A team of ex-cons teams up with a former champion to prepare for a badminton tournament in Full Strike. Beast Ng Kau-sau (Josie Ho) was once considered to be the Queen of Badminton with seven titles, however her violent temper resulted in her being disqualified. Ng comes across a trio of ex-cons, headed by Lau Dan (Ekin Cheng), who want her to train them for an upcoming tournament. Together with Champion Chik (Andrew Lam) and Aunty Mui (Susan Shaw), the “Lau Dan Spirit Club” prepare for the Fantastic 5 Badminton Championships and a face-off with the Fury Team headed by the arrogant Suck Nipple Cheung (Ronald Cheng).
Full Strike is one of those sport-comedies that focuses on a lesser sport that isn’t usually taken that seriously. In this case, that sport would be badminton, which is depicted in the film as a very mythic event. Both of the film’s central protagonists, Beast Ng and Lau Dan, are hoping to move away from their pasts and find success by winning this badminton tournament. However, that wouldn’t be easy, since the criminal past of Lau Dan and his cohorts haunt the team, making them the constant subject of ridicule.
It would be really easy to immediately think of 2001’s Shaolin Soccer when thinking about Full Strike, however the film probably has more in common with the 2004 American comedy Dodgeball, particularly since both focus on “lesser” sports. While the actual badminton scenes of the film are somewhat decent, there are some aspects of Full Strike that bring it down a notch, such as the behaviour (and name) of antagonist Suck Nipple Cheung and the fact the alcoholic former champion Chik has a habit of vomiting on people. Altogether, Full Strike is far from the best sports comedy, even though it does end with a somewhat important message.
FAIR
Screenings:
- Sunday, November 15, 7:30 PM – Silvercity Richmond Hill
