Kung Fu Hustle Movie Review:


I'm tempted to say Stephen Chow is leading a charmed life right now, but maybe that's not giving him enough credit. He might be really onto something. “Kung Fu Hustle” is the comedy actor/director's follow-up to “Shaolin Soccer,” which reigned as the all-time box office champ in Hong Kong until it was recently dethroned by... “Kung Fu Hustle.” Clearly, Chow knows what his audience wants, and what that audience wants appears to be utter comedic insanity.

Perhaps you think all that means is Chow's film is popular with the masses, but, because of its seemingly frivolous nature, it can't really be called a great movie. Then why did “Kung Fu Hustle” recently win Best Picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards? Either Chow is really onto something, or the people in Hong Kong are just nuts. Were they hustled? After all, a film like this one could never take home Best Picture at the Oscars, right?

What is "a film like this one," anyway? “Kung Fu Hustle” defies description. It's unfiltered comedy, inspired by Warner Bros. cartoons and an imagination that only explores hyperbolic situations. It's so random that the disparity of its set pieces emerges as evidence of ingenuity. Watching this movie is like playing a game where someone makes up the rules as you go, each one increasing the level of fun until everyone wins.

There is indeed something to Chow's approach to filmmaking. He's found a universal common ground for his comic films -- keep things simple. After he establishes that there's a side to root for and a side to root against, he starts trotting out exaggerated characters and upping the stakes with each confrontation. Perhaps most importantly, he fleshes out his characters in big broad strokes so that you know what they're about, and they actually anchor the humor of the action. How did I know the movie was working for me? Simply because even though I knew it was going to be an all-out comedy, throughout the picture I kept worrying about what might happen to some of my favorite characters. Such a reaction is unexpected in a movie this silly, but I think it's another credit to what Chow is able to accomplish with such simplicity.

And Chow has indeed learned a lot. He's come a long way from his unpolished '90's run, and his last two movies are his best. Although I still think “Shaolin Soccer” is the more solid, well-rounded movie, “Kung Fu Hustle” is better technically and appears more daring, particularly visually. Chow has a love for visual gags and his ability to assemble them gets better each time out. What makes his comedy direction so strong is how he pays attention to that, how he uses the medium to his advantage. In a lot of movies, jokes are told, jokes are schtick, jokes are situation-based; and physical comedy is marginalized. Good visual, physical comedy may be a lost art, but not to Stephen Chow.

So is this high praiseworthy stuff or not? All I know is, in the run of this film, we get -- and here I was about to list a bunch of the best gags. But that would ruin things; so much of the fun comes from how the jokes impact you when you see them. They're frantic, they're ridiculous, and they bar no holds. Chow isn't hustling anyone -- he's just putting everything out there, and Hong Kong likes what it sees. If you also like “Kung Fu Hustle,” you'll probably agree this movie deserves its awards after all.



Jeffrey Chen

After Shaolin Soccer, Chow continues to warmly lampoon Chinese cinema with this gangster action comedy. Not only is it hilariously funny, but it's also a fiendishly entertaining (albeit somewhat cartoonish) action movie in its own right, complete with spectacular Yuen Wo Ping choreography.

Sing (Chow) and his sidekick (Lam) are so desperate to get into the notorious Axe Gang that they pose as gang members and pay a visit to Pig Sty Alley, the last place any real Axes would ever go. But they inadvertently discover that the poverty-stricken residents aren't as pathetic as they seem. And soon it's all-out war, much to the annoyance of the real Axe henchman (Chan), who has to call in some rather startling reinforcements.

From the beginning, Chow rifles his way through cinema history--combining stylish Wild West showdowns, gravity-defying wuxia battles, swaggering Tarantino attitude, edgy Jeunet & Caro wit, and gonzo mayhem straight from a Looney Tunes cartoon. He's clearly having a ball shooting every frame here, and the result is utterly eye-popping. This is a busy, fast-paced, hysterically wild film that's a pure delight to watch. And Chow is also clever enough to get a solid level of subtext into the story as well, with Sing's aimless quest actually teaching him something rather important about himself. And there's also a terrific unpredictability in the fact that no one is actually who they seem to be.

Performances are fairly broad, but grounded in both reality and impeccable comic timing. As we meet progressively unbeatable kung fu masters, the characters grow increasingly endearing and complex, in a comical sort of way. Everything--acting to costumes to sets--is packed with telling details. There are some strong social comments thrown in as asides, especially in the upended gender and sexuality stereotypes. And alongside the story of redemption and comeuppance, we even get a rather offbeat little romance in the bargain. Easily one of the most astonishing films you'll see all year. And also one of the most enjoyable.

Rich Cline

Sing (Chow) has wanted to join a gang for as long as he can remember and the Axe Gang as the biggest and most feared. While trying to hustle the inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley by making out that he is already a member of the gang he inadvertently brings the real Axe Gang into the sleepy alley and trouble starts. It is the inhabitants of Pig Sty that come out the victors however and this makes Axe leader Brother Sum (Chan) extremely mad and cannot let this lie.

Martial Arts movies have always been spectacles of skill, populated by heroes and villains that are all masters of their art. Stephen Chow’s films are slightly different.

Influenced by western cinema and the ‘Looney Tunes’ and ‘Tex Avery’ animation style, Stephen Chow brings something new to the martial arts genre that is completely fresh. Combining comedy and Kung Fu is nothing new (Jackie Chan has made a career of it) but Chow skilfully combines laugh-out-loud humour with brilliantly choreographed, over-the-top fight sequences to produce an almost live action cartoon.

Exaggerated, comic book type characters or masters as they are known in the movie, take centre stage. With names like ‘The Beast’ and ‘Lion’s Breath’, the characters that inhabit Chow’s 1940s China have fantastic martial arts skills and supernatural powers that make them unbelievable opponents. This makes for some amazing fight sequences that put movies with far greater budgets to shame. The final confrontation makes ‘The Matrix’ look tame by comparison.

The film skilfully combines the genius of fight choreographers Woo-ping Yuen and Sammo Hung with some brilliant makeup and CG visual effects to create characters and fights that are simply jaw dropping. Wire-Fu might be overly used since the success of films like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Hero’ but the technique is needed to bring these over-the-top characters to life. Without it you could never have ‘toad’ style and that simply wouldn’t do.

Stephen Chow is multi-talented filmmaker and a shining light in both Hong Kong and world cinema. Writer, director and star, the man has a real gift for filmmaking. As an actor he is a talent martial artist and comedian, mixing punches, kicks and jokes with consummate skill. As a director he has a real eye for the extreme, utilising all the things that make martial arts movies great and then throwing in some comedy for good measure. It is this mix that made his last movie ‘Shaolin Soccer’ so much fun. He repeats the feat here, successfully blending comedy moments, special effects and kung fu with the skill of a cinematic chef.

The only thing that lets the movie down is the story. The whole premise behind the film is very slight and nothing much really happens in between the action sequences that will really get you thinking. It is really just an excuse for ‘Masters’ to fight each other and nothing more.

The thin plot aside there is still a lot to enjoy in ‘Kung Fu Hustle’. With action sequences that stand up to anything moneybags Hollywood can offer, this is a movie that is fun throughout, capturing the true essence of popcorn cinema, entertainment.

Jamie Kelwick

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