CJ7 (Variety, Screen Daily Reviews)

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CJ7
Cheunggong 7 hou

(Hong Kong-China) A Sony Pictures Hong Kong (in Hong Kong)/China Film Group, PolyBona Film Distribution (in China)/Sony Pictures Classics (in U.S.) release of a Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, the Star Overseas (Hong Kong)/Beijing Film Studio of China Film Group Corp. (China) presentation of a the Star Overseas production. Produced by Stephen Chow, Chui Po-chu, Han Sanping. Co-producers, Vincent Kok, Connie Wong. Directed by Stephen Chow. Screenplay, Chow, Vincent Kok, Tsang Kan-cheong, Lam Fung, Sandy Shaw, Fung Chih-chiang.

With: Stephen Chow, Xu Jiao, Kitty Zhang, Lee Sheung-ching, Fun Min-hun, Huang Lee, Yao Wenxue, Han Yong-wua, Lam Tze-chung, Hu Qianlin.
(Cantonese dialogue)


Heavy on CGI slapstick and light on meaningful emotional content, "CJ7" is a spotty first foray into family-friendly entertainment by Hong Kong multihyphenate Stephen Chow. "E.T."-inspired comic fantasy about a poor boy adopting a cute alien catches the eye but not fully the heart with itsundernourished father-son dynamics, critter hijinks and smattering of social commentary. Chow's name has helped pic to an anticipated B.O. bonanza in China since Jan. 31 release, but his first movie since 2004's "Kung Fu Hustle" faces a much stiffer test outside Asia. Limited Stateside rollout is set for March 7.

In an attempt to create the Chinese equivalent of a franchiseable Hollywood family blockbuster, Chow's fifth helming effort has none of his nonsensical verbal humor and far fewer cartoonishly violent f/x setpieces. The star's huge Asian fan base should roll more readily with these changes, but Western admirers looking for another "Shaolin Soccer" or "Kung Fu Hustle" won't find it in this second venture between Chow's the Star Overseas shingle and Sony's Columbia Asia production arm.

Chow (who wrote the film with his usual army of co-scripters) plays it mostly straight as Ti, an impoverished-but-honest widower ploughing everything he earns into a posh elementary school education for young son Dicky (adorable discovery Xu Jiao, actually a girl).

In forced swipes at the gap between rich and poor, the raggedy Dicky is publicly derided by snooty teacher Mr. Cao (Lee Sheung-ching) and bullied by his classmates. Standing apart is Miss Yuen (newcomer Kitty Zhang), a teacher whose angelic kindness immediately tags her as Ti's love interest-in-waiting.

Dicky incongruously throws a tantrum when dad won't buy him a "CJ1," the hot new robot-dog toy. But Ti's substitute gift, found on a rubbish dump, turns out to be much better: a strange green orb that transforms into a cute little barking creature whose goo-goo eyes rival Puss in Boots from the "Shrek" sequels.

Left behind by a spaceship, the newcomer has magical powers to offer its host. In a fun series of f/x sequences, Dicky is able to suddenly swim like a speedboat, bend soccer balls better than Beckham and so forth. All this, however, turns out to be a dream sequence, and things turn out very differently when the same day is replayed for real.

As amusing as these shenanigans are, pic doesn't pack much emotional punch in the second half, when dad discovers the space woofer and Dicky temporarily becomes a brat with his new-found powers. There's no lone playground pal to give the boy reality checks that younger viewers would connect with, and the life-lessons dialogue between father and son lacks variation and bite.

Xu, 9, is completely believable as a boy and carries the day with a cheeky charm and a delightful way with the CGI pet that's guaranteed to melt some viewers' hearts on occasion. Chow doesn't seem as relaxed as usual, and Zhang is short-changed with only a few perfunctory scenes. Other players do OK in primarily caricature roles.

Slickly filming in widescreen in Chow's ancestral home -- the port city of Ningbo, just south of Shanghai -- Hong Kong lenser Poon Hang-seng emphasizes rich primary colors and even makes the garbage look nice. CGI work is fine, with the titular critter stretched, flattened and otherwise convincingly manipulated. In Cantonese version caught, dubbing of the Mandarin-mouthing Mainland members of the cast (who include Xu and Zhang) is variable.

The "CJ" in the English title refers to the Mandarin name for the Yangtze River ("Changjiang"), and is also a typical name attached to things like Chinese space probes.

Camera (Technicolor, widescreen), Poon Hang-seng; editor, Angie Lam; music, Raymond Wong; production designer, Oliver Wong; costume designer, Dora Ng; sound (Dolby Digital), Hou Xiaohui; action choreographers, Ku Huen-chiu, Yuen Shun-yi; visual effects supervisors, Eddy Wong, Victor Wong; visual effects, Menfond Electronic Art & Computer Design Co. Reviewed at Readings Market City Cinema, Sydney, Feb. 2, 2008. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 88 MIN.

http://www.variety.com/story.asp?l=stor ... 36047&c=31

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CJ7


Dir: Stephen Chow. Hong Kong . 2008. 86 mins.
Some might have had serious misgivings about Stephen Chow's plans to blend his trademark slapstick comedy with an ET-style story about a poor child and an alien, but they need not worry. The resulting soufflé CJ7 is a deliriously funny, determinedly unsentimental family film which will be relished by audiences of all ages.

The film opened top in Taiwan (with $2.7m) and Hong Kong ($2.1m) over the weekend and is set to be a blockbuster performer in Asia over the next few weeks for Sony Pictures Releasing International. It is always hard for foreign-language family fare to break through in North America and Europe and, unlike Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7 doesn't have martial arts content to bring in genre fans. However, Chow's name and the cute titular alien could help the film to some respectable grosses, especially once word gets out that the film is as wry and entertaining for grown-ups as it is for children.

Kung Fu Hustle's worldwide gross just stopped short of $100m and CJ7 will certainly give it a run for its money.

Chow's skills as a comic film-maker are put to the test here, but he comes out with flying colours. His story is fundamentally mawkish – even more so than ET because the boy whose life is changed by a little alien friend lives in extreme poverty – but Chow never once indulges in corniness. Indeed, whenever tragedy appears to be looming, Chow toys with it for a moment or two before dismissing it with a a visual gag or a joke. His principal protagonists – the boy, his father and the alien stranded by his spaceship – are all deliciously deadpan and upbeat, and never once are we invited to pity them.

The director's biggest asset in keeping the film so light is his leading actor, or in this case actress, since Chow cast a nine year-old girl Xu Jiao as the young boy in the film after a year-long search all over China which saw 10,000 kids audition for the part. Xu is delightful as Dicky Chow, the trouble-prone but sunny child at the centre of the story.

Dicky is the son of an extremely poor construction worker Ti (Chow) who slaves away all day so that Dicky can attend an elite private school. However, Dicky is teased mercilessly at school because of his dirty face, tattered clothes and ragged gym shoes. Even the teachers look down on him, apart from the sympathetic Miss Yuen (Zhang).

Ti and Dicky live in a rundown room in a derelict building and crunch cockroaches for fun during supper; Ti searches rubbish dumps by night to find clothes and items for his son, and one night, he unwittingly disturbs an alien spacecraft which immediately flees, leaving a mysterious green orb apparently with no purpose which he takes home for Dicky.

Once home, however, the orb transforms into a furry pet (with green legs) which Dicky dubs CJ7 (after a robot toy called CJ1 which is popular with the other boys at school). Although he fantasizes about CJ7 helping him with his studies and sports classes at school, he soon realizes that the pet doesn't have the powers he imagines. However, it does impress his schoolmates, and things are looking up for Dicky until his father has an accident at work.

The comic setpieces here are classic Chow – a fight between two oversized students at school, Dicky's fantasy versus the reality, the return visit of the spaceship – but he also generates a touching rapport between Dicky and Ti whose relationship has its fair share of rows.

If the computer-generated effects of CJ7 (by Hong Kong-based Menfond Electronic Art & Computer Design Co Ltd) aren't as polished as in a Hollywood movie, they are good enough to make the creature lovable. What's the betting that CJ7 toys will be a big-selling item in Asian toy stores this year.

Production companies
Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia
Star Overseas
China Film Group
North America distribution
Sony Pictures Classics

Worldwide distribution
Sony Pictures Releasing International

Producers
Stephen Chow
Chui Po Chu
Han San Ping
Vincent Kok

Screenplay
Stephen Chow
Vincent Kok
Tsang Kan Cheong
Sandy Shaw Lai-King
Fung Chih Chiang
Lam Fung

Director of photography
Poon Hang Sang

Production designer
Oliver Wong

Editor
Angie Lam

Music
Raymond Wong

Main cast
Xu Jiao
Stephen Chow
Kitty Zhang
Lee Sheung Ching
Fun Min Hun
Huang Lei
Han Yong Wua

http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyP ... ryID=36979