Thunder (Ronald Cheng) is a god who likes to boast about his intelligence. One day, he is reminded by his girlfriend that he has pledged his guardianship to Don, a boy he saved 30 years ago. The boy will face death on New Year's Eve and it is time for Thunder to fulfil his pledge. When Thunder arrives in the human world, he lends his magical powers to Don without Don's knowledge, causing himself to be hit with a streak of bad luck. When this happens, the Emperor of Heaven, along with the other gods, come down to the human world to arrest Thunder.
This Chinese New Year, cinemas are flooded with Cantonese comedies such as "Twins Mission", "Kungfu Mahjong 3", "House of Mahjong" and others. Not to be beaten is the latest CNY comedy called, "It's a Wonderful Life".
This is Ronald Cheng's first attempt at writing, producing and directing. Playing a part as well in the story, he is Thunder, a God from heaven who likes to boast about his intelligence and his business acumen. With his loud mouth, he is also responsible for waking up all the Gods in heaven. One day, he is stopped by the Emperor's secretary, also his girlfriend, the Saint of Nine Heaven (Mia Yam), who reminds him of a promise he made to a fat little boy 30 years ago, saying he would help him whenever he is in trouble, when he made a short trip to the human world. He had never helped the little boy, so to clean his records, he would have to keep his promise.
The boy Thunder rescued back then was Don (Vincent Kok), who is now all grown up and has a family of his own. Working in a superstore, he is always bullied by his superior Brad (Tony Leung). At home, he has his wife Belle (Louisa So), his sister Fon (Kate Yeung), his brother-in-law Beau (Alex Fong) and his pair of twins Jack and Jill. They seem like a happy family, but in reality they have problems.
Thunder comes down and joins this family as Don's cousin, by using his magical powers to make them believe he is so. While living with the family, he begins helping Don solve his problems, and giving Don some magical powers where whatever he wishes would come true. Suddenly Don's life goes from zero to hero! But Thunder soon realises that some things cannot be solved with magic and is taught a great lesson by the family. He also has to face temptations in the Human World. Will he be able to help Don as promised? And would he be able to face the temptations?
This being Cheng's first comedy, it is entertaining enough but added with the wit of Cheung Tat Ming who plays the cousin of Don's wife, it is really hilarious. Be sure to concentrate on the dialogues in the movie, as that is what makes it funny.
From the start the humour is apparent. Cheng 'flies' on a cloud and wakes up the whole of Heaven with his loud voice, and soon the cloud turns into a stall where he sells food which he creates on his own. It is entertaining to see a 'Chinese' Heaven with all the Gods and Goddesses are dressed up in modern attire (they wear their traditional attire for the purpose of posters during Chinese New Year). Do not miss appearances from Kelly Chan and Edmund Leung!
It is fresh idea to use the differences between the Gods and Humans to reflect how each deal with the situations in life. This comedy should not be missed by those who love New Year comedies. Try to see if you can catch the scene where one of the actors blinked when he was supposed to be dead! In this new year of the Boar, let's hope that life is nothing but wonderful!
