Title: CJ7
Release Date: 2008-03-07
Genres: Kids & Family, Art House & International, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy
High essence:
"Dicky is played convincingly by a nine-year-old girl named Xu Jiao, discovered after Stephen Chow's production company auditioned thousands of kids all over China and then decided the best actor to play the lead boy was a girl.""Dicky, who has envied another boy's CJ1 robo-dog, is stricken with hubris and christens his thingy a CJ7 -- six generations of technological advancement over his classmate's."
"The results are sometimes heart-warming and often amusing, but there is a scatter-shot feel as Chow cannot resist including irrelevant examples of his over-the-top martial arts mayhem; the tone veers wildly from sentimental family drama to cartoonish fantasy, and some of the attempts at humor badly misfire."
"He's a boy, and he's had enough of being bullied, being dirty, and doing without the new shoes and cool toys of his classmates."
"While searching a trash dumpfor a new pair of sneakers for Dicky, a UFO rises out of the detritus andtakes off, leaving the above-mentioned orb."
"The arrival of CJ7 threatens these virtuous attitudes, as Dicky is tempted to use the creature against bullies, teachers and other enemies."
Medium essence:
Kelly Vance:- or an old-school Disney animated fable, but with the character and technical panache we've come to expect from Chow, creator of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle and reportedly the top comedy star in Asia.
- Dicky is played convincingly by a nine-year-old girl named Xu Jiao, discovered after Stephen Chow's production company auditioned thousands of kids all over China and then decided the best actor to play the lead boy was a girl.
- The ball morphs into a furry, mogwai-like critter that the kid names CJ7.
Jim Emerson:
- It helps that Dicky is the most adorable creature in the universe.
- He is so cute and expressive that he's more like a puppy than a boy.
- Dicky, who has envied another boy's CJ1 robo-dog, is stricken with hubris and christens his thingy a CJ7 -- six generations of technological advancement over his classmate's.
Steve Biodrowski:
- The results are sometimes heart-warming and often amusing, but there is a scatter-shot feel as Chow cannot resist including irrelevant examples of his over-the-top martial arts mayhem; the tone veers wildly from sentimental family drama to cartoonish fantasy, and some of the attempts at humor badly misfire.
- Unable to afford a new robotic toy for his son, Johnny (lei Huang), Ti substitutes what appears to be an old toy retrieved from a junkyard.
- The toy turns out to be an alien (or a robot - it's not quite clear) from outer space, much to Johnny's delight.
Peter Canavese:
- He's a boy, and he's had enough of being bullied, being dirty, and doing without the new shoes and cool toys of his classmates.
- , CJ7 has powers, the nature of which I won't reveal.
- His father Ti (Chow), a construction worker, has to scrounge dumps to get Dicky shoes (when stitching up Dicky's current ones isn't enough).
Robin Clifford:
- While searching a trash dumpfor a new pair of sneakers for Dicky, a UFO rises out of the detritus andtakes off, leaving the above-mentioned orb.
- When CJ7 converts a rotting apple (the only kind the Chows can afford) intoa fresh crisp one, Dicky concludes that the little critter is magical.
- He tries to go to that well, again, with astab at creating an equally quirky kids' flick.
Philip Marchand:
- The arrival of CJ7 threatens these virtuous attitudes, as Dicky is tempted to use the creature against bullies, teachers and other enemies.
- But the presence of Xu Jiao, who never tips her gender for a moment, and is winsome without being cute, is enough to keep the audience watching.
- Republish Report an Error Share via Email PG Few comedians today let good taste interfere with an opportunity to get a laugh.
Low essence:
Kelly Vance:- or an old-school Disney animated fable, but with the character and technical panache we've come to expect from Chow, creator of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle and reportedly the top comedy star in Asia.
- Dicky is played convincingly by a nine-year-old girl named Xu Jiao, discovered after Stephen Chow's production company auditioned thousands of kids all over China and then decided the best actor to play the lead boy was a girl.
- Dicky attends a ritzy private school where seemingly his only friend, aside from a mountainous schoolgirl, a fellow outcast named Maggie (Han Yong Wua), is the proverbial pretty teacher with a heart of gold, Miss Yuen (Kitty Zhang).
- Still, Ti and Dicky care for each other, even when deprived Dicky throws a tantrum in a toy store over a plaything they can't afford.
- The ball morphs into a furry, mogwai-like critter that the kid names CJ7.
- CJ7's role as Dicky's newfound conscience, however, does not prevent him and director Chow from engaging in a shit joke, the movie's only moment of abject pandering to kiddy audiences.
- : The Extra-Terrestrial - he saw it repeatedly as a child and cites Spielberg as a major avatar - but perhaps his real-life background as a poor youngster in Hong Kong left its traces as well.
Jim Emerson:
- It helps that Dicky is the most adorable creature in the universe.
- He is so cute and expressive that he's more like a puppy than a boy.
- He even has fuzzy ears, which are illuminated like downy halos whenever he's seen in closeup and he's lit from behind.
- After a while, it is transformed into a kind of throbbing, light-emitting oversized molar, and then it turns into a furry-faced, chartreuse-bodied pet toy (part Pekingese, part Persian, part alien) with a waggy Po-tail sticking out of its head.
- Dicky, who has envied another boy's CJ1 robo-dog, is stricken with hubris and christens his thingy a CJ7 -- six generations of technological advancement over his classmate's.
- CJ7 is everything a kid could want: It's a ball, it's a dog, it's a cat, it's a friend, it's a toy and it's from outer space.
- It's rated PG for cartoonish violence, brushes with Bambi-esque mortality and the word b-----t in the subtitles.
Steve Biodrowski:
- Writer-director-star Stephen Chow - up to now known primarily for his action comedies KUNG FU HUSTLE and SHAOLINE SOCCER - changes pace with this Chinese riff on Stephen Spielberg's E.
- This might make sense of Chow were satirizing sanitized cuteness of movie critters, but it's just a throw-away joke that we are supposed to enjoy and then forget when the film resumes serving up its cuteness straight.
- ) When the film is not veering in the direction, it offers a touching portrait of the father-son relationship, and CJ7's antics should delight children and their parents.
- The climax is built around one of those tear-jerker moments of sacrifice, but the ending implies everything will turn out okay, leaving the door wide open for a sequel.
- The results are sometimes heart-warming and often amusing, but there is a scatter-shot feel as Chow cannot resist including irrelevant examples of his over-the-top martial arts mayhem; the tone veers wildly from sentimental family drama to cartoonish fantasy, and some of the attempts at humor badly misfire.
- Unable to afford a new robotic toy for his son, Johnny (lei Huang), Ti substitutes what appears to be an old toy retrieved from a junkyard.
- The toy turns out to be an alien (or a robot - it's not quite clear) from outer space, much to Johnny's delight.
Peter Canavese:
- Dicky's Christ-like announcement descends from his father's belief in purity of character, but Dicky isn't a saint.
- He's a boy, and he's had enough of being bullied, being dirty, and doing without the new shoes and cool toys of his classmates.
- , CJ7 has powers, the nature of which I won't reveal.
- For the role of Maggie, the giant-sized girl with a crush on Dicky (the ground trembles when she walks), Chow cast a young male professional weightlifter and dubbed a dainty girls' voice over him.
- Chow has a finely tuned sense of humor, and at least for this picture, he's learned to bend it like Robert Rodriguez, with a bunch of nifty (though glaringly obvious) CGI effects; the best of these spoof other action films, including Shaolin Soccer .
- : he's just going to do it better, and with jokes fit for a vintage Warner Brothers cartoon.
- His father Ti (Chow), a construction worker, has to scrounge dumps to get Dicky shoes (when stitching up Dicky's current ones isn't enough).
Robin Clifford:
- While searching a trash dumpfor a new pair of sneakers for Dicky, a UFO rises out of the detritus andtakes off, leaving the above-mentioned orb.
- Ti takes the strange object homeand gives it to the boy.
- When CJ7 converts a rotting apple (the only kind the Chows can afford) intoa fresh crisp one, Dicky concludes that the little critter is magical.
- CJ7 is appealing in a dementedchiapet way but there are acts of violence - Ti spanking Dicky in public,the boy's abuse of CJ7 for not getting what he wants, an Kung Fu Hustle-stylefight between a large fat schoolgirl and an equally fat though not as largeschoolboy - that make it not so suitable for younger kids, even though theET-like creature is aimed at them.
- He tries to go to that well, again, with astab at creating an equally quirky kids' flick.
Philip Marchand:
- When Dicky uses the word dumb ass, Ti reprimands him by saying, We might be poor but we don't use bad language.
- The arrival of CJ7 threatens these virtuous attitudes, as Dicky is tempted to use the creature against bullies, teachers and other enemies.
- But the presence of Xu Jiao, who never tips her gender for a moment, and is winsome without being cute, is enough to keep the audience watching.
- Republish Report an Error Share via Email PG Few comedians today let good taste interfere with an opportunity to get a laugh.
Source:
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Movies/article/345901
http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2009/02/20/cj7-science-fiction-film-review/
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/eastbay/cj7s-space-puppy-love/Content?oid=1088776
http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3163
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cj7-2008
http://www.reelingreviews.com/cj7.htm