Bride Wars

新娘大作战

Hong Kong/China, 2015, colour, 2.35:1, 88 mins.

Director: Chen Guohui 陈国辉 [Tony Chan].

Rating: 6/10.

Remake of the 2009 US film cruises along smoothly and looks great, but has unconvincing lead chemistry.

STORY

Shanghai, the present day. On the TV game show Bride Wars 新娘大作战, contestants Ma Li (Ni Ni) and He Jing (Yang Ying) tell their stories of how they came to fall out. They first became friends when Ma Li’s wealthy parents (Liu Jinshan, Guo Yafei) transferred her, at the age of 11, from Chengdu, Sichuan province, to a private boarding school in Shanghai, where He Jing, a local girl, took her under her wing. Both swore to become best friends for life and to attend each other’s marriage ceremonies. After graduation they shared a flat and each found an ideal boyfriend; meanwhile, He Jing taught ballet. Under pressure from their parents to get married once they were 28, Ma Li and He Jing successfully persuaded their boyfriends, photographer Luo Dan (Zhu Yawen) and architect Kevin (Chen Xiao), to tie the knot. Through the wedding-planning company Love Limited 爱你有限, the two arranged dates – Ma Li for 20 May and He Jing for 10 Jun – so they could be each other’s bridesmaid; but when the wedding planner, Sir Alexander (He Jiong), later discovered the 10 Jun date had already been booked, and the next available one was in three-and-a-half years’ time, He Jing was devastated. Sir Alexander said he could arrange it so both could share the date and location but, when Ma Li eventually demurred, He Jing declared “war” on her. Both went ahead with preparations while trying to sabotage the other’s plans. And then He Jing lost her teaching job. As they tearfully end their stories on the game show, Ma Li and He Jing almost succeed in making up. But soon they’re arguing again, and later have rows with their fiances as well.

REVIEW

After less-than-stellar China box office for its last two investments – The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman 刀见笑 (2010) and Love in Space 全球热恋 (2011) – Fox International finally returns to Chinese-language production with the glossy rom-com Bride Wars 新娘大作战. Seemingly taking no chances this time, it’s gone for a Chinese re-make of one of its own successes – the 2009 Bride Wars, starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, released in China as 结婚大作战 – made sure several Americans are among the producers (including Hudson), and turned the writing and direction over to New York-raised Chen Guohui [Tony Chan]. Co-director of Fox International’s first Chinese production, the hit Hot Summer Days 全城热恋  热辣辣 (2010), as well as Love in Space, Chen can be relied upon to turn in a slick product. With up-and-coming hottie Ni Ni 倪妮 (The Flowers of War 金陵十三钗, 2011; Fleet of Time 匆匆那年, 2014) and rom-com regular Yang Ying 杨颖 [Angelababy] (from Hot and Love) taking the Hudson and Hathaway roles, and only a slight tweak to the original film’s Chinese title to ensure brand recognition, it must have looked fire-proof. And so it proved – kind of. Bride Wars earned a decent, though hardly runaway, RMB173 million, making it Fox International’s biggest China success so far; and though no one is ever going to put it on their list of favourite films, the production cruises through its 80-odd minutes with nary a bump.

The story of two upper-scale New York BFFs who have a mega-tiff when they can’t get married on the same day transfers painlessly to the trendier sections of modern-day Shanghai society and its internationalised fashion culture. The screenplay by Chen and experienced hands Gu Wei 顾伟 (Love on the Cloud 微爱之渐入佳境, 2014) and writer-filmmaker Xu Yiliang 徐伊亮 adheres to the main plot of the Hollywood original but nips and tucks as it goes along (no scenes of the leads trying to get another bride to give up her slot; much less on them sabotaging each other’s plans and hen parties) as well as expanding sections (such as the women’s schooldays) to fit the Chinese setting better. In general, it’s a much softer film than the hard-edged Noo Yawk one, and much more playful.

However, given that the story is complete candy floss, any adaptation needs convincing chemistry between its leads to carry the audience. Hudson and Hathaway had an abrasive chemistry that worked; Ni and Yang, alas, have none. Even on the film’s own level of superficiality, the characters’ bosom friendship looks manufactured, and both actresses are at their best when not pretending to be a BFF of the other. Ni comes into her own midway, as the “war” between the pair hots up and she can goof around, playing comic-nasty; Yang tries her hardest but, even under a simpatico director like Chen, can’t really let go in the way Ni can. Their beaux are basically window-dressing, with Zhu Yawen 朱亚文 (the serial killer in The Witness 我是证人, 2015) fractionally more characterful, matching Ni’s outgoing performance. As the louche wedding planner caught between all the girly tantrums, TV presenter He Jiong 何炅 hits just the right campy notes, while cameos by the likes of Huang Xiaoming (as a groom at the start), Jing Boran (a game-show host) and Feng Shaofeng (a priest at the end) are amusing diversions. At least Bride Wars never pretends to be something it isn’t.

Chen has an interesting history. Now 48, he moved from Hong Kong to New York with his family at the age of 13, and first attracted notice on the festival circuit back in 1993 with his Chinatown drama Combination Platter, mostly shot in his family’s restaurant in Queens. He then disappeared (as a director) for the next 17 years until co-directing Hot Summer Days with Hong Kong photographer/graphic designer Xia Yongkang 夏永康 [Wing Shya], though in the meantime he did various work as a producer (Chat 聊聊, 2002; Sleepless City 危情雪夜, 2004), writer (Blood Brothers 天堂口, 2007) and art director (The Kung-Fu Scholar 伦文叙老点柳先开, 1994).

Using largely Hong Kong key personnel, Chen proves again that can turn in a handsome looking product: d.p. Liang Shengji 梁盛基 makes Shanghai and its oldstyle architecture sing, while art director Huang Jialun 黄家伦 and costume designer Ma Tianyou 马天佑 keep the eyes busy while the brain is being numbed by the frothy goings-on. Editor Li Dongquan 李栋全 [Wenders Li] just about manages to make the content cross the 80-minute line without signs of stretch, with the next song montage (half of them in English) never far away. Chen went on to use the same key crew on his next movie, the romantic drama Fall in Love Like a Star 怦然星动, his second release of 2015 after an absence of four years.

CREDITS

Presented by Bona Film Group (CN), Fox International Productions (Greater China) (HK), Bona Entertainment (HK), Shenzhen Tencent Video Culture Communication (CN). Produced by Fox International Productions (Greater China) (HK), Buddy Creative (HK).

Script: Chen Guohui [Tony Chan], Gu Wei, Xu Yiliang. Film script: Greg DePaul, Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael. Photography: Liang Shengji. Editing: Li Dongquan [Wenders Li]. Music: Zhong Entai [Eddie Chung]. Art direction: Huang Jialun. Costume design: Ma Tianyou. Sound: Zheng Yingyuan [Phyllis Cheng], Ye Zhaoji. Visual effects: Huang Zhiheng [Henri Wong] (CG House).

Cast: Ni Ni (Ma Li), Yang Ying [Angelababy] (He Jing), Zhu Yawen (Luo Dan, Ma Li’s fiance), Chen Xiao (Kaiwen/Kevin, He Jing’s fiance), He Jiong (Sir Alexander, wedding planner), Liu Jinshan (Ma Li’s father), Wang Yi’nan (Xiaobai, He Jing’s chief bridesmaid), Xi Wang (Xiaorou, Ma Li’s chief bridesmaid), Jing Boran (game-show host), Du Haitao (chief strong guy), Huang Xiaoming (groom in church at start), Feng Shaofeng (priest at end), Zhu Yihan (young Ma Li), Guo Yafei (Ma Li’s mother), Wang Jiahui (young He Jing), Xu Yulan (He Jing’s mother), Wu Renyuan (He Jing’s father), Peng Bo (wedding boutique staffer), Yan Jingyao (dance-school head).

Release: China, 20 Aug 2015, Hong Kong, 29 Oct 2015.