Ji keung hei si 2011

Stumbling upon the 2011 Hong Kong romantic comedy "Ji Keung Hei Si 2011" (aka "All's Well, Ends Well 2011") by random chance here in 2023, there was no doubt that I had to sit down and watch it. Why? Well, my love of the Hong Kong cinema, and the fact that it was an Asian movie I hadn't already seen, drove me to do so.

Writers Hing-Ka Chan, Miu-Kei Ho and Edmond Wong put together a very enjoyable script for the movie, and I was genuinely and wholeheartedly entertained throughout the 118 minutes that the movie ran for. So thumbs up to the writers on that accomplishment. It is a good story that follows different people as their lives and romances are entertwined and entangled with one another.

I was really amazed with the phenomenal cast ensemble that they had put together for "Ji Keung Hei Si 2011". There are some really big stars in the Hong Kong cinema in the movie, with the likes of Louis Koo, Donnie Yen, Carina Lau, Cecilia Cheung, Chapman To and Raymond Pak-Ming Wong. And there are some other familiar faces on the cast list as well, such as Fruit Chan, Stephy Tang and Nancy Sit. So you have a stellar cast ensemble here, and you are in very capable hands.

The character gallery in "Ji Keung Hei Si 2011" was good and definitely very colorful. And of course it was good acting performances from the cast ensemble.

This is a movie that is well-worth sitting down to watch, especially if you enjoy the Hong Kong cinema.

My rating of directors Hing-Ka Chan and Janet Chun's "Ji Keung Hei Si 2011" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Donnie Yen in a comedy? I suppose the filmmakers here managed to convince him that he has what it takes to make everyone laugh out loud, but at the expected expense of Yen being a parody of his famed Ip Man character in the various inevitable cheeky spoofs that poke fun at Wong Kar-wai's upcoming effort, cutting the same silhouetted figure and pose like the released teaser poster to hammer the point in. Joining the franchise is also Lynn Hung who plays an uptight rich bitch, and Ip Man producer Raymond Wong continuing the franchise here as a fugly rich businessman who just cannot please his girlfriend Dream Dream (Yan Ni).

So has the sixth installment of the All's Well End's Well franchise finally showed that it is lacking stamina to continue the series? After all there's essentially not much of a story, try as both Chan Hing-Ka, who co-directs the film with Janet Chun, and Edmond Wong to try and flog a dead horse. The success of the earlier films had, well, Stephen Chow, and more mo- lei-tau jokes, and the latter films try really hard to seem more intellectual, and hoped that the throwing in of more stars with bit roles could help to usher in the crowds. After all, the film has to end with mass weddings as part of its formula, so you'll just about know how things will have to be engineered.

As mentioned, there's Raymond Wong's oil tycoon Ken who amuses his girlfriend Dream with buying her a Mainland Chinese cosmetics company Beauty, and being clueless about running her new company, she employs Sammy (Louis Koo), a famous make up artist whose effeminate nature is nothing but an elaborate ploy to get close to girls, and in Beauty, a firm where he's the only male employee, needless to say it's heaven though it doesn't go beyond bust jokes. Assisting him is Cecelia Cheung in a comeback role as Claire, a girl with low esteem being wooed by billionaire Syd (Chapman To), who got attracted to Claire because of her low-maintenance ways, and her obvious non gold digging nature. Rounding up the cast are Donnie Yen as Ron, Sammy's old make up school classmate who's uprooted by Sammy from the neighbourhood cosmetic counter to the big league, and Carina Lau as a failed writer who is the object of Yen's affection and obsession.

Characters are cardboard thin as far as comedies go, and here they are merely caricatures with little development, all primed for a few set comedic scenes. Those that fall flat are the ones involving Donnie Yen and Carina Lau, since they involve really needless and uninteresting cosplay/daydreaming sequences. Yen shows he's totally miscast in this genre, and frankly should stick to action flicks. Carina Lau seemed to be in a role that's really disjointed and disconnected with the rest of the cast, so in all her scenes really stuck out like a sore thumb. Those involving Chapman To were no better since they were more like Cyrano de Bergerac, where Louis Koo's Sammy becomes Bergerac in helping To's rich man woo who his assistant, whom we all know he will develop the hots for eventually since she's the only non-artificial person in an environment full of hypocrisy. And what's with the point of cross dressing anyhow?

But thankfully there were scenes that worked to bring on the laughs, and if anyone needs a reason to sit through this, there are two scenes which stood out, involving a mahjong scene with the inclusion of Ronald Cheng, and that involving Sammy and Ron visiting the latter's family, which evokes the mantra of how messages get so easily misconstrued, followed by side splitting analogies involving straws. If not for these episodes, the film goes through plenty of low points as it found itself stuck in a relentless need to firm up an adequate storyline joining all of its parts together. It didn't work, and you'll probably find more joy with individual, stand-alone segments as mentioned.

Will there be another All's Well Ends Well? I shudder to think that there will be one in 2012. The formula is pretty dead, and hopefully we either get to see fresh ideas being injected, or a boost to the cast with more natural comedians roped in, or do what like the other Hong Kong Lunar New Year film did, by gunning for something a little bit different, though still keeping to its flood-the-film-with-an-incredible-ensemble concept. Sandra Ng had jumped ship, and it's no rocket science required to see just why.

Not bad, but not good either...

Fun is a difficult word to define. For me, All's Well Ends Well just stopped working for me, the moment Stephen Chow decided to disappear. The formula of these films is more of the same, which is quite frankly nothing special. Therefore, what made these films fun, is easily Stephen Chow. With the turn of the century, Mr. Chow is replaced by Louis Koo and ever since, the film series have just went downhill. While Louis Koo is a fine looker and part time tanning specialist, his comic timing relies more on overacting and in this case, acting gay and feminine. While the addition of Donnie Yen adds something to the picture, the film seems to have lost its touches. Perhaps, Raymond Chow should look at a different direction and return to its roots to film something about Hong Kong people and what they actually want.

When the highlight of the movie is the sight of Donnie Yen using Wing Chun to perform a makeup stunt in front of a group of "Se Lai", you probably realise the movie isn't exactly that hot shot. What I personally like about Lunar New Year movies is that the number of stars that we get to see in one single movie. In effect, the movie should be mindless fun and plays like a celebration party. However, this film fails to even do that. Another moment of happiness is seeing the much missed Cecilia Cheung back in action. Cheung is amazing to watch and luckily she has a crying sequence to boot. Stephy Tang also appears, but is wasted in a cameo with no more than 2 sentences. Carina Lau seems to be in her 2046 mode and is more annoying than amusing. Chapman To once again steal the show with a fine supporting comic turn.

All in all, All's Well, Ends Well is meant to be a stargazing affair; however, the film fails to the fun factor and loses out to the fresher Hong Kong style approach in TVB and Shaw Brothers co-production in the likes of I Love Hong Kong and All's Well, Ends Well 2011. Still, it is always fun to stargaze, but apart from that, this film offers very little. Basically, this film is neither good nor bad as it is what I boldly call – passable entertainment...(Neo 2011)

I rate it 5/10

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