SYNOPSIS:
In
this engaging action comedy about the quest for love and honour,
a teenage girl Gillian who becomes obsessed with beating her
romantic rival in a swimming competition, Chi Yuen to teach
her to master the art of competitive swimming. During the
course of the swimming lessons, they begin as a pair of bickering
enemies and then gradually develop mutual interest for each
other. Eventually, not only does she discover who she really
loves, she also learns to trust and believe more in herself...
will she win the competition?
MOVIE REVIEW:
A movie about pretty girls in swimsuits means
a field day for us male reviewers – or at least that’s
what this one thought. Also known as the movie which was delayed
because of male lead Gillian Chung’s boo boo with a
particular Edison Chen, this Jeff Lau directed movie is one
Hong Kong production we thought we’d enjoy. This is
not only because of the obvious reasons of eye candy, but
also of the director’s interesting filmography. From
the guy who gave us the wonderful Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002)
and the terrible Kungfu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction (2009),
we are interested in finding out whether it’s a hit
or miss this time.
The movie is marketed as a romantic comedy
where a good looking male swimming champion is kidnapped by
a beautiful but cocky female swimmer and her teammates so
that he can train her to win a tournament. The competitor
is question is also the female protagonist’s rival in
love. What originally was hate at first sight becomes, yes,
you’ve guessed it, l-o-v-e, when the two learn more
about each other.
Not too bad a premise, we’d say, when
we first read the synopsis of this 85 minute movie. Who doesn’t
love a refreshing comedy filled with giggle worthy plot setups
including a group of swimsuit donning girls and a too cool
to be true celebrity swimmer? But what we also didn’t
expect are a whole lot of other unwarranted cinematic elements
a pompous super power that involves a sea deity, a series
of slapstick gags and grasp your seats for this: Stephen Fung
in drag.
But then again, director Lau has been known
to deliver such comic relief, or so he thinks. From his filmography
which also includes the Stephen Chow star vehicle A Chinese
Odyssey series and a radical version of the classic “Journey
to the West” A Chinese Tall Story, one realises that
such offbeat and dare we say it, cheap humour, doesn’t
come as a surprise. They may not always induce laughter, but
the sporadic comedic moments will suffice for the lazy viewer.
Watch out for the CG laden finale and you’d
get a better idea how director Lau has the best intentions
to awe his audience, but may come off awkwardly amusing instead.
Chung fares decently as the girl who starts
off as being irksome, but eventually becomes a darling –
her sweet looks do help to a certain extent. Alex Fong plays
the swimmer and provides some charming moments. Eva Huang
steals our hearts as the pitiful girl who wants true love
before a terminal disease takes her life away. The cast delivers
an average performance which will satisfy the casual viewer.
So is the two year wait worth it to see Chung
on the big screen again? While this production will not go
down as a classic in movie history, it will milk some chuckles
while it lasts in audiences’ memories.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
A Trailer is included in this Code 3 DVD.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The movie's visual transfer is fine, and is dubbed
in the ever undesirable Mandarin audio track.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted on 15 November 2010
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