Cynics have long contended that in Stephen Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the titular alien could be replaced with a dog and the fable would remain intact. In CJ7, schoolboy Dicky jubilantly shouts “an alien dog!” when first setting eyes on his new pal. While it remains a mystery whether CJ7 - with its Ewok head and Teletubby body - is an alien, toy, or pet, many aspects of the film will be familiar to audiences. Writer, director, and star Stephen Chow infuses the tale with much of his trademark visual wit and imagination - but not enough to elevate CJ7 from cheery fantasy to true science fiction.

Dicky (Xu Jiao) lives with his father, Ti (Stephen Chow), a poor Chinese construction worker who sweats day and night and endures his overbearing boss (Lam Tze Chung) to send his son to a private school. Dicky shows up for classes covered in dirt, all of his possessions having been scrounged from the local dump. He is heckled by bullies but finds much love at home from Ti, as well as regular moral instruction. (” Don’t lie, don’t steal …”) His beautiful teacher Miss Yuen (Kitty Zhang Yuqi) sees value in study, but Mr. Cao (Shing-Cheung Lee) is pleased when his students share their dreams of becoming movie stars and business tycoons.

One day Dicky’s snooty classmate arrives at school with the latest high-tech toy, a robot dog named CJ1, similar in appearance to Sony’s Aibo. After Dicky’s attempt to wrangle such a toy is thwarted, Ti arrives with “something even better.” That something is a green ball found in the latest trip to the dump, near an inconspicuous flying saucer. Dicky is disappointed but boasts to his classmates that he has a CJ7. Of course, the ball is more than it appears.

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Starring: Xu Jiao, Stephen Chow, Kitty Zhang Yuqi

Directed by: Stephen Chow

Written by: Stephen Chow

The film’s full title Cheung Gong 7 hou translates as “Yangtze River Steamer 7″ and riffs on China’s manned space missions Shenzhou 5 and Shenzhou 6. Still, Stephen Chow’s love of wordplay, slapstick, and broad parody is not as evident in this production as in previous films. Western viewers will be most familiar with 2001’s Shaolin Soccer and 2004’s Kung Fu Hustle, which both employed CGI to hilariously novel, eye-popping effect.

The change in tone - from camp to sincerity - is most evident in Chow’s own performance. He takes a step back from the spotlight, and away from his usual misguided screwball character. Ti is subtle and earnest, but not particularly interesting. CJ7’s big heart and clear lessons are in keeping with Chow’s work, but the wild action and comedy scenes one would expect seldom appear.

For a time, it seems as though CJ7 is progressing in a satisfying direction, as Dicky asks CJ7 to help him pass a test and win big on the sports field. Magic glasses and sneakers that fulfill common children’s fantasies appear, and feats of espionage and athleticism are achieved at a dizzying pace.

It’s puzzling that just as the film hits its stride, Chow pulls back and gives us a different version of events. In these, Dicky is humiliated by his alien buddy rather than aided. It is clear from later events that CJ7 has some potent powers, but only uses them for (sigh) honest purposes.

CJ7 is cute but not gratingly so. He clearly reaches a generation of youngsters raised on Nanopets and Pokémon. Most engaging of the cast is Xu Jiao, a young actress debuting as Dicky, as bratty and irrepressible as any child you might know. Dicky is surrounded in the schoolyard by a a few lovable outcasts who spar a little in the film’s final scenes.

The physical comedy - which veers into cartoon violence - sits somewhat uncomfortably within the naturalistic milieu Chow has created, but still achieves its purpose. Moments like Ti looking for something with which to rap his son and pulling out a mangled blue coat hanger, or the schoolboys plying apart CJ7 (who always bounces back to the right shape) are quite funny.

CJ7 is a charming story for kids, but one wishes that Chow had made more extensive use of his talents, taking a well-worn premise into weird new directions. Several animated and CGI-enhanced pictures of late have proven that family entertainment can also be challenging science fiction. After all, in 2008 the high watermark isn’t E.T. - it’s Wall-E.