Whatever You Want

When I sat down here in 2023 to watch the 1994 Hong Kong comedy "Zhu Guang Bao Qi" (aka "Whatever You Want"), it was actually my first time to see it, or actually hear about it. And with my love for the Hong Kong cinema, of course I opted to watch it.

As a long time fan of the Hong Kong cinema, then there were some familiar faces on the cast list here, with the likes of Jordan Chan, Michael Wong, Christy Chung, Yat-Fei Wong and Anita Yuen. I have to say that I was thrilled to see Jordan Chan on the cast list here, prior to actually sitting down to watch the movie.

Writer and director Jing Wong managed to put together a fair enough script and storyline for the movie. However, it should be noted that "Zhu Guang Bao Qi" was also a somewhat generic movie. That being said, don't get me wrong, because I enjoyed the movie for what it was, but it just wasn't an outstanding script, nor a particularly memorable one either.

If you enjoy early 1994 romantic comedies then you will also find some enjoyment in "Zhu Guang Bao Qi", no doubt about it.

Now that I have seen "Zhu Guang Bao Qi", I can tick it off of the list. However, this is hardly a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing, so I doubt I will ever return to watch it a second time.

My rating of "Zhu Guang Bao Qi" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Ko San Ping (Anita Yuen, perennially cute) can't find a job. But her luck turns a corner when she finds three magic pearls in an antique store; she gets three wishes from a scantily clad genie named Bolobolo (Michael Wong). Ko's biggest wish is to meet her long-estranged conductor/director sister Pearl Ko (ultra-cute Christy Chung). They both end up chasing after the studly genie, a god-in-training who doesn't have "a dicky." The plot is okay, but the film parodies are what make this one roll: included is a famous satire of SPEED (with Yuen as Sandra Bullock), Chinese TORTURE CHAMBER STORY (with Yuen getting tortured with office supplies [!?]) and Christy Chung's clunker MERMAID GOT MARRIED; but HK art-film director Wong Kar Wai gets the worst of it -- his ASHES OF TIME is recast with a hideous female impersonator playing Brigitte Lin's role (!), and CHUNGKING EXPRESS gets some nasty jibes, too.