CAT VS. RAT is an acceptable if lesser work from director Liu Chia-Liang, best known for his exemplary martial arts technique films made for Shaw Brothers. This isn't one of them; instead, it's an extremely broad period comedy, featuring Alexander Fu Sheng in full-blown 'mugging' comedy mode as he plays the leader of a 'rat clan' at perpetual war with their rival 'cat' enemies. Shades of THE WARRIORS here, perhaps, in the depiction of clan mentality.
The opening half of the film is quite tiresome and merely consists of Fu Sheng and his rival Adam Cheng going at it. Liu Chia Yung plays their eccentric old master while Gordon Liu has a small role as an accident-prone emperor. The latter half of the running time involves various characters seeking possession of the emperor's precious jade seal, but it manages to waste the likes of Wang Lung Wei and Kara Hui who only take part in silly, comedic fights. Truth be told, I'm not really a fan of the dumb comedy as found here, so I found this very much an inferior work compared to the true, serious classics like THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN.
The opening half of the film is quite tiresome and merely consists of Fu Sheng and his rival Adam Cheng going at it. Liu Chia Yung plays their eccentric old master while Gordon Liu has a small role as an accident-prone emperor. The latter half of the running time involves various characters seeking possession of the emperor's precious jade seal, but it manages to waste the likes of Wang Lung Wei and Kara Hui who only take part in silly, comedic fights. Truth be told, I'm not really a fan of the dumb comedy as found here, so I found this very much an inferior work compared to the true, serious classics like THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN.