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.
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.
- www.thehkneo.com