MY LUCKY STAR (非常幸运) (2013)

Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: Dennie Gordon  
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Wang Lee Hom, Yao Chen, Ruby Lin, Ada Choi
RunTime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw and Scorpio East Pictures
Official Website:  

Opening Day: 19 September 2013

Synopsis: Sophie is back and this time she’s going cosmo. From her stomping grounds in Beijing to tropical high-tech Singapore to the outback fishing villages of Hong Kong to a stunning gondola finale in the mazes of Venetian Macao’s canals, “My Lucky Star” is raising the bar on love and adventure in this new extravagant comedy. Going nowhere in love and stuck in life as a lowly travel agent, Sophie finds escape in her own comic book creations. Winning the office contest for a prize trip to Singapore suddenly turns her life upside in the best way possible, as she meets there the man of her dreams: David, the handsome super-spy from her own comics. Their dalliance takes place at the spectacular Marina Bay Sands SkyPark infinity pool, amid their search for the billion-dollar jewel, the “Lucky Star Diamond,” a gem capable of destroying the world, one country at a time.

Movie Review:

‘Sophie’s Revenge’ was one of the pioneers of Mainland Chinese cinema’s recent obsession with Hollywood-styled rom-coms, its success at the box-office no doubt paving the way for countless others for better and for worse. Unfortunately, this quasi-sequel that sees Zhang Ziyi reprising a similar role as a gifted comic book artist belongs in the latter category, and not even having American director Dennie Gordon at the helm manages to save this spy comedy from its own tedium.

Still out of luck at love, Sophie clocks her days as a telephone receptionist at a travel agency in Beijing, while dreaming of being whisked off by a Chinese 007 on an exciting adventure which she indulges in the comics she draws at home and at work. The setup is lively and energetic, with Gordon switching effortlessly between live-action and animation to show how the scenarios in Sophie’s comics are in fact her own wildest dreams; there is also a generous use of split screens, especially when she contrasts Sophie’s sad predicament with that of her two best friends and her bitchy rival Cici (Ada Choi in a pointless cameo).

But just as you thought the filmmakers might be aiming for some quirky fun in the same vein as its predecessor, their much less noble intentions come to light. Out of the blue, Sophie wins a ticket to Singapore to get away from the mundane realities of her everyday life; just as conveniently, some precious diamond that is also a crucial component of some weapon of mass destruction goes missing in London, leaving some unnamed spy agency to send David Yan (Wang Lee Hom) in pursuit. The place of exchange? Singapore. Well they must not have heard about our tough laws here; otherwise, they might consider some other Southeast Asian country.

If you aren’t aware, our own Marina Bay Sands is one of the big corporate sponsors of this movie, and so where else do Sophie and David find themselves but here in our very own MBS hotel? As the tired cliché goes, Sophie is immediately smitten by David and owing to her infatuation, does every little darn thing to get close to him, inadvertently foiling his plans to stop the diamond from falling into the hands of international assassin Mr Gao (Taiwanese go-to baddie Jack Kao) and his employer Black Widow (Chen Yao, who also happens to be a ‘Sophie’s Revenge’ alum).

Besides a key sequence that unfolds within the compounds of MBS’ Ku De Ta, Sophie and David also get to sell the sights of MBS from the lobby, within a suite facing the Bay and most significantly within the Infinity Pool on the 57^th floor. A job well done for their Marketing Comms no doubt, but where does that leave us viewers? Well, pretty much empty. Aside from admiring the beauty of our Bay area at night (and spotting local actor Benjamin Heng in a cameo as a bartender), there’s no disguising the fact that neither of the four writers involved - Amy Snow, Chris Chow, Hai Huang, and Yao Meng - care about spinning a credible plot to string together the promotional shots.

That same nonchalance pretty much carries on throughout the movie, which ditches Singapore midway for Hong Kong before culminating in a bloated climax set in Macau’s The Venetian. The former pit stop sees an utterly cringe-worthy interlude set on board a floating home that Aberdeen is famous for, just so Sophie and David can deepen their feelings for each other and the latter can teach the former kung fu before sending her out as a covert operative to infiltrate an exclusive nightclub. The latter is equally inane, unless you count the sight of Zhang Ziyi steering a gondola in the Venetian your idea of fun.

It’s not so much that the entire movie is episodic in nature, but rather the fact that these episodes that are meant to be the highlights of the whole aren’t particularly funny, inventive or entertaining. That means, despite some visual trickery (the shots do change pretty quickly throughout the entire movie), you’ll hardly find yourself engaged in the slapstick shenanigans that Gordon tries to unfold at a breakneck pace. Rather, you’ll probably be thinking just how much them brands paid to be on the screen with such prominence - besides MBS and Venetian, we count Lenovo and Bvlgari.

Not even the combined star power of Zhang Ziyi and Wang Lee Hom can rescue the movie from its doldrums. It may have been refreshing to see Ziyi shed her icy image as Sophie the first time round, but that novelty wears out too quickly here, and one soon realises that she lacks the comic expressiveness to shine in such a screwball comedic role. Lee Hom does exactly what he is called to do, that is, look dapper and suave as a secret agent and the object of Ziyi’s affections. Sadly, they share little chemistry with each other, coming off almost as if they were too caught up playing their respective parts.

Despite its title, there are no lucky stars to be found here - neither Ziyi (who also produces the movie, Lee Hom or Gordon gets any favours being involved with this thinly plotted, poorly imagined and shoddily executed excuse of a movie. Indeed, it is no more than a vehicle for numerous product placements and corporate sponsorships, they perhaps the only lucky ones to give themselves a pat on the back for getting their brand names up in the movie. Otherwise, whether by the standards of a rom-com or a spoof of the spy genre, this Star hardly shines. 

Movie Rating:

(A collective vehicle for product placements and corporate sponsorships masquerading as a movie, this spy spoof is a gem only if you're Marina Bay Sands, the Venetian, Lenovo or Bvlgari)

Review by Gabriel Chong