During one summer, Rocky travels back from the States to visit his childhood friends – Little Chilli, Little Fatty, Bumpkin, Little Elf, Two Teeth and Hsun Hsiao-Mao. Collectively, they are known as the “Lucky Seven”. When the gang head out for lunch, Little Chilli spots a jewellery exchange between a group of people with guns, but the rest of the kids are far more interested in the food. A few days later, Little Chilli encounters a chase involving the same men so she decides to follow. Unfortunately, the pursuit culminates in the death of a man who hands over a precious diamond to Chilli and asks her to give it to a woman with a birthmark on her leg. Chilli agrees to find the mysterious woman, but when triads come looking for the jewel things become a lot more complicated. Now, the Lucky Seven will need to combine their forces so that together they can return the diamond to its rightful owner.
‘Lucky Seven’ uses a formula that most adult movie fans dread – a handful of kids becoming action heroes. Thankfully though, this Taiwanese outing is much more Hong Kong than Hollywood, so it comes complete with kick-ass kung fu fights and a group of children that don’t actually make you want to vomit. Plot-wise, it’s fair to say that the film has little more to offer than good guys versus bad guys, but the simplistic slapstick comedy combined with the kid’s unique personas all do enough to maintain your interest. However, it’s the film’s fight scenes that are undoubtedly its main draw. Although far from classic status, there is some surprisingly intricate and fast-paced choreography here. Both the kids and adults are clearly very able performers, and thanks to some well setup stunt work, you get quite a few hard-hitting duels. The only downside is that it is perhaps a little too sped up, but all-in-all it’s very well done for a film in this genre.
‘Lucky Seven’ isn’t going to be at the top of anyone’s “must see” list, but it is pretty harmless fun that is far more entertaining than you would expect. Think ‘The Little Rascals’ meets ‘My Lucky Stars’, and you’re not far off.
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