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Magic to Win

Play trailer Poster for Magic to Win 2011 1h 40m Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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25% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 29% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A young woman with superpowers uses her abilities to win volleyball matches until she learns hard training and practice means more.

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
Peter Bradshaw Guardian Several chaotic and dizzying plotlines finally take us to a happy ending: I'm not sure how many converts the movie is going to make. Rated: 2/5 Dec 15, 2011 Full Review Tom Huddleston Time Out Mostly this is just aggravating, as the volleyball girls flap and pout, the wizards glower and prance and the film trundles from one half-hearted and predictable action sequence to another. Rated: 2/5 Dec 13, 2011 Full Review Mark Olsen Los Angeles Times Yip's earlier films "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2" also might have been wildly uneven, but at least they satisfied a basic craving for good action. "Magic to Win" turns up as a real loser. Rated: 2/5 Dec 9, 2011 Full Review Philip French Observer (UK) Impossible to dislike, difficult to remember. Dec 18, 2011 Full Review Matthew Turner ViewLondon Magic to Win has a promising start and a couple of nice ideas, but it quickly wears out its welcome thanks to dodgy special effects and a plot that basically amounts to a bunch of wizards throwing inconsequential CGI light bolts at each other. Rated: 2/5 Dec 14, 2011 Full Review Daniel Eagan Film Journal International Bouncy but thin Hong Kong comedy in which a college co-ed develops magical powers that place her and her friends in danger. Dec 12, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (8) audience reviews
Milk A I watched this movie when I was like 5 and loved it. I watched it again and I still love it lol Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/20/22 Full Review Audience Member Cheesy it is, for sure. But it was one of the few with a generally neat story/narrative in recent HK Cinema already. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Again, caught this on a flight, was attracted to it because it is from the director of Ipman, but this one is a massive letdown. A story that pretends to be science based fantasy and a corny campus volleyball movie, and ends up being deeply unsatisfying. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member seemed pretty cheesy / corny. quite a lot focused on volleyball for some reason. the ending was pretty anti-climactic Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Wilson Yip's <i>Magic to Win</i> is uninspired magic. In other words, it is magic to lose.<p>For a film that leans toward the fantasy genre, its concepts behind the plot are of more than an acceptable caliber. It is when spanning nearly a 100 minutes that this picture fails. The lack of detailed explanations don't help, and the humor, if there is any, do not generate any chuckles. <i>Magic to Win</i> sort of meanders its way to a climax that is difficult to consider eventful.</p><p>The CG is colorful and pretty good, considering the rest of this film. There are some nice ideas behind the magical confrontations, although they never reach their full potential. All in all, the magic stands out as a highlight.</p><p>Newcomer Karena Ng takes the lead role, only to be thrown in the background for the film's finale and overshadowed by Raymond Wong, who does the best job out of everyone in this film. Louis Koo and Wu Jing are well underdeveloped and underutilized and Wu Chun ends up lost in the shuffle.</p><p><i>Magic to Win</i> isn't a complete let down, but the disappointments still outweigh the positives.</p> Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Wilson Yip and Raymond Wong should take the script in the movie seriously. When the movie tries to potray "Whatever is the past, is the past and will remain as memories, we can never change what has happened in the past". Yes, hence trying to re-work and bring Happy Ghost formula back to life just isn't working fine. As a strong fans of Happy Ghost, I am quite disappointed in this. The start of the movie was promising and entertaining, but towards second half of the movie, it was pure disappointment and boring. For those who root for their good looking idol, be it Louis Koo, Wu Chun or Wu Jing, you will definately fall in love with the movie as they look ever so good. The movie dragged on too long and there are many parts of the movie which couldn't piece up together, as example to the elements of the movie, why Louis Koo only give the rock to Wu Chun and the whole idea of returning to the past. Not to mention how some of the cast were really left in the dark and unexplored. Frankly speaking, I believe this movie could actually stand on its own and would make a great one should it not try too hard to slip in the Happy Ghost elements as I think it seriously got the audiences expecting for more. As how most of the HK movie receive the same destined death by using too much CGI, Magic to Win is no different. The movie massive use of CG was simply disturbing and fake. Which to date, I still couldn't understand how CG which was initially introduced was to help enhance a movie could do so much damage to the movie once overly used, yet no one really cares. And what's worst in this movie was the reference to Star Wars and the lightsaber fight scene which I personally felt was irrelevant and tastelessly done. At the end of the day, I guess the saving grace for the movie boils down to a job well done by Karena Ng since this is her first apperances in the film industry as well as a great job in getting all the good looking main actors in the movie. Yes yes, I know, nothing magical but at least something that soothes the eyes. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Magic to Win

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A young woman with superpowers uses her abilities to win volleyball matches until she learns hard training and practice means more.
Director
Wilson Yip
Producer
Raymond Pak-Ming Wong
Screenwriter
Edmond Wong
Genre
Fantasy
Original Language
Chinese
Runtime
1h 40m