Stephen Chow isn’t as popular in the West as he is in Asia, but the worldwide success of “Kung Fu Hustle” did a lot to improve his visibility. Now Chow has another possible crossover picture, “CJ7.” It’s different, but equally goofy.
“CJ7” carries a PG rating and is clearly geared for kids, but be aware that this movie would be made very differently by Hollywood. It’s full of politically incorrect gags and bodily harm.
Our hero is Dicky (Jiao Xu), a poor schoolboy who never gets the cool toys other students have. His wardrobe is picked from garbage dumps, and quality time with his father means squashing cockroaches in their crumbling apartment.
Dad (played by director Chow) is a construction laborer who sacrifices everything just to keep his son in a good school. One night he finds a green plastic ball at the dump, and brings it home as a toy.
It’s no toy, but a bizarre alien creature — part yoga ball, part kitty. Dicky dubs the creature CJ7, and totes it to school with him. He fantasizes that his new pal will have magical powers, but reality is still rough. Elaborate poop jokes drive home the point.
“CJ7” goes on like this, until a random accident turns the final act into a heart-tugger. This is as broad as the rest of the picture, but it’ll have a few handkerchiefs wet.
Chow might be aping the format for “E.T.” but his real inspiration goes back to Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid,” a film with a similarly put-upon child and hard-working father. The formula still works.
As an actor, Chow allows his small co-star a lot of screen time. Jiao Xu is an animated charmer — and a girl. Stealing a page from Linda Hunt in “The Year of Living Dangerously,” she switches gender without missing a beat. (I didn’t know it was a girl until I read about the movie afterward.)
If you’re over the age of 12, your tolerance for “CJ7” might depend on how you take the computer-generated creature. The cutesy factor is high, and the little thing doesn’t have much of a personality.
Chow is creative, and he knows how to stage comedy for the camera. Now if he could only cut down on the poop jokes.
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