CJ7 Review

It's hard not to compare Stephen Chow Sing Chi latest movie, CJ7 with his previous blockbuster kungfu flick, Kungfu Hustle. Then again, comparing the two was like comparing an apple with a orange. Unlike all his previous movies, this time Stephen Chow aims not only to make the audience laugh but to cry as well. So expectation for this movie was very high which might not a very good thing.

CJ7 was a heart warming sci-fi comedy about a single father trying to give the best to his son dispite being a hardcore poor. Working as a construction labourer by day and rubbish savanger by night, Ting (Stephen Chow) placed his son, Dicky (Xu Jiao) in the best school, hoping to give him a better future. But Dicky, bullied often by his rich classmates and fed up with his father's moral naggings, wish to be able to compare with his better-off peers. But things changed when, Ti pick something from the rubbish dump and brought it home to Dicky which turn out to be an alien toy-like creature.
In this movie, Stephen Chow took a backseat and let his new child actress to take the limelight. Xu Jiao play the role of the son very well, in both comic and heart-tearing moments. As for Chow, his supporting role of a doting father was a far cry from his previous over-the-top main characters. The usual "mou lei tao" or nonsense have been toned down to make way for Disney-like feeling of this movie. Still, the movie has its geniunely funny moments.
Visually, well, honestly it was not quite on par with the effects you seen on Kungfu Hustle or even Shaolin Soccer. While Kungfu's effect was to enhance its contents to be mind blowing, CJ7's only serve as a essential ingredient to the story such as the alien "dog" which can only to be created via CG. Then again, we already seen a lots of cutesy CG characters running around in live-action movies these days. Then again, the dog, CJ7 hence the title, was made very cute and adorable. I can imagine what kind plush doll to a be hit in this season's Valentine.
Overall, the movie really lacks the fun and the grand feeling of the previous movies. The variety of the weird characters, the pictureque location sets, the "cool" dance moves, real mean villains, mind blowing special effect and action sequence, all seems to be missing in this movie. CJ7 was not bad actually and can really serve as great Father's Day movie. But we want a movie that was damn infection to watch and talk about for a long time over a cup of tea tarik. Still, CJ7 did make many of the audience cry and that's what Stephen Chow wants in this movie. Excuse me, but i think i gonna watch Kungfu Hustle for the upteenth time.