Forbidden City Cop

Forbidden City Cop is a 1996 Hong Kong action comedy about Ling Ling Fat, one of the imperial guards protecting the emperor within the Forbidden City. Unlike his fellow guards, who rely on martial arts and brute strength, Fat is physically unremarkable and instead devises contraptions and gadgets. His inventions earn him mockery at court, though his wife Ling Kar Ting stands behind him and urges him to attend a conference. The gathering turns out to be a trap aimed at killing the emperor's physicians, and Fat's eccentric devices become his means of survival. Much of the film follows his efforts to foil a plot against the imperial court after his colleagues are taken out of action.

The film was directed by Stephen Chow and Vincent Kok, who also wrote the screenplay together with Edmond Liu. For Chow it followed From Beijing with Love (1994) and The God of Cookery (1996), and preceded King of Comedy (1999), while for Kok it was his first directorial credit. Chow stars as Ling Ling Fat alongside Carina Lau, Carman Lee Yeuk-Tung, Law Kar-Ying, Cheung Tat-Ming and Tats Lau Yee-Tat. Wong Jing, Charles Heung and Tenky Tin Kai-Man produced, and the credited cast runs to 31 performers. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from 147 votes, indicating a generally favourable response from those who have logged it.