Original title: Tie jia wu di Ma Li A
Part of the charm of that wave of Hong Kong movies that seeped through to the west from the end of the 1980s through to the mid-90s was that many of them were completely daft. For every hi-octane John Woo bullet ballet there were dozens of films that mixed and matched genres in a way that Hollywood would never even contemplate (witness for example the ultra-violence and low-brow comedy mix that make Baat sin faan dim ji yan yuk cha siu baau/Bunman/The Untold Story (1993) and the extraordinary Yi bo la beng duk/Ebola Syndrome (1996) such compelling but uncomfortable viewing) and which frequently abandoned any pretence at logic.
Many of these films were barely watchable but some actually made the grade, and happily I Love Maria, is one such example. Like many of the Hong Kong films of its time it mixes action (superbly choreographed here by Ching Siu Tung, director of Sinnui yauwan/A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) and its sequels) with some irritating slapstick humour and boasts a plot that almost defies comprehension. The villainous Hero Gang terrorises Hong Kong with a pair of robots, Pioneers 1 the more humanoid Pioneer 2. When it gets damaged while trying to assassinate a former gang member, Pioneer 2 has its programming tinkered with by a police scientist and it starts to develop human-like responses. It’s never made entirely clear why the villainous gangsters are known as The Hero Gang, nor how they were able to develop such sophisticated robot technology. And at first Tony Leung Chiu Wai’s presence in the plot, as a bumbling photo-journalist, seems entirely superfluous. But give yourself over to it, just accept the idiotic moments and there’s an awful lot to enjoy here.
You can accuse I Love Maria of being many things, but dull certainly isn’t one of them. It kicks off with the first encounter with lumbering robot Pioneer I (a fabulous effect that will actually have you wondering how they did it – clearly it’s a man in a suit but the illusion of immense size is extremely well maintained throughout), moves through a ridiculous plot that manages to be both overly-complex (the relationships between the characters are a bit of a tangled web) and preposterously simplistic (when it comes down to it there’s not much more here than robots beating the crap out of each other) until we get to the effects and stunts filled finale, topped by a cringe worthy epilogue.
The action scenes are fabulous, especially when the two robots, the giant Pioneer I and its “female” humanoid successor Pioneer II (aka Maria) go at it in metallic fist-to-fist combat. It’s hard not to grin like an over-excited 8 year old when Pioneer I’s hands and feet detach to go off on missions of their own, or get worked up into an unseemly state over the manic showdown in the climax. Cars explode, walls and ceilings are blown apart (it’s a wonder any of the buildings in which the action takes place actually remain standing after the damage they receive) and bodies are thrown through the air with careless disregard for human life. There’s even some rather out-of-place gore in the opening minutes when (human) Maria blows out the brains of a flunky.
In amongst all the mayhem, the cast seem to be having a high old time. No-one would ever charge them with giving decent performances, but their enthusiasm is highly infectious. John Sham handles most of the comic relief as the oddball police department inventor, making a great team with renowned producer Tusi Hark as the drunken former gang member Whiskey – he makes a far better producer and director than he does an actor but he throws himself into the role with such gusto that it’s hard not to like him. Tony Leung is rather irritating as the reporter T.Q. Zhuang and doesn’t really have much to get his teeth into in a role that often seems like it was tacked onto the film as a last minute thought.
The show is stolen by Sally Yeh in the dual role as the gang’s second in command, Maria, and the android counterpart. As the human Maria, she doesn’t get a lot to do but act the gun-totin’ super-bitch, but she really shines as the robot, clearly inspired by the robot in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927). Her deadpan turn is played to perfection, and she even makes the silly, throwaway comedy bits (combing her hair with a wrench, drinking petrol from a Coke can) seem likeable.
Look closely enough and you’ll even spot some familiar names if not exactly well known faces fleshing out the supporting cast – Hong Kong directors Kirk Wong Chi-keung (Da lui toi/Flash Future Kung Fu (1982), Tian luo di wang/Gunmen (1988)), Ching-ying Lam (better known as an actor but also the man behind the camera on Yi men dao ren/New Mr Vampire 2 (1989) and Qing feng xia/Green Hornet (1994)) and John Woo (do you really need me to tell you who he is?) all turn up in small roles.
I Love Maria isn’t the greatest film you’ll ever see from Hong Kong, but it is one of the most fun. For you own sanity’s sake, don’t even think of trying to make sense of the insane plot (you’ll just give yourself a nasty headache…), just kick back and revel in the madness of it all. You’ll be grinning from ear-to-ear by the time that silly last minute sequence comes around.
The EOFFTV Review 