Sammo HUNG Kam Bo is one of the most significant frontiers in the Hong Kong film industry. He has been extremely active both as an actor appearing in hugely popular movies such as Wheels on Meals and Project A and as a producer, director and star of period pieces and contemporary fares, leading the industry in the early and mid 1980s, the “golden years” of Hong Kong cinema. He has contributed to the boom of Chinese vampire movies with Encounter of the Spooky Kind (1980), directed a number of martial arts fares including the Golden Harvest-produced The Prodigal Son (1983), and ruled the box office with films like Pull No Punches (1982), Where’s Officer Tuba? (1986), and Scared Stiff (1987), his contemporary pieces not including Jackie CHAN. The Owl VS. Bumbo, also a debut work of Michelle YEOH (Yes, Madam), sticks to the 90-minute running time dogma of commercial films, assigning 60 minutes to comedy and 30 minutes to high-powered action mostly concentrated in the latter half of the film — a textbook case of the signature HUNG production format. The movie also showcases several nostalgia-provoking actors, including George LAM, James TIEN, and Dick WEI. But its biggest attraction would be HUNG’s versatile performance, ranging from hilarious slapstick comedy to portrayal of an aerobics instructor to musical numbers showing off his tap dance skills. The virginal freshness of YEOH is also quite memorable, who successfully makes an astounding transformation into a martial arts heroine in Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars and the Yes, Madam series. The Owl VS. Bumbo is also a Hong Kong rendition of Dangerous Minds (1995), for dealing with problem-ridden school situations, as well as a predecessor of Fight Back to School (1991) in that the crowd fights against criminals. (JU Seong Cheol)