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Review
by Kozo: |
Here Comes Fortune but there goes your money. Produced by cinematographer Arthur Wong and directed by the usually dependable James Yuen, Here Comes Fortune is a slapdash mixture of sitcom clichés, name actors and uneven hijinks created in hopes of earning Lunar New Year box office dollars. Given the rise in China film revenue, one can understand the filmmakers putting together this obvious commercial product. But really, they have to try harder than this. Keeping expectations low would be good, though probably not helpful advice.
Taking place entirely in China, Here Comes Fortune concerns the antics of a bunch of heavenly angels sent to Terra Firma to dispense riches. A drunken diety (Stephen Chow crony Lam Chi-Chung) disguises himself as a little girl (Nuo Min) to give 100 million yuan to a super-nice schoolteacher (Tao Hong of Sky Lover). Meanwhile, a super-hot angel (Kitty Zhang) pretends to be a housekeeper to bring fortune to a handsome blind pianist (Chang Chen), but she quickly falls in love with him. Finally, the Fortune King (Alan Tam) loses his memory and pals around with a frumpy office lady (Miriam Yeung), who uses him to try to win the heart of her white collar true love (Carl Ng). Hilarious hijinks hopefully ensue.
Keep hoping. While Here Comes Fortune does elicit some laughs, the ratio of laughs to groans is about 1 to 4, with moments of awkward silence measuring in at a substantial 5. If you do the math that amounts to 10% of qualified hilarity, a terrible number for any film calling itself a comedy. A sampling of the supposed funny: Tats Lau recycling his droll comic persona from old Stephen Chow movies, Miriam Yeung dressing up in terrible fashions, Vincent Kok losing control of his bowels, an overweight little boy falling in love with a little girl who's really a fat male deity in disguise, Cheng Pei-Pei freaking out because she thinks Kitty Zhang is a ghost, and Alan Tam puking batteries. If any of the above causes you to giggle, then you might derive some pleasure from Here Comes Fortune. However, if it ends up not working out, you should only blame yourself.
There are occasional bright spots. Kitty Zhang is actually quite winning, reinforcing her status as a talent to watch. Also, she spends most of her screentime wearing shorts, mini-skirts or some garment that shows off her assets. In the unintentional humor department: one of the angels' tools is a phallic-looking memory-loss device, and when Alan Tam brandishes it while sharing a bed with Miriam Yeung and Sandrine Pinna, it's hard not to get the wrong idea. Carl Ng's ridiculously debonair exec is also unintentionally funny, and it's unusual seeing actors like Sandrine Pinna and Chang Chen slumming in lesser New Year fare. Neither makes much impact, though Chang's performance as a blind man is notable due to how unconvincing it is. Miriam Yeung fans should get happy simply because she hasn't made a movie since 2007.
Here Comes Fortune's most happy customers will likely be Alan Tam fans, who haven't seen him grace the screen in several years and probably still insist that their idol is 25 years of age. Also, people who enjoy looking at China's rapidly growing skylines should orgasm from the architectural display. For some unfathomable reason, the filmmakers chose to shoot Here Comes Fortune in scope, and two of the three stories end with some bizarre magical effect incorporating China's distinctive modern buildings. Why it happens is anyone's guess, though the obvious reason is sponsorship, since the film makes nods to numerous products, especially an extended and senseless promotion of some boxed juice drink. As a study in unnecessary, overextended commercialism, Here Comes Fortune warrants some interest. In saying the above, I'm trying to find positives where other people might be unwilling to. I'm also trying too hard.
(Kozo 2010) |
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