Chinese director/star Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle (2004), a whirl of martial-arts pyrotechnics and tomfoolery, proved irresistible to even the most disinclined audiences. His latest, CJ7, channels the same slapstick — even if it is rendered in an arguably too-cute package. Nine-year-old Dicky Chow (actress Xu Jiao, possibly the youngest cross-dresser ever) suffers ridicule as the poorest boy at his private school, until his dad (Chow) scavenges a strange toy at the local junkyard: a plastic orb that mutates into a space dog with super-canine powers. If the child actors occasionally mug too much, the film compensates with a sly commentary on class politics.