Cheung Gong 7 hou (2008)

Director:

Stephen Chow

Writers:

Stephen Chow (writer)
Chi Keung Fung (writer)

Release Date:

30 January 2008 (China)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A poor Chinese laborer learns important lessons after his son gets a strange new toy. |

Plot Keywords:

Man | 3D | Short Title | Reality Meets Animation | Kid

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Stephen Chow	...	Ti
Min Hun Fung	...	P. E. Teacher
Chi Chung Lam	...	The Boss
Shing-Cheung Lee	...	Mr. Cao
Jiao Xu	...	Dicky
Kitty Zhang Yuqi	...	Miss Yuen

Also Known As:

A Hope (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
CJ7 (International: English title)
Chang Jiang 7 hao (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Long River 7 (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, thematic material, some rude humor and brief smoking.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia

Trivia:

The title 'Chiang Jang 7 hao' literally means "Yangtze River Steamer 7". Basically a river boat on the Yangtze.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the Dad is cutting the rotten part of the apple, he is cutting with the wrong side of the knife.

Movie Connections:

Features "Poketto monsutâ" (1997)

A children's movie with a little something for adults as well

I saw this movie as part of a free screening in New York City, and I have to say that, even though the movie is extremely geared toward children, many people in the all-adult audience (including myself) seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.

This film is unmistakably a Stephen Chow movie, with all of the requisite sight gags and overdone physical humor (not that the latter is a bad thing). However, far from being a straight comedy like "Kung Fu Hustle," this movie veers a little bit into drama (not much, since the drama elements are quite formulaic and easily recognizable by anyone over the age of 12). However, I think that, as a whole, these elements combine with the comedic elements to create a good, if not short, movie.

"CJ7" can probably best be described as a Hong Kong "Flubber." Again, it's designed mainly for children (especially those young enough to beg their parents for their very own cute little CJ7 toy). However, for the adults dragged along by their kids to this movie, there's enough there to keep them interested as well. The storyline seems to flow reasonably well, and there's just enough of a hint of moralization thrown into the mix to keep it from just being a "from point A to point B" movie with nothing in between.

The ending, however, does leave a little bit to be desired. While not necessarily bad or detracting from the movie, it ends a bit after it should have. Again, though, because it's a children's movie, it's very easy to see why it ended the way that it did.

Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed "CJ7" very much. Its blend of comedy and drama works very well, while retaining more than a hint of Stephen Chow that keeps audiences coming back to his movies.