Magic to Win

You have to hand it to Raymond Wong, the multi-hyphenate actor, writer, producer and director of the 'Happy Ghost' series- besides another fellow Wong (we're talking about Wong Jing), he's probably the longest-serving filmmaker in Hong Kong with a career spanning over 30 years. He's had his ups and downs, but we're talking about the person who's been behind such classics like 'Aces Go Places' and 'All's Well Ends Well'- so you may forgive him for trying to replicate his past successes especially in recent years.

'Magic to Win' represents yet another attempt- after his 'All's Well Ends Well' CNY offerings over the past three years- to recapture the box-office glory of arguably one of his biggest hits, 'Happy Ghost'. Spawning four sequels after the 1984 original became box-office gold, the 'Happy Ghost' series breathed its last breath (pun intended) in 1991, and Raymond has here enlisted his son Edmond Wong (whom he has groomed as a screenwriter since 'Dragon Tiger Gate' and 'Ip Man') to give it a new lease of life.

Edmond's attempt at revitalising the 'Happy Ghost' brand has been to turn it into a mishmash of 'Harry Potter' and 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice', and those (we would presume most) who have seen either Hollywood film will easily recognise the references to both. By way of 'Harry Potter', there is good magic and bad magic- the former consisting of the Water Magician Prof Kang (Raymond Wong), the Earth Magician Ling Feng (Wu Chun), the Wood Magician Gu Xinque (Louis Koo) and the Metal Magician Charlie (Japanese real-life magician Tonny making his first big screen appearance); and the latter made up of the Fire Magician Brad (Wu Jing).

Before you go thinking that this is going to turn out as some epic struggle between good and evil, let us reassure you that it is not. Rather, things are kept simple- too simple in our opinion- so what turmoil in the wizarding world is no more than so that the Fire Magician can capture all of the other magicians and use their powers to change the past. You can guess how it turns out in the end, especially with a bit of moralising thrown in, and let's just say that though the magicians here are all grown-ups, the story is ironically more juvenile than any of the 'Harry Potter' movies.

That's only one half of the movie in fact. The other is a rip-off of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice', admittedly not a very good film to begin with. To get there, Prof Kang will first transfer his powers to a precocious university student of his, Macy (Karena Ng)- who just like the teenage apprentice in the Disney movie, decides to use her newfound magic to her own advantage until she discovers that the consequences of doing so. Prof Kang then becomes her teacher, the sorcerer played by a goofy bespectacled Raymond Wong instead of the scraggly-looking Nicolas Cage.

Not much time however is spent on the tutelage of master and student, as most of the first half of the film is spent on Macy's discovery of her supernatural powers. The excuse for the overindulgence in these earlier scenes seems to be for the sake of nostalgia, with certain scenes paying homage to their iconic predecessors from the 'Happy Ghost' movies- though that also comes with the price of good pacing. Indeed, too much time is spent watching Macy and her underdog volleyball team on the courts, and the narrative lacks the momentum needed to make it anywhere near interesting. Sadly, the pace hardly picks up after the halfway mark- even the climactic fight between the good and bad magicians turns out surprisingly anti-climactic.

Effects are never a replacement for story and character, but when both are lacking, you've got to be thankful that the filmmakers at least got something right. It's nothing outstanding when you compare it to big-budget Hollywood titles, but considering how atrocious CG effects can turn out (think Wong Jing's Future X-Cops) in a China/ Hong Kong title, what has been accomplished here is surprisingly polished. That alone marks a breakthrough for director Wilson Yip, the director of 'Ip Man' and this year's 'A Chinese Ghost Story' whose maiden attempt at directing a CG-heavy blockbuster proves unexpectedly adept.

Yip is however let down by shoddy scriptwriting that not even the all-star cast can salvage. Raymond Wong is still delightfully amusing as ever, but there isn't enough time in the movie for him in between Karena Ng and Wu Chun. The latter nonetheless delivers his most assuredly charming performance to date, while the former has enough charm and fresh appeal as a newcomer to hold your attention. And if you must know, Louis Koo and Wu Jing unfortunately are wasted in barely-there supporting roles.

Alas the same can be said of this reboot of the 'Happy Ghost' series, a misfire of an attempt to blend the light-hearted humour of the former films with the contemporarily trendy elements of magic and fantasy. Neither comes to a satisfying brew, let alone the mixture of both, and while 'Happy Ghost' provided more than enough magic to sustain Raymond Wong's filmmaking career, there is hardly any here to make it a winning formula. The good news? Raymond Wong will survive this movie to make another, his next yet another reboot- that of the classic comedy 'Eighth Happiness'.

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I have seriously no idea what the title Magic to Win wants to conjure. It doesn't make sense and all it does is to imply the film doesn't either, which is just about right. However the clues may come from its Chinese title which suggests some links to the once-upon-a-time Happy Ghost series, which was produced and starred Raymond Wong, who gets another leading role here. It's about, in certain ways, spirits, magic, school girls and the competitive games they get themselves involved in, and that's it.

While Happy Ghost may have made Raymond Wong and Loletta Lee (before she became a sex siren) household names, perhaps that's what Magic to Win is trying to achieve as well, although this time to put Wong back into the limelight with his recent interest to reignite the box office resurrecting franchises like Happy Ghost and the All's Well Ends Well series into modern updates, but so far the effort pales in comparison to the originals. Those were simpler days with simpler expectations which only for reasons of nostalgia can stand up to a viewing today, and efforts to reboot those series with the same spirit, somehow doesn't cut it anymore.

It's troubling when the story adopts from various sci-fi fantasy films and stories, and the most recent being The Last Airbender, where magicians have powers that befit the various elementals they align to. Here, this is somewhat hazy, as the powers inherited don't necessary have to belong to the elements, and came across as generic bolts of energy able to do just about anything like a Green Lantern power ring. The story's basically driven by Wu Jing's Fire magician (another cliché, it's always the one wielding fire powers that are evil) wanting to steal the powers of the other magicians for reasons unknown, probably world domination, until the final act when the reason's unveiled, which you will go "so he went through all that trouble just for that? Why couldn't he just, ask nicely?".

This pursuit of the other magicians open up cameo appearances for the likes of Louis Koo and real life magician Tonny Jan, otherwise the film is essentially belonging to the triage of Raymond Wong as a Professor, Wu Chun as Ling Fung whose pendant enabled his spirit to be detached from his imprisoned bodily vessel and becomes the "Happy Ghost" so to speak, and that of newcomer Karena Ng as Meisi the volleyball player who inadvertently absorbs the Professor's Water elemental powers. Ling Fung looks toward Meisi for help because she's the only one who can see him, while Meisi and her childish peers are only interested to profit from her newfound powers. Very weak comedy ensues that seemed to be recycled from various Happy Ghost episodes, or may appeal to anyone under the age of 10. Chinese actress Yan Ni rounds up the cast as the volleyball team coach who frankly has nothing no primary reason to be here other than because Meisi and her throwaway cardboard friends are volleyball players.

Granted, the film boasts very impressive special and visual effects for a Hong Kong / China production, but still it's not something not already seen before, and ultimately it's the lack of a strong story that became its downfall. Stuffing the film with stars such as Louis Koo isn't helping much if he's only given a role that could be done without, and very clearly Magic to Win is only going to appeal to the Chinese market for its very obvious, direct feel good and overly preachy positive messages that will find its place in any moral education school textbook. This is something that's ringing alarm bells all over in recent films to come out of the Hong Kong market, granted that film production is a costly affair and that the money's coming out of the mainland, but films like these are just going to hurt themselves in the longer run if it continues to pander to whoever's funding it.

Magic To Win is not your usual Hong Kong flick, but instead it is a movie that requires the audience to totally suspend your belief, escape from the reality and enter a world of magic, weirdness, fun and enjoyment. This is certainly the most light-hearted attempt to come from the director of Ip Man franchise, Wilson Yip. It is a kind of film where you either go along for the ride or have fun or it will just end up on the gutter of your basement. Yip smartly cast a number of veterans to go with a cast of inexperience girls. Producer/star Raymond Chow puts in a fun 90s performance as a University professor who knows magic, likewise he is perfectly aided by a more than capable Wu Chun (My Kingdom), bright-faced newcomer Karena Ng, the ever improving Wu Jing (SPL) and a fun, yet needless cameo display by the ever likable Louis Koo.

All in all, Magic to Win is by no means a movie that will light up the crowd or reinvent Hong Kong cinema, but it is easy for the candy coated eyes and simply enjoyable as a whole. If you can ignore the weirdness of the genre, the mix and hash of East meet West elements (namely Star Wars and Harry Potter), Magic To Win feels like a fresh update of Chow's successful Happy Ghost series. The good news is Magic To Win demands very little from the audience and with a light hearted mindset, this film can be a bit of fun. For a Hong Kong industry lacking in any sort of identity, creativity and humor, Magic To Win is a success in many ways…

Neo rates it 7/10.

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