Chinese movie Successor brought plenty of laughs to its UK Premier at Odeon Covent Garden on Friday 2nd August
The hilarious Chinese movie Successor (2024) held its UK premier last Friday as it opens globally following blockbuster opening weeks in China.
Successor, or Zhua Wawa (抓娃娃) as it is called in Chinese, is a new comedy movie that has set the Chinese box office on fire.
It opened to previews of RMB358 million ($50.4 million) on the July 12th-14th weekend. Its wide-scale release the following weekend earned it a further RMB633 million ($89.1 million). It’s easily beaten new Hollywood releases Despicable Me 4, Twisters, and Deadpool 3 in the Chinese market.
The movie features a destitute family trying to raise their son to excel, their only hope to escape poverty. However, not everything is as it seems. It quickly becomes apparent that unbeknownst to their son, the family is ridiculously rich.
Everything is just an elaborate scheme cooked up by Mum and Dad to raise a strong successor for the family business.
Successor is co-directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo. The pair having previously directed Goodbye Mr. Loser (2015) and Hello Mr. Billionaire (2018) together.
The cast of Shen Teng, Ma Li, Shi Pengyuan, Sa Rina and Xiao Bochen play their parts well, giving the audience plenty of laughs.
Like most Chinese movies, the foreign actors leave a lot to be desired compared to their Chinese counterparts. The few moments they are present jerks the quality down from the west end to a school play.
But you don’t come to a movie like Successor for acting, you come for laughs. The movie has plenty to go around.
Comedy is subjective, and it is no easy feat to direct a comedy that can bridge language and cultural differences. There is a reason the foreign movies that have done best in China tended to be action blockbusters. Punches are the same in every language.
However, Successor crosses this bridge without stumbling. Physical comedy plays a lead role in the laughs, meaning no matter what language you speak or culture you’re from there will be plenty of enjoyment to have.
Those who speak Chinese will certainly be treated to a few extra laughs. The moment a character was introduced in Chinese with a name that sounded slightly too similar to the Chinese word Sha bi – stupid c*nt in English – there was a heavy laugh from the Chinese-speaking portion of the premier audience.
The UK premiere was held on Friday 2nd at the Odeon Cinema in Covent Garden.
North America, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe also saw premiers. It is being distributed in these territories by CMC Pictures.
Successor earned a PG rating in the UK and can be seen in cinemas across the country.
If you’re feeling down on the Hollywood comedies released so far this summer, then Successor is perfect to scratch your comedy itch.
If you liked this article why not read: Performance Review: She Came from Xinjiang
