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One of the purposes of the Chinese Lunar New Year is to provide
the people with joy and easily digested movie entertainment.
Therefore, the stars all turn up in mostly romantic comedies
that make millions at the box office. Good for them, good
for Hong Kong's economy but not good if you're after actual
quality filmmaking. Those are the rules and I accept that.
However the star filled Fantasia, Wai Ka-Fai's first
solo directing gig since the wonderfully manic Too Many
Ways To Be No.1, seemed to have one goal; to ACTUALLY
provide something akin to great fun. Something few movies
at that time of year or any time of year even come near to
achieving.
You can tap into the 80s era of Hong Kong cinema and find
fun aspects, even the 90s, but undoubtedly director/producer/co-writer
Wai Ka-Fai wanted to put on a colorful show and what better
way than to give us a movie concentrating on icons of 1970s
Hong Kong cinema, most notably the Hui brothers.
Set in 1969, a detective agency run by Michael (Lau Ching
Wan) with the help of Sam (Louis Koo) and Fugu (Jordan Chan)
get the genie Harmy Bobo (Cecilia Cheung), her boyfriend turned
dinosaur Bug and her cousins, the chopsticks (Charlene Choi
& Gillian Chung) on their hands. Three wishes are granted
upon them but Bobo's magical powers are a little rusty, or
delayed rather. The guys, especially Michael gladly ejects
her onto the streets therefore and shortly thereafter, Bobo
falls victim for robber Kin (Francis Ng) and his henchmen.
In the process of being held up, she loses her chopstick cousins....
Despite my attempt at a plot synopsis, Fantasia really
is a lot like that famous quote from Seinfeld; "It's
a show about nothing!" But if that worked for Michael
Hui when directing comedy classics such as The Private
Eyes and Security Unlimited, it can work for Wai
Ka-Fai as well, right? You bet! Together with Johnnie To,
Wai is one of the premier creative forces at Milkyway but
when directing separately, they have shown two different,
very distinguishable styles. Johnnie favors quietness, subtlety,
understated nature to his films and Wai have primarily
so far gone for the completely insane, fast paced route, most
evident in the mentioned Too Many Ways To Be No.1 (also
starring Lau Ching Wan and Francis Ng). How unlikely it may
seem for you when watching Fantasia, proceedings and
atmosphere are at least 10 times calmer compared to that film
but overall it presents a relentlessly fast paced and insanely
funny plotless ride. In actuality, Wai has remade The Private
Eyes to a large extent and added touches of his with references
to Security Unlimited, Aces Go Places, Jurassic
Park and the Harry Potter movies. Since he's choosen
the former film as his main palette, it also means that the
entire movie really just is a series of skits barely strung
together by a main plot device but we're talking very barely
here.
Why isn't there anything wrong with that then? Well, if you're
planning to go ahead without a plot, you better make sure
the film is carried by two other aspects, namely humour and
energy. Here's where Wai immediately sets himself apart from
other filmmakers working on their Lunar New Year comedies,
meaning that there's actual effort here. Wai has put tremendous
focus on delivering a good time and it's all very evident
from the very first minutes of the film that he has performers
on board that are willing to put in the effort to generate
a finely tuned over the top experience. Because you can mug
all you want, it isn't the automatic recipe for great entertainment.
Fantasia is silliness with the right spirit. Not in
general nutty but completely nutty. I can go on and on...
It's useless to compile a list of what the highlights are
in this film because, especially in the first half, every
scenario is a triumph in the way it references the previous
films by Michael Hui and the way Wai himself adds elements
(the CGI creature Bug being one such noticeable element).
The movie ultimately belongs to Lau Ching Wan and Francis
Ng, playing characters or rather the screen personas of Michael
Hui and Sek Kin (the real Sek Kin was the villain in The
Private Eyes) respectively. If there ever was a time in
my review career that I had to use the word rock, it's now!
These veteran actors absolutely rock and Lau as the bullying
character of Michael, absolutely nails his impression of Michael
Hui. Lau has good comedic instincts, as seen in La Brassiere,
but that he was going to be able to come this close to the
great timing of Michael Hui, I could never have imagined.
You're in for a treat.
That leads to a scene that should be discussed as it connects
to these two men's performances. I'll have you know that the
Johnnie To & Wai Ka-Fai directed Lunar New Year comedy
of 2002, Fat Choi Spirit made me downright angry because
it was easily digested filmmaking at its worst and all that
Mahjong playing didn't do much to enhance the experience for
me either. Now, I still don't know the game of mahjong but
Fantasia gives us a fantastic scene involving that.
Michael has, unbeknownst, to him been given luck in mahjong
by Bobo and trying to avoid winning too much, he discards
the tiles, mainly in his mouth while Kin is threatening him
with death because he obviously thinks he's cheating. Lau
lives perfectly up to the trademark Hui reacting in this very
painful scene while Francis, mugging so much in this film
he might pop any minute, in a good way, simply put is hysterical
here (and for most of the film). One other scene that threatened
to fall flat is actually Louis Koo's big Bruce Lee scene.
For most of the time, it's not very well executed and Koo
isn't as well in tune with Bruce as Sammo Hung was in Enter
The Fat Dragon for instance. What saves this scene and
makes it one of the most memorable in the film is an unexpected
twist that further solidifies Fantasia's entertainment
factor. The filmmakers seem to run out of the steam for a
few minutes towards the middle though and no wonder, neither
audiences or the makers can sustain that energy forever.
Rest of the star cast do well, especially Jordan Chan, doing
the Ricky Hui character from The Private Eyes, as Fugu.
Ricky was always the underdog in these films but incredibly
likable because of it and Jordan brings that nicely to his
performance. An almost unrecognizable Cecilia Cheung I would
have to say provides what she should but is not nearly as
memorable. Hard to shine though especially when you're acting
against Ng and Lau. Louis Koo stands somewhere in the middle
also but displays good signs of that silly energy needed.
Even The Twins (Gillian Chung and Charlene Choi) manages to
create laughs in their attempts at emulating Kin. Yes, much
of this film is about imitation and exaggeration but as said,
it wouldn't be the great experience it is without it. Also
appearing is Eric Kot, Cheung Tat-Ming, Christy Chung, Wong
You Nam and a surprise cameo by the end by none other than...come
on, that you can figure that out by yourself! Let's just say
that Lau Ching Wan's work gets full respect when this moment
occurs.
Even without beforehand knowledge of the movies it references,
Fantasia should be very enjoyable but do yourself a
favour anyway and familiarize yourself with The Private
Eyes first (and even Security Unlimited). Then
you'll fully appreciate this wonderfully entertaining and
fun Lunar New Year comedy. It brings back an energy to these
films akin to the New year's efforts such as Eighth Happiness
while standing on its own two feet despite being one big imitation.
It is a movie about absolutely nothing and I've never had
a more easier time to summarize it all despite that. What
great fun!
The
DVD:
Mei Ah's
1.78:1 framed anamorphic presentation only suffers from some
light damage on the print but showcases the eye popping colours
of this show very well.
The Cantonese
Dolby Digital 5.1 track mostly livens up the front stage and
does so fairly well. One wish it had a little bit more dynamic
but this draws you in to a good degree still. Cantonese DTS
5.1 and Mandarin 5.1 tracks are also available.
The English
subtitles presented no problems whatsoever and only a slight
mistime in one dialogue scene was the only error I could spot.
Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.
Mei Ah
have actually provided a little bit more special features
than usual, starting with the making of (7 minutes,
49 seconds). It only comes with burned in Chinese subtitles
so little here is of interest for non-Cantonese speakers.
The behind the scenes footage of the kitchen fight, with the
stand in for the CGI character of Bug is fun to see though
as well as the cast working with the action directors but
the program as a whole, is a one watch show. The
MTV (1 minute, 53 seconds) is less of a music video
and more a reel of movie clips intercut with the actors "singing"
along to theme song of the film. The brief Outtakes
Footage (1 minute, 2 second) is fun while it lasts, especially
to see poor Lau Ching Wan do extended takes of Bruce Lee war
cries and handling sausage chucks at the same time. Best Buy
section holds trailers for The Legendary La Roise Noire
92 and the animated feature The Butterfly Lovers.
(Cast members Lau Ching Wan and Christy Chung
receiving directions)
Here's for the big revelation and a sure sign that armageddon
is upon us. Mei Ah's Data Bank section actually has content
in it outside of the plot synopsis screen and cast & crew
listing! Interview of main cast (7 minutes), again
has Chinese subtitles only. In the style of the making of,
Lau Ching Wan, Cecilia Cheung, Louis Koo, Francis Ng, Jordan
Chan, Gillian Chung & Charlene Choi and Christy Chung
are interviewed respectively in combination with movie clips
and behind the scenes footage. Again, the shots of Gillian
and Charlene working with the action choreographers is the
only noteworthy bit here that us non-Cantonese speakers can
appreciate.
Interview of director (56 seconds) Obviously over
before it stars, short interview bites and Wai Ka-Fai working
on set can be seen in this segment. Interview of singer
(24 seconds) rounds off the Data Bank section.
Finally, the trailer for Fantasia ends the special
features section. To get English subtitles for extras is not
a given on Hong Kong dvd's but Mei Ah including a little bit
more than usual is noteworthy. They haven't lived up to the
great initiative on the Men Suddenly In Black set (the
Cantonese audio commentary came with English subtitles) but
their current wonderful remastering of their back catalogue
is enough to forgive the inclusion of Chinese subtitles only
on this, a release of a recent film.
reviewed by Kenneth
Brorsson
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