Mr. & Mrs. Incredible

神奇侠侣

Hong Kong/China, 2011, colour, 2.35:1, 104 mins.

Director: Gu Dezhao 谷德昭 [Vincent Kok].

Rating: 5/10.

Costume tale of two retired super-heroes lacks enough bounce and wit to succeed as a CNY action comedy.

STORY

Ancient China. In a small town Ni Huan (Gu Tianle) and his wife Rouge (Wu Junru) live quietly; he is the town’s head guard, she runs a steamed-bun shop. However, both are in fact incognito super-heroes – Gazer Warrior and Aroma Warrior – who retired 10 years ago after Gazer Warrior had prevented a bank robbery by the Four Big Pests gang and the two met, romanced and married. After buying a beautiful lakeside home out of town, they want to start a family but are told by a doctor (Li Jing) that Rouge has a dangerously slow pulse rate that could imperil her chances of having a child. News then arrives that local clan leader and martial arts grandmaster Bai Xiaosheng (Wang Bojie) is to arrange a tournament to rank martial artists in the region. At the same time, Ni Huan meets pretty young Lan Fenghuang (Li Qin), whose family he once helped out a decade ago and who suspects he is actually Gazer Warrior. As the tournament approaches, Rouge becomes jealous of her husband’s apparent liking for Lan Fenghuang.

REVIEW

Caught between the demands of a New Year comedy and a super-hero action film, Mr. & Mrs. Incredible 神奇侠侣 ends up satisfying neither: the comedy is not sustained enough, or broad enough, to inspire real laughs rather than just smiles, and the action is largely crammed into the final 15 minutes with the sudden appearance of a plot and a super-villain. Writer-director Gu Dezhao 谷德昭 [Vincent Kok], who had a series of successful collaborations during the 1990s with Zhou Xingchi 周星驰 [Stephen Chow] (Forbidden City Cop 大内密探零零发, 1996; The God of Cookery 食神, 1996) has had an up-and-down career ever since, and in lack of a personal signature needs strong collaborators to succeed.

Though producer Chen Kexin 陈可辛 [Peter Chan] rather than Gu was probably more suited to direct it, there is in fact a nice movie hidden away here which is hinted at in the Chinese title (literally, “The Magical Chivalrous Companions”): a romantic comedy about two retired super-heroes and their attempt to start a family and a life away from the martial arts world. The first half of the film looks like being this movie, with a barely recognisable (and much more relaxed) Gu Tianle 古天乐 [Louis Koo] partnering nicely with veteran comedienne Wu Junru 吴君如 [Sandra Ng] as a loving couple who are somewhat bored with their lives and decide to have a child. Reining back her rambuctious side, Wu meets Gu halfway in a relationship that’s both touching and mischievously amusing. But then an action plot starts to form around the hour mark and the gentle romantic comedy is ditched for action antics.

Supporting performances by a mixed cast that includes young Taiwan actor Wang Bojie 王柏杰 (Winds of September 九降风, 2008; Bodyguards and Assassins 十月围城, 2009) as a villain, Mainland rock band Second Hand Rose 二手玫瑰 as martial arts grandmasters, and cute Mainland opera performer Li Qin 李沁 in her first big-screen role are just that – supporting performances to Gu and Wu’s. Widescreen photography by veteran Ao Zhijun 敖志君 (Chinese Odyssey 2002 天下无双, 2002; The Fantastic Water Babes 出水芙蓉, 2010) and the minorities-looking costume design are both characterful and colourful, but at the end of the day the movie is a victim of its script (credited to Gu, Zhou collaborator Feng Mianheng 冯勉恒, plus three others) which appears to lose its nerve halfway.

Despite its English title, the film has no connection with the 2004 US animated movie The Incredibles, though the film makes references to older Hong Kong super-heroes like Black Rose 黑玫瑰 who were partly inspired by American models.

CREDITS

Presented by Stellar Mega Films (CN), We Pictures (HK). Produced by We Pictures (HK).

Script: Gu Dezhao [Vincent Kok], Feng Mianheng, Shu Huan, Chen Baojun, Chen Jiayi. Script advice: Liu Yiwei. Photography: Ao Zhijun [Peter Ngor]. Editing: Zhong Weizhao [Azrael Chung], Ye Wanting. Music: Huang Yinghua [Raymond Wong]. Art direction: He Jianxiong [Cyrus Ho]. Design consultation: Xi Zhongwen [Yee Chung-man]. Costumes: Lu Wenhua, Li Bijun [Lee Pik-kwan]. Action: Yang Deyi. Visual effects: Different Digital Design.

Cast: Gu Tianle [Louis Koo] (Ni Huan/Tongtong Xia/Gazer Warrior/Mr. Flint), Wu Junru [Sandra Ng] (Rouge/Xiangxiang Xia/Aroma Warrior/Mrs. Flint), Wen Zhang (Zhen Huang/King Kong/Emperor), Wang Bojie (Grandmaster Bai Xiaosheng/Grandmaster Blanc), Li Qin (Lan Fenghuang/Blue Phoenix), Zhou Bo (He), Li Jing (real estate agent; doctor), He Yunwei (Mayi/Evil Ant), Du Wenze [Chapman To] (drunk), Ershou Meigui [Second Hand Roses] (Five Grandmasters), Huang Xiaolan (No. 7), Gu Dezhao [Vincent Kok], Feng Mianheng (soldiers), Zhang Wei, Wang Wenbo (White Cranes).

Release: Hong Kong, 3 Feb 2011; China, 3 Feb 2011.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 28 Feb 2011.)