Aces Go Places

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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Aces Go Places (最佳拍檔, also known as "Mad Mission" in the US) is a 1982 Hong Kong action-comedy film directed by Eric Tsang, starring Sam Hui and Karl Maka.

When a suave burglar King Kong (Hui) makes off with diamonds and comes under the investigation of multiple parties, the US pair detective Albert Au a.k.a. Kodojak (Maka) with the Hong Kong inspector Nancy Ho (Sylvia Chang) to recover the diamonds. Things complicate when the jewel thief "White Glove" becomes involved, and King Kong eventually decides to amend for his old ways and help the team recover the diamonds.


Tropes used in Aces Go Places include:
  • Action Girl: Inspector Ho
  • Awesome but Impractical: King Kong's harpoon gun. Sure, it made for some epic sequences, but the fact that it must be assembled before use and that it requires it to be present at the location before hand meant that it was only used only during those two aforementioned sequences.
  • Bald of Awesome: Kodojak
  • Berserk Button: Pretty much all the characters have one of some sort.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The diamonds King Kong steals in the beginning: the theft drives the American government and the Italian Mafia after King Kong, and thus, forms the basis for the entire story.
  • Cool Car: All those vehicles armed to the teeth. Also, sort of, those wacky kit cars based on VW Beetles.
  • Dub Name Change: The German dub changed the names of most main characters. For example:
    • King Kong simply becomes Sam.
    • Kodojak is slightly changed to Kodijak.
    • Inspector Ho becomes Ha Tung.
  • Excuse Me, Coming Through: a few chase scenes, but most notably the opener, where King Kong rides a motorbike through a crowded mall.
  • Heel Face Turn: After falling head over heels for Ho's younger sister, King Kong immediately agrees to help Ho and Kodojak recover the diamonds.
  • Faking the Dead: After Kodojak gets shot. he does exactly this. When King Kong finds out, he was not amused.
  • Gentleman Thief: During the diamond heist in the movie's opening, King Kong escapes via a bungie cord and breaks through an apartment window. He apologizes for breaking in, explains that the elevator is out of service and bids the residents farewell before leaving.
  • Gratuitous English: One of the Cantonese inspectors begins his statements in English until the British inspector reminds him that everyone in the room can understand Cantonese.
  • Jerkass: King Kong treated more or less everyone like this until his Heel Face Turn.
  • Love Makes You Dumb: How King Kong inadvertently reveals the location of the diamonds to White Glove.
  • Odd Couple
  • Police Are Useless
  • Stuff Blowing Up
  • Super Drowning Skills: When White Glove's car barrels over the pier, White Glove shouts for someone to save him, as he can't swim.
  • The Mafia: The Italian Mafia hire White Glove to recover the diamonds.
  • The Teaser: Subverted in that the opening has very much to do with the plot of the movie.
  • Time Bomb: Once White Glove finds out that King Kong knows where the diamonds are, he immediately calls one of his henchmen to recover the bomb and ensure his safety. Since it's a Time Bomb, the henchmen throws the bomb out the window, and it lands on the roof of the van White Glove is in. Naturally, the van is destroyed in the explosion.
  • You and What Army?: After effortlessly beating up a mook, the mook declares that he'll "get his guys" after him. King Kong replies "your guys?", chases the mook down the stairs, only to find a bunch of the mook's buddies down there, and runs back up the stairs.