Swimming comedy sinks

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YP intern Christopher Wang
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YP intern Christopher Wang |
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An unexceptional romantic comedy, The Fantastic Water Babes has its moments, but falls short of becoming anything remotely special. Making her comeback, Gillian Chung Yan-tung unimaginatively stars as a character of the same name, Gillian. Gillian is determined to win a swimming competition against her romantic rival, Fay (Chrissie Chow). She goes so far as to kidnap famous swimmer - again, creative casting - Chi (Alex Fong Lik-sun), and make him her personal coach.

Director Jeff Lau Chun-Wai is famous for his mo lei tau (literally 'makes no sense') humour, and The Fantastic Water Babes does have some genuinely funny scenes. Excellent cutaway scenes and visual slapstick gags mean there are decent comedic moments, but that's about where the good news ends, as the romance element totally fails.

Gillian and Chi, naturally, are attracted to one another and there is an oddly successful chemistry between the actors, but the poor script makes the duo always seem uncomfortable. Almost every "romantic" line from Fong is massively cringeworthy, Chi is kind of a jerk, and Gillian is whiny and neurotic.

Elements of the film are beyond ridiculous, such as magic - yes, Harry Potter-style - which is thrown in seemingly to show off some truly average special effects. Hit the beach instead of wasting time watching this sinker.

YP rating: 2/5

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