Dance Dance Dragon
Kat Goh

The Chinese title Long Zhong Wu, which is a rough translation of the English title, is the homonym for the Hokkien phrase, which means everything is available.
That, unfortunately, is what director Kat Goh and scribes Kelvin Tong and Marcus Chin try to do: overstuff this Dragon.
There is the archetypal Hong Kong family comedy set-up: A spinsterish eldest daughter (Dennis Chew, in drag as his popular alter-ego Lucy, below right), tomboyish second daughter Ah Bee (Kym Ng) and an immature son Ah Long (Melvin Sia).
Eric (Adrian Pang, below left) is the irascible gambler/chef who turns out to be a potential love interest for Lucy and Ah Bee, while the matriarch (Lai Meng) fervently prays for a grandson.
Then these other elements are thrown into the mix: a baby (Nigel Yeo) who magically appears on the first day of Chinese New Year, heaven as a corporate bureaucracy run by children speaking in clipped tones, a clash between two lion dance troupes, scheming relatives, bumbling villains and comic-book style visual flourishes.
The actors try their best, but apart from some fleetingly funny moments, mostly from Pang, the cutest performance here is from the baby. At one point, it seemed that Eric might use the magic baby as an aid at the casino. Too bad the chance for a funny scene is lost as the politically correct film opts for an anti-gambling, pro-family stance.
So this Dragon does not dance. Mostly, the bloated creature just drags its feet.
(ST)