Pun Salad

I really enjoyed two of Stephen Chow's previous movies, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. This was (unfortunately) not quite as inspired-crazy as those, but still a decent viewing.

Little Dicky is desperately poor, but his widower father has struggled to send him to a fancy private school. (Chinese movie clichés are sometimes the same as American movie clichés: Dicky is ridiculed and bullied by the richer kids at school.) His father tries to instill him with the virtues of integrity, honesty, and hard work, but that's kind of tough to abide by when you're a kid. Dicky makes a scene in a toy store when he can't get the latest robotic dog.

Dad is used to scavenging for most of their meager posessions, so he checks out the local dump for a gizmo he can give Dicky. Coincidentally, the dump's being used as a hiding place by an alien spacecraft; they take off, but leave behind a creature, which Dad mistakes for a toy. Zany hijinks ensue.

It's rated PG, but littler kids might find some things a wee bit intense. And impressionable tikes will probably need to be cautioned not to treat their local pets the way Dicky treats his "toy".

Also: I've noticed before that Chinese movies sometimes contain explicit poop jokes; that observation is borne out here.