. He and his father (Ng Man-Tat) are sentenced to be beggars, and So sinks into self-pity.
Meanwhile, evil court magician Norman Tsui Siu-Keung plans a coup, and a resistance effort (led by Chow’s usual leading lady Cheung Man) plots against him. They want So to be involved, but his pride won’t allow it. It isn’t until he learns the nifty “sleeping kung-fu” that he regains this self-confidence and can ascend to his rightful place as leader of the Beggar Clan. And there’s comedy, too.
