Adult film spoof caught with pants down

FOR obvious reasons, the sex comedy tends to be a lucrative genre and ever since it made a comeback in Hong Kong cinema with a 3D reboot of the Sex and Zen franchise, filmmakers there have been steadily churning out similar skin flicks.

The latest is 3D Naked Ambition, a loose sequel to the 2003 raunch-fest that starred Louis Koo and Eason Chan. Directed by Lee Kung Lo, it is already one of the highest-grossing films in Hong Kong this year, collecting HK$18 million (S$3 million) at the box office.

Like the original film, the adult entertainment industry is once again spoofed but the focus this time shifts from soft-porn magazines to adult films instead. As an added bonus, six real-life Japanese female porn stars - Anri Okita, Maiko Yuki, Kana Yume, Nozomi Aso, Tsukasa Aoi and Yui Tatsum - have cameos (by that, it just means they drop their clothes on-screen).

The always-versatile and funny Chapman To plays Wyman, a freelance writer who loses his gig writing erotica for a newspaper. A visit to the set of an adult film shoot while on holiday in Tokyo, however, leads to him standing in for a disgruntled actor who leaves in a huff.

When news of that eventually reaches Hong Kong, Wyman turns into an overnight Internet sensation. He relocates to Japan where he turns into full-time porn star Mario Ozawa (a play on popular Japanese adult video star Maria Ozawa's name), and is managed by Cuzuki Hatoyama (Josie Ho), an acquaintance who has a little history of her own. Wyman's reign, however, is threatened when cocky newcomer Nagasaki Naoki (Louis Koo) appears on the scene.

Written by Chan Hing Ka, whose screenwriting credits include A Better Tomorrow, 3D Naked Ambition, as one would expect, titillates and stimulates its audience everywhere except their brain cells.

Chapman To hamming it up as the accidental porn star who lets things get to his head is about the best thing about the film; next to the parodies of porn films with their ridiculous plots that typically involve crowded public transport and hot female teachers pandering to male fantasies. Too bad the novelty doesn't last and a hurried climax that exposes the plot's lack of ideas leaves 3D Naked Ambition with its pants down.

Rating: C+