Review of CJ7 (2008) by Bjorn O — 18 Jul 2009

Director Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle) most recent release "CJ7" is a cute little film aimed mostly toward kids that is full of spattered with heart, comedy, and cuteness, but is by no means perfect.

In the film a a poor father stumbles upon a green ball in a junkyard, which he gives to his son as a present. When the ball turns out to be more than what it seems, both of their lives are changed forever.

Without a doubt the movie has some heart, and the cuteness factor has been ramped up to absolute absurd levels. The script also has some unconventional moments - some of which are funny, some of which are just plain odd, and some that I think get completely lost in translation.

If you yourself aren't asian, or familiar with asian culture you're going to be left scratching your head wondering, "why in the world is that supposed to be funny?" The performances are decent - a bit over the top at times - but the fact that the entire film is about as over the top as over the top can get, they work just fine.

I've been a fan of Stephen Chow for a while now, and while I think he's made better films, this one is by no means bad. It's not perfect, and the script could have used some tweaking, but in the end I found it to be a cute kids flick with a lot of heart, and it gets my recommendation.