The alien creature, however, added little to the movie for me. He was cute enough, I suppose, but not enough that I ever felt I could connect with him. The boy (a girl acting the part) was very good, and stole the show. But as far as the alien itself, there just wasn't much there other than a few cute faces and antics.
That's ok, of course. I mean, it was clearly meant to be little more than a humorous piece, lighthearted and fun. It achieved that. But, as a fan of science fiction and fantasy, I found it interesting that the film could get away with such a thin development of the alien creature, and old-fashioned style spaceships. It was strangely fitting for the life and world that Chow and the child were living in — very low-tech and simple, without much to it at all. But what matters more in the film is not the hi-tech showy stuff, but just the relationships that are there (between the kids, the children and the teachers, the boy and his father, the boy and the pet, and finally the father and the teacher), and the laughs. The low-tech alien and spaceship, in this sense, actually seemed to "say something."
At any rate, it was fun to watch the film. Excellent for the Chinese New Year mood.
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