All's Well, Ends Well 2010 (2010) User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: All's Well Ends Well 2010

[DICK STEEL · 4/10 · 13 February 2010]

With the franchise given new lease of life last year, with even Raymond Wong and Sandra Ng making their way to Singapore on a whirlwind tour to promote the slated for Lunar New Year comedy, it comes up against the other CNY offering of 72 Tenants of Prosperity from Shaw Brothers and TVB, pitting both head on except for local distributors who decide to keep them a week apart from cannibalizing on each other. Both feature an ensemble cast, but comparing the two, 72 Tenants have got my vote as the better one should you need to watch a Chinese comedy this holiday season.

AWEW2010 reunites the principal cast of Raymond Wong, Sandra Ng, Louis Koo, Raymond Cheng, Lee Heung Kam and Ha Chun-Chau from the reinvigorated predecessor, and they are joined by relative new faces Angela Baby, Lynn Hung, Kristal Tin and Pan Yueming taking up madcap roles in this feel good movie which follows the formula of desperados seeking love through extreme comedy measures, and by the end of it round it all up with a mass marriage. This is the formula from the start of the franchise more than a decade ago, and I suppose is signature of the series to warrant any changes.

The story's kept pretty simple to follow, set in the fictional kingdom of Hua Tien, where Louis Koo's Emperor Ocean holds court, being a kung-fu fanatic who tries to master fantastical martial arts made famous in Louis Cha's novels. Awaiting the arrival of his sister Princess Wai Chu (Angela Baby) who's under the protection of lover and General Bing (Raymond Cheng), the Princess got lost in an ambush, only to be rescued by Million Wong (Raymond Wong), who decided that the amnesiac Wai Chu pose as his own missing daughter Ying (Lynn Hung) to be married off to the Ng scion (played by Pan Yueming), whose aunt is a stereotypical role that Sandra Ng excels in and can play with her eyes closed.

It's a mix up of identities something like the Prince and the Pauper, only this time to involve 2 girls and their respective 2 suitors, with peripheral characters complicating all the relationship matters here through the concealing of intentions for personal material gain. Being a light hearted romp, don't go about expecting any depth to the characters, who can flip flop like the wind as the situation calls for it, in order to bring in the laughs. Spoofs also do not go unnoticed, and the biggest one here happen to be that of Ip Man again, though this time around (after 72 Tenants) it doesn't seem to be funny anymore.

Which is unfortunate because the entire movie doesn't have too many genuinely funny moments. Yes it can be ridiculous, but it doesn't even come across as mo-lei-tau funny at all. Granted that this is the Mandarin version and some jokes could have been lost in translation, frankly this is one time that I don't find that this is the case. The jokes fell flat most of the time, and really tried so hard that each scene came across in a very contrived manner. Some instances of Cantonese were left intact, mostly the song and dance sequence. For those who are still standing on the "Keep Hong Kong Movies in Mandarin" side of the fence, tell me with a straight face that you can sit through the ending song that was dubbed and sung so horrendously, it makes my bathroom singing all the more melodic.

I'm not sure if this film has the legs to carry on for another episode next year, but if it does then let's hope that the cast can be reunited under a more coherent, wittier script in order to bring about fun and laughter like it was supposed to.

Mo lei tau dreck

[eddax · 3/10 · 6 September 2010]

It's a tribute to my love for the great slapstick comedian, Sandra Ng, that I watch such dreck as this. I might pan such movies but I'd still give them a try just because she's in them, just in case one of these "mo lei tau" (brainless and senseless) comedies rubs me in the all the right ways, like with Mortuary Blues.

Anyway, this movie is pretty bad. A barely-there story is to be expected but the jokes were barely there as well. With the exception of the two veteran leads, Sandra and Raymond Wong, the actors cross the line from slapstick to slapc*ck. The latter, as expected, is painful to watch and experience.

A Resurgence of Chinese New Year Films - Review of "All's Well, End's Well 2010" and "72 Tenants of Prosperity"

[kampolam-75813 · 4/10 · 23 January 2023]

At the beginning of 2010, Chinese New Year films had a resurgence. After the box office results of Mandarin Entertainment Limited's "All's Well, End's Well 2009", Raymond Wong Pak-Ming once again took out the "trick" of his New Year's film and launched "All's Well, End's Well 2010" with the original cast. At the same time, Shaw Brothers, who fought again in the film industry, joined hands with TVB to start the filming of "72 Tenants of Prosperity" with Eric Tsang Chi-Wai, and adapted Shaw Brothers' classic film "The House of 72 Tenants" (1973) with TVB stars. Two films under the banner of Chinese New Year films, a lot of sparks have been aroused in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

As for "All's Well, End's Well 2010" and "72 Tenants of Prosperity", which are the most Hong Kong style Chinese New Year Films, there are many stars, a big concept running through, full of improvisations, etc. Back then, the Chinese New Year films were spurned by the audience because of rough production and nonsensical plots. Improvised performances with an attitude of "nonsense" cannot satisfy the constantly demanding audience; in addition, there are many producers who make jokes and pile up comedy scenes indiscriminately, and use the mode of small-budget production to attract audiences with the charm of actors. The films of "negative teaching materials" teach the audience how to distinguish the quality of the film, at the same time, the audience witnesses the big scenes and excellent special effects of the Hollywood production, and has a "greedy" mentality towards the movie. Looking at the stars, this makes the "hurried" type of Chinese New Year films disappear instantly.

There were a few years in the Chinese New Year period, and films that played the banner of the Chinese New Year were not welcomed by the audience. On the contrary, some high-quality films, even if the subject matter was not suitable for the Chinese New Year, had a good box office. Derek Yee Tung-Sing's "Protégé" (2007) is one of them. In 2009, "All's Well, End's Well 2009" stood out. Some people in the industry believe that the audience has been missing the Chinese New Year films for a long time. In addition, the social atmosphere has improved, the audience laughed at the movie theater during the Chinese New Year, and the need to forget their worries increased. The objective environment for the Chinese New Year films. Looking back at the two Chinese New Year films, the overall score of "72 Tenants of Prosperity" is obviously better than that of "All's Well, End's Well 2010". It can be seen that Eric Tsang is still quite sensitive to the preferences and tastes of Hong Kong society and the audience. With the addition of two young directors, Chung Shu-Kai and Patrick Kong Pak-Leung, they can give new impetus and propositions in the adaptation, and make the extremely old-fashioned two generations of grievances and neighbors harmonious that are all interesting. Of course, the directors used the actors' images and scandals on the stage and behind the scenes to make a big show. Among them, in "72 Tenants of Prosperity", Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau and Wong Cho-Lam, who played his son, sang in the hospital for a period of time, and Wong Cho-Lam showed his singing skills to the superstar and singer Jacky Cheung and his imitation ability.

As for "All's Well, End's Well 2010", it uses Raymond Wong's usual costume comedy formula. Ronald Cheng Chung-Kei and Sandra Ng Kwan-Yue both use their on the spot reactions and perform at will. As for Louis Koo Tin-Lok, he also performs with a "going out" mentality, which depends on the individual performance of the actors. It is obvious that "All's Well, End's Well 2010" is not as "like a duck to water" as "All's Well, End's Well 2009" in this regard. However, what is interesting is that both films joke about Donnie Yen Ji-Dan's one-to-ten match in "Ip Man" (2008), which is believed to be purely coincidental.

By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)