Notable Cast: Adam
Cheng Siu-Chow, Alexander Fu Sheng, Kara Hui, Hsiao Ho, Lau Kar-Wing, Gordon
Liu, Wong Ching-Ho, Lydia Shum Tin-Ha, Johnny Wang, King Lee King-Chu, Cheung
Chin-Pang
It’s not surprising that when I was first looking into
picking up the Shaw Brothers film Cat vs. Rat, I read a lot of mixed things
about the film. Despite being directed by the legendary Liu Chia-Liang and
featuring a regular slew of his actors, Cat vs. Rat is a wholly mixed
effort even fringing on being one of the lesser films I’ve seen from the Shaw
Brothers catalog. If there is anything that this film has going for it, it’s
that the focus seems to be on being a ‘fun’ film over anything else, driving
towards being a slapstick comedy in the vein of what was popular in the cinemas at the time. However, the sacrifices
that the film makes with its narrative, characters, and overall approach for
the sake of a joke is not worth it and it ultimately crumbles apart under a
scrutinizing eye. It’s a silly movie and taken as such is rather inoffensive,
but for those looking for another Liu Chia-Liang classic than this is hardly on
that scale.