Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb - Male Panic

Jan

20

Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb - Male Panic

≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Hong Kong, Recommended |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Action/ Comedy
Director: Jamie Luk
Year: 1994

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE

I’ve long avoided seeing Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb because the title sounds so friggin’ stupid, but the truth is, after I saw the movie, I had to admit that the title was appropriate.

Pals John (Anthony Wong) and Peter (Lau Ching-Wan) are bomb techs for the Hong Kong police who share an apartment together. They’re so at ease with each other that they make jokes while dismantling bombs.

One day, they’re hanging out as usual when they witness Mary (Esther Kwan) being kicked out by her gweilo boyfriend, along with her clothes and meager belongings. Perpetual adolescents and confirmed bachelors that they are, Peter and John go about competing for her sexual favors with no thought of any long range commitment.

Later on, when Mary gets pregnant and the parentage of the father is uncertain, they’re horrified and fall all over each other to avoid responsibility, but little by little, they start becoming invested in the baby’s future.

In the meantime, there’s a mad bomber at large, who seems to get a kick out of targeting women and children.

Most of the time, Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb is a genial and rather amusing comedy of manners about men who flee responsibility. The humor from screenwriters Tony Leung Hung-Wah and Law Gam-Fai is slight, but it has the effect of disarming us and getting us to like the protagonists. But here is part of what makes Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb so effective; the mad bomber (Alexander Chan) is no joke. Innocent people get hurt in his bombings, and director Jamie Luk doesn’t gloss over the pain and loss in these sequences. They sting.

And since innocents die and we all know Hong Kong movies don’t always have happy endings, a fair amount of tension is generated.

Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb wouldn’t work at all if it weren’t for the leads. Anthony Wong was in the period when he could do no wrong. His dry, idiosyncratic line readings are often a riot. Lau Ching-Wan is even more deadpan than Anthony Wong. Their chemistry reminded me of Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John from M.A.S.H. — the movie, not the TV show. And Esther Kwan is just adorable as the pregnant mom to be. God knows why the gweilo kicked her out.

Anyway, Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb is a good time at the movies.