With the growing popularity of cooking competiton shows like Iron Chef and Top Chef, it was probably only a matter of time before Wong Jing made a movie "inspired" by them. If you've ever seen a Wong Jing comedy before, you know what to expect here: cute women and lots of rapid-fire jokes. The Lady Iron Chef's main problem is that a lot of the jokes simply aren't all that funny.

The movie's slim plot revolves around a beer girl named Cici (Charmaine Sheh), who falls for a tycoon, SK To (Hacken Lee). SK's mom only has one requirement before she allows a marriage -- Cici must beat one of the world's top female chefs in a cook-off. The problem is that Cici can't even make instant noodles right. So, at the behest of her dad (Wong Jing), Cici travels to Macau to train with a mysterious chef known as "The Green Dragon" (Yuen Qiu).

There's some other stuff thrown in there (this is a Wong Jing film, after all) such as a kidnapping plot that runs for far too long for its' own good. This sort of thing really kills the pacing of the movie. Like most of Wong's gambling movies, the best scenes here are the cooking ones, which are actually quite fun -- especially if you're a fan of food-oriented TV shows. When it switches focus to limp PG-rated sex farce or lame attempts at romance, it just looks ridiculous, especially (as mentioned before) so many of the jokes are hit-or-miss.

If you're looking for something deep or life-affirming, then you'd better look elsewhere. The Lady Iron Chef is a decent movie that provides some nice eye candy and a few chuckles. But if you've read this far, then you've probably already made up your mind. Wong Jing is the type of film-maker that people either love or hate, and a decidely neutral effort like The Lady Iron Chef isn't going to change people's opinions anytime soon.

RATING: 5