Chow writes and directs with such a light touch, that you can't bring yourself to hate even the meanest, most obnoxious person in this movie. The humor reminded me of early Zucker brothers and John Landis, but without being tasteless. There were so many laugh out loud moments that I honestly lost count. Everything from physical humor to great lines delivered by the cast. Nevermind that you're reading them translated from Chinese... they're still incredibly funny.
Then there's the action... stuff that comes out of nowhere. At first I thought I was going to be treated to an old style kung fu movie without any wire work (or wire-fu as it's come to be known), but eventually that creeps in, and then barges in big-time. The thing is, as the movie progresses and diverges more and more from reality these scenes fit into the big picture very easily. There is also CGI employed, usually more for the humor than for action per se. The fight scenes were directed and edited really well... quite the opposite from the way these scenes are shot in American made films. You can actually understand what's going on in a fight sequence! Shots that last more than a nanosecond and with the camera actually pulled back far enough that you can see more than a close up of an elbow hitting a face.
Beyond standard martial arts action there are more special effects here than you can shake a stick at... worthy of many A-list superhero/sci-fi movies in my opinion. Along with the rest of the movie, some of these scenes will make your jaw drop and others while make you laugh out loud.
Lastly, there are riffs on so many movies here that every time I saw one I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. There were tips of the hat (ok, blatant copies) of scenes from Spiderman, The Matrix, Kill Bill, The Shining, Ghostbusters, and even Death Becomes Her (that Bruce Willis/Goldie Hawn/Meryl Streep dead wives movie).
Kung Fu Hustle is just a plain old good time at the movies with enough twists, turns, laughs and suprises to keep you smiling all the way home.
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Article comments
1 - mike hollihan
If you haven't seen Shaolin Soccer, RUN immediately and rent it. Charming, funny, good-hearted, upbeat and the most jaw-dropping soccer matches you'll ever see. Don't get the American-edited version, if you can help it. Lots of funny bits of business got chopped.
2 - HW Saxton
Great review.Excellent movie.In terms of
sheer entertainment, this flick is hard
to beat. I gut-laughed several times at
this film(I was lucky enough to catch it
on the big screen)especially during the
soccer matches.
Asian Cinema is really coming into it's
own as of late.* Given the beauty of the
camera work,great acting, strong(though
often convoluted)stories and all those
Special FX combine for a most pleasant
movie going experience. I read where it
took almost 5 months(and that's just the
editing end of it) of constant work to
properly combine the blue screen shots,
acrobatic wire work and C.G.I. It shows
too,as it's one of the most well crafted
flicks
*Actually,what I mean to say is not that
Asian Cinema is coming into it's own,as
has always been good but rather it has
finally started to gain all of the long
overdue praise and recognition it has
coming.
PS:If you readers dug this flick,then be
on the look out for the sequel coming to
theaters this Summer: "Kung Fu Kickball"