Entry for gameofcards
Challenge 008 : Movie Review

20, Once Again! (2015)
Cast : Yang Zishan, Grace Kuei, Bolin Chen, Lu Han
Director : Leste Chen
Genre : Drama Comedy



20, Once Again! is a Mandarin remake of Korean box office movie ‘Miss Granny’. The movie tells a story of Shen Mengjun, a 70 year old widow who got transformed into her 20-year-old self after a visit to a mysterious photo studio.



Plot : (Warning : Spoiler-ish)
Shen Mengjun lives with her son Guobin, daughter in law Yangqin, and twin grandchildren. Mengjun faced a family conflict as Yangqin fell ill from stress because of the pressure Mengjun always put on her. The family has agreed to temporarily send Mengjun to a nursing home until Yangqin’s condition is better. Heartbroken Mengjun visited a photo studio one night and magically transformed into her 20 year-old self. She then went on adventures which she gave up when she was young to take care of her son. How will this adventure end for Mengjun?

The movie shows actual hardships of a modern Chinese family of 3 generations living together. The movie has a perfect balance of comedy and heartwarming scenes. As the story centers on singing and music, the soundtrack plays an important part and the movie is filled with many great, entertaining songs.

Yang Zishan plays the character of young Mengjun, and did a wonderful job in portraying the character. She is young and very pretty, but perfectly translating the gestures and character of a grandmother. Yang Zishan also sings most of the soundtrack songs for the movie herself, making the character more believable. 20, Once Again! is the first movie for Luhan, who was known as a former member of one of the most popular Korean idol groups, EXO. He plays the grandson character called Xiang Qianjin which fits his persona perfectly. Qianjin is a young man who is passionate in music and has the dream to make it big in the music industry.

The movie runs for 131 minutes long, which some people might feel too long, but the pace is just enough for the viewers to understand the emotion of the characters. If you like family drama / comedy, this will be a fun movie for you to watch.

4.5 / 5 Stars