''Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei'' () is a 2018

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Jack Neo Jack Neo Chee Keong (born 24 January 1960) is a Singaporean filmmaker, comedian and actor who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1983 to 2003. He established a unique presence with his genuine and relatable stories that highlight societa ...

. It stars Neo, alongside Mark Lee,

Henry Thia Henry Thia Hiok Hui (born 25 February 1952), also known as Alamak and Hui Ge (), is a Singaporean actor and comedian. Career Thia was a member of the main cast of ''Comedy Nite'' throughout its run, having the opportunity to work with both Ja ...

, Benjamin Josiah Tan, Wang Lei,

Jaspers Lai Jaspers Lai Yit Hann (born 7 March 1987) is a Singaporean actor and comedian. Early life Lai attended Nanyang Junior College. Thereafter, Lai went to Hong Kong to be trained in acting, hosting, singing and songwriting when he was 18, and wa ...

, Chua Lee Lian, and

Cavin Soh Cavin Soh (born 17 November 1970) is a Singaporean actor, host, watch dealer and singer. Career Soh was formerly the lead singer of the band Dreamz FM (梦飞船) and a radio deejay on MediaCorp's Chinese language station Y.E.S. 93.3FM bef ...

. The film was released on 15 February 2018 in Singapore and Malaysia.

Plot

Liang Xi Mei (

) is finally back! Now retired, she spends her time looking after her obedient grandchildren. However, Robert ( Mark Lee), her eldest son adds to her woes as he is always dreaming of making a fortune through easy means. She pins all her hopes on her youngest son, Albert (Benjamin Josiah Tan). Her favouritism stirs up jealousy within Robert, who vows to strike it rich to win Liang Xi Mei’s approval. By chance, Robert picks up the doll that is actually the Goddess of Fortune (Cai Ping Kai)! She helps Robert but also appeals to him to be more down to earth and practical in his pursuit of success and wealth. Instead, he turns into an ingrate as soon as his hawker business takes off. His arrogance incurs the wrath of the God of Misfortune (Gadrick Chin) who decides to teach him a lesson. Soon, trouble ensues among Liang Xi Mei’s family and their best friends Guang Dong Po (Wang Lei) and Lion King (

). Will they get through this headache of a situation together as a family?

Cast

as Liang Xi Mei/Liang Po Po * Mark Lee as Robert *

as Lion King/Ah Gong *Benjamin Josiah Tan as Albert *Wang Lei as Guang Dong Po/Wang Lei *

as Merlion King *Chua Lee Lian as Mary *

as Kway Teow King *Cai Ping Kai as Goddess of Fortune *Gadrick Chin as God of Misfortune *Toh Xin Hui as Ah Girl *Zhang Wei as Uncle Lee *

Ryan Lian Ryan Lian Yong Yi (born 4 September 1985) is a Singaporean actor, singer and host. Career Lian is managed by J Team productions under mm2 Entertainment. Lian had been taking on minor roles in Mediacorp dramas for more than 15 years before he ...

as Kidnapper *

Noah Yap Noah Yap Rong Yew (born 4 November 1993) is a Singaporean actor and singer. Career Yap has become a local celebrity after the successes of '' Ah Boys to Men'' movie series by director Jack Neo Jack Neo Chee Keong (born 24 January 196 ...

as Kidnapper * Richie Koh as Big Boss

Cameo

Yeo Yann Yann Yeo Yann Yann (born 20 February 1977) is a Malaysian actress. She has worked in theatre, television, and film. Her credits include '' Singapore Dreaming'', ''Thunderstorm'', ''881'', ''Ilo Ilo'' and ''Wet Season''. She is a pioneer-graduate ...

as Mrs Fu *

Aileen Tan Aileen Tan Lay Ching (born 18 October 1966) is a Singaporean actress. Life and career Tan studied at Willow Secondary School. Tan worked in sales for more than a year before becoming an office administrator at an advertising agency. Tan pa ...

as Mrs Lu *

Irene Ang Irene Ang (born 1 September 1968) is a Singaporean actress, comedian, host and entrepreneur, best known for portraying Rosie Phua on the Singaporean sitcom '' Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd'', as well as on the Malaysian sequel sitcom '' Phua Chu Kang ...

as Mrs Shou * Apple Chan as Young Liang Xi Mei *Leon Lim as Young Uncle Lee

Reception

Critical reception

Yip Wai Yee of ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' gave the film a 1 out of 5 stars, as "showing up only at the beginning of the film and then again briefly at the end, she feels like a complete afterthought, with her name slapped onto the movie title only for marketing purposes." Instead, it mainly focuses on "Ximei's son Robert and his obsession to get rich". Samfrey Tan of ''

The New Paper ''The New Paper'' is a Singaporean newspaper. It was originally published in tabloid format as a "noon paper", then from 2016 as a freesheet in the morning from 7 a.m. onwards. In December 2021 the paper went to digital only. History Firs ...

'' rated it a 1/5, citing "distasteful Hokkien puns and clownish slapstick abound, broken only by the occasional cheap sexual reference".

Box office

On February 22, 2018, one week after its release, the film crossed the RM$3 million mark in the Malaysian box office.

References

External links

* {{Jack Neo 2018 films 2010s English-language films Hokkien-language films 2010s Mandarin-language films Singaporean comedy-drama films Films directed by Jack Neo Films shot in Singapore Films set in Singapore Chinese New Year films 2018 comedy-drama films 2018 multilingual films Singaporean multilingual films English-language comedy-drama films