DVD Review: Johnnie To’s ‘Justice My Foot’ R3 starring Stephen Chow and Anita Mui

Posted by Mack at 3:19pm.

Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Comedy, Martial Arts, Action, Asia.

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Stephen Chow is Sung Sai Kit, a brilliant, but somewhat shifty lawyer who uses his verbal dexterity in the pursuit of cash, not justice. His kung-fu kicking wife (Anita Mui) frowns on his success as it has had a terrible karmic price: all twelve of their infant sons have died prematurely. When his thirteenth son dies after another questionable court case win Sung agrees to leave his legal practice behind. But a murder case involving Madame Chou (Carrie Ng) arrives on his doorstep. Sung is pulled out of self-imposed retirement by this sensational case, and the Qing Dynasty legal world had better watch out!

Justice, My Foot! is a very funny comedy within a court of law context. Balancing both verbal and physical comedy Chow and Mui make a great comedic duo. Anita Mui is pitch-perfect as Mistress Sung. It can even be argued that she outshines Chow in this film even though hers is the stronger character of the two in the film. While Chow is quick with his mouth, Mui is quick with her feet, dishing out kung fu justice of her own from time to time. The martial arts and wire-fu choreography doesn’t break any ground, and is quite spinny and floaty, but it satisfies the action nut between laughs.

Even though Mui was the highlight of the film it would be Chow who would walk away with a Best Actor award later that year for his role. Astute viewers will recognize familiar faces among the cast whom Chow has cast in his other films, including probably the most noticeable, Ng Man Tat and Yut Fei Wong. With its great cast and a great balance between action and comedy it is no wonder Justice, My Foot! was so successful during its theatrical run and domination of the box office in 1992.

Justice, My Foot! has the benefit of being digitally restored by Celestial Pictures, highlighting Johnnie To’s direction [yes, THAT Johnnie To] and Peter Pau’s cinematography in Anamorphic Widescreen. Complete with both Mandarin and Cantonese audio tracks western viewers might be hard pressed to keep up with the subtitles at some time, but that is why you have a remote.

Justice, My Foot! Is another great notch in the comedy belt of Stephen Chow. Though I would hesitate to call it one of his best it certainly is very funny and one cannot argue with watching the dearly missed Anita Mui on the screen for 95 minutes. It is recommended for fans of both Chow and Mui.

Languages: Madarin and Cantonese
Subtitles: Traditional Chinese and English
Region Coding: Region 3
Number of Discs: 1
Screen Format: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Extras: Behind the Scenes, Original and Remastered trailers, Other Stephen Chow film trailers, Color Stills, Original Poster, Production Notes and Biography and Selected Biography

Order your copy from YesAsia here

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Reader Comments

J-Dogg 04/16/2007 @ 10:22am

Although pound-for-pound I think Lawyer, Lawyer is the best of Chow’s courtroom comedies (Hail the Judge gets a bit tedious), Justice My Foot is still among his very best films. The onscreen chemistry between the husband and wife characters really holds the whole piece together, just like the believable relationship Chow had with Carina Lau in Forbidden City Cop. Chow has always been generous in giving his costars and supporting players room to shine, and Mack is right, Anita Mui takes full advantage of that freedom to politely upstage “Sing Jai” at every turn. If you like any of Stephen Chow’s 90s films, this is a worthy addition to any collection, especially now that it’s been remastered by our friends at Celestial Pictures.

And speaking of Celestial Pictures, why is it that none of the Stephen Chow films they release on DVD (or those of Lau Kar-leung, for that matter) seem to have commentary tracks? Don’t Bey Logan or Paul Fonoroff have anything to say about the amazing work these actor/directors have put out over the years? Come on folks, let’s make it happen!
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