Kung Fu Hustle poster & wallpaper

Chan Kwok Kwan, Chiu Chi Ling, Dong Zhi Hua

In Shanghai in the '30s, times are dangerous and gangs rule the streets. The most notorious of these, the Axes, strike fear into the hearts of honest citizens and inspire admiration in one young wanna...( read more  read more... )be. One day, in a slum on the outskirts of town, he wreaks havoc when he recklessly poses as an Axe member and causes a veritable riot between the real gang members and the denizens of a housing project who just so happen to be strangely well versed in the art of kung fu.

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86% liked it

91,304 ratings

Critics

89% liked it

170 critics

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: Stephen Chow

Release Date: April 8, 2005

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DVD Release Date: August 9, 2005

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Flixster Reviews (12,575)

  • SirPant
    September 22, 2009
    SirPant
    A very funny film, Kung Fu Hustle kicks bottom kung Fu Style!
  • 366weirdmovies
    February 2, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    With the help of an incompetent wannabe criminal and his fat bumbling sidekick, a gang of dapper axe-wielding criminals tries to take over a Shanghai tenement where every other resident seems to be a legendary kung fu master with mystical powers. Insanely fun popcorn action/come...( read more)dy with genuinely hilarious sequences and bizarrely inventive battles.
  • EarthlyAlien
    August 28, 2008
    EarthlyAlien
    Sing: "I realized then that good guys never win. I want to be bad. I want to be the killer!
    Sing's Sidekick: Ice cream!
    Sing: Where?"

    Stephen Chow was already a superstar in Hong Kong and most of Asia when he made a splash in the West with the action-packed ...( read more)football comedy Shaolin Soccer in 2001. His experiences with Miramax - who dubbed and recut Shaolin, sitting on it for nearly three years only to release it into a staggering 6 theatres - are well-documented, so it was no surprise to find that Chow jumped ship to Sony for Kung Fu Hustle. His - and our - reward was a bigger budget and artistic freedom, as well as a subtitled print, while, the only compromise for us, Western audiences, seems to be a drop in the number of incomprehensible Chinese verbal puns that are his trademark.

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    In the 1940s of Chow's teeming fantasy, Shanghai is terrorized by the Axe Gang, a thug team as stylish as they are vicious. Only one area, Pig Sty Alley, is temporarily immune to their predations - in part because the neighbourhood is so poor, in part because all the residents, from the baker and the tailor to the kids and seniors, are skilled in martial arts. The Landlady (Yuen Qiu), irradiating belligerence, can suck a cigarette to cinders in one deep breath, and has a lion's roar scream that rattles windows a continent away. Into the alley wanders Sing (Chow), a loser punk who is desperate to be an Axe man. But destiny has another, redemptive scenario in store. This accident-prone scoundrel has the makings of a natural-born kung fu genius - just the fellow to battle the legendary killer the Beast (Leung Siu-lung).

    Chow, 42 at the time, seemed to have been preparing for Kung Fu Hustle all his life. As a boy mesmerized by Bruce Lee films, he studied kung fu techniques. In his first TV job, as host of the daytime show Space Shuttle 430, he learned how to amuse kids with sly jokes and an impudent eloquence in body language. He became a film star as the little guy with false bravado who lucks into hero status. That's the formula here, but this time Chow doesn't take centre stage until the last half an hour. Instead he uses his old comic style - mixing deadpan delivery with wild visual gags - to create an elegant directorial approach.

    How so? The comedy is Buster Keaton-ish in its precision timing. Chow's swooping camera is as nimble, and as respectful of Hong Kong film tradition, as the veteran actors he has assembled. The film merrily flouts the laws of time and physics. Teeth fly upward in slo-mo; then a Road Runner-style chase zips by in superspeedy-mo. The Pig Sty denizens have the resilience of Warner Bros. cartoon characters: lips, throats, bosoms expand to gargantuan size, then snap back. Punctuating the mayhem are sound effects (mooing, clucking, cat mewls, toad croaks) worthy of a Spike Jones symphony.

    In the opening moments of Kung Fu Hustle, one can see the many ways that it's unlike 99% of other films. Within the first 15 minutes, we see ravishing costumes, classic Hollywood backlot-style
    sets, and an army of dancing, axe-carrying Chinese gangsters. Fans of Shaolin Soccer will not be disappointed by Kung Fu Hustle, as it shares not only many of that film's leading actors, but also the same spirit of innocence and fun combined with the rocket-fuelled raw power that made audiences worldwide stand up and pay attention to Stephen Chow.

    Kung Fu Hustle takes artistic leaps beyond Shaolin, however, showing just how much Chow (the director, producer, and writer) has grown as a filmmaker. While he uses many of the same cartoon-style, special-effects-covered flights of fantasy that he used before, Chow delivers many superbly framed shots and perfects his gloriously unique and universally hilarious storytelling style even further. On top of all this, Chow, with the help of legendary fight choreographers Yuen Woo-ping and Sammo Hung, gives the audience some absolutely jaw-dropping, rousing, and innovative kung fu sequences that will take even the greatest martial arts' connoisseur's breath away.

    The warm and fuzzy vibe that Kung Fu Hustle gives off could potentially seem just plain corny to some viewers, especially during the film's slightly unnecessary love story sub-plot, but the end product is so enjoyable it's easy to forgive any missteps. It is clear that Stephen Chow loves what he's doing and adores the film he has created. Kung Fu Hustle is a film constantly bursting at the seams with a joyous energy. This contagious and gratifying feeling should spread to anyone who watches the film and makes it easy to see why the film broke so many box-office records across Asia upon its theatrical release.

    As inevitable as the comparison is, the truth is that Kung Fu Hustle is no Shaolin Soccer. There's even a scene where Sing stomps a ball flat - "No more soccer!" - and makes the children cry. Shaolin, for all its exploding joy, fun and humour, is an occasional serious film; when it goes for the heart it means it, and it never makes jokes at its own expense. With Kung Fu Hustle, that's the whole game: crazy referential gags, gigantic action sequences turned into jokes, stuff flying out in all directions. It's a much sillier film, more along the lines of Chow's earlier flicks like King of Comedy and God of Cookery, with more absurd computer-assisted special effects. There are homages to and lifts from The Matrix and its shitty sequels, West Side Story, Spider-Man, Top Hat with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, The Shining, Legend of Drunken Master... the list goes on.

    And of course, there's some pretty prime Kung Fu. Sweet, beautiful Kung Fu madness leaps from nearly every frame of this picture. This the world of wire-fu, and the blissful disobedience of the laws of physics is ratcheted up a notch with each successive fight. Bodies fly through the air, everyday objects become weapons of mass destruction, and it's an even race for what's more in danger of being destroyed; the fighters or the world around them. While the fantastic elements of these battles remove some of their visceral impact, these fights get downright brutal, and for all its violence, Kung Fu Hustle somehow manages to remain a fairly blood & gore-free film that kids can watch and not feel like killing class-mates and teachers at school.

    Characters are literally pounded into the ground if they're not being flung into the air like rag dolls. Woo-ping and Hung once again prove their worth as the architects of this ballet of violence. Chow seems to be enjoying his bigger budgets with more refined and seamless CGI effects. Unlike the almost masturbatory slow-motion shots seemingly designed to make stars look cool that many Western directors love so much, Kung Fu Hustle knows that speed wins in the end, and so it reserves its slow-motion for sequences that deserve the attention. It's the action that brought this film its attention from non-Hong Kong savvy filmgoers, and in that regard it delivered above and beyond the normal expectations.

    Oh well, if you haven't figured it out yet, I absolutely adore this film. Everything about it is top-notch entertainment, and I was wonderfully surprised with its final direction. Kung Fu Hustle is tremendously good fun. Endearing, positive, and filled with the kind of mind-blowing action sequences that Michael Bay can only dream about, this film is a must see for fans of Kung Fu action and good comedy. And the best part is that the sequel is already on the way. Filmmaking doesn't get much smarter, funnier, handsomer, better than this.
  • laVenrose
    July 1, 2008
    laVenrose
    Mixture of fun and poignancy. Real nice!!
  • hobster1
    June 10, 2008
    hobster1
    special effects+martial arts+carttons=to hilarious effect.
  • scottsmelser
    November 9, 2009
    scottsmelser
    This is one of my favorite movies. It has it all
  • SpunkyJamez
    November 7, 2009
    SpunkyJamez
    I'm not a fan of Chinese comedy. This one was terrific. There's a decent plot here - but that's not the best part. The comedy is! This is very,very funny. The jokes are smart and different and the characters are all very witty. The acting is damn good. Stephen Chow was great - an...( read more)d he directed this as well! The fight scenes are choreographed so well by Yuen Wo Ping - and he also has a special appearance in the film. So, as I said, the fighting was truly amazing. There were martial artists here that were so skilled. A fun filled comedy with a lot of action. Highly Reccomended.
  • rajiv23gooners
    November 4, 2009
    rajiv23gooners
    brilliant.,
    one of the most entertaining movie i've ever seen.,
    stephen chow is a genius, cant wait for his next..
  • Wertytrew
    October 31, 2009
    Wertytrew
    HAHA! Laugh my ass off!
  • dbmp1971
    October 30, 2009
    dbmp1971
    Bizarre, but hugely enjoyable. A few extremely funny scenes.

View All Kung Fu Hustle Reviews

Critic Reviews

April 22, 2005
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

...the knockdown hilarity of it all made me wonder where this subgenre of martial-arts action flick might be heading. A lot of it is riotously funny. full review

April 22, 2005
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

The latest film from Hong Kong's reigning comic star and director, Stephen Chow ... is a celebration of Hong Kong action cinema that mocks gravity, both emotional and physical. full review

April 21, 2005
Claudia Puig, USA Today

A lively, visual treat. full review

April 21, 2005
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

When I saw it at Sundance, I wrote that it was 'like Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meet Quentin Tarantino and Bugs Bunny.' You see how worked up you can get, watching a movie like this. full review

April 21, 2005
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Hatchet fu, shotgun fu, flowerpot fu, harp fu, cobra fu, disco fu, Zen fu, Kubrick fu, Road Runner fu, geezer fu, bullfrog fu. Kung Fu Hustle features every type of fu except déjà fu. full review

April 15, 2005
David Edelstein, Slate

Thumbing its nose at gravity, deflating Zen solemnity, embracing big-top artifice with childish glee, Kung Fu Hustle zings you with some of the most unfettered slapstick ever put on film. full review

April 7, 2005
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Stephen Chow's kinetic, exhausting, relentlessly entertaining film throws scraps of a half-century of international pop culture into a fast-whirling blender.

March 31, 2005
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Does the plot spin out of control? You bet. But dumb fun this smart is a gift. full review

View more Kung Fu Hustle reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • popss
    July 5, 2008
    popss
    this movie was awesome, i love all kungfu attack here,
    great
  • bedner72
    January 27, 2008
    bedner72
    awsome keeps you laughing threw the whole movie .Lots of great fighing parts to !!!!
  • zylaxtic13gryffindor
    January 20, 2008
    zylaxtic13gryffindor
    you rock!!!!
  • PinkBohemianSweetie
    June 19, 2007
    PinkBohemianSweetie
    One of my fave scenes from this movie is when the "landlady" was chasing Sing (Stephen Chow). That was so HILARIOUS! They were like a pair of Roadrunners! ^*^
  • Tara215UrFace
    June 1, 2007
    Tara215UrFace
    This is such a weird-ass movie, and for that, I love it.
    Damn funny.
  • riggidig
    January 19, 2007
    riggidig
    Decided one evening to go watch this movie, knowing absoluately NOTHING about it (hadn't seen a trailer, nothing). What followed was one of the most original and entertaining movies I've seen in a long time. Looking forward to the sequel.
  • maestersaj
    August 26, 2006
    maestersaj
    the dubbing for this was crap. the original Cantonese version was way better :D
  • secretpoet
    June 19, 2006
    secretpoet
    "So wait, is it Hustle as in, moving quickly, crime, or dancing?"

    (Opening five minutes)

    "All three!"
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  • What is the mandarin title of Kung Fu Hustle?  Answer »
  • What is NOT an occupation of the three masters in the film 'Kung Fu Hustle'?  Answer »
  • In which movie kung fu did Stephen Chow stared in?  Answer »
  • In what movie is the strongest martial art move used referred to as the "Buddhist Palm"?  Answer »
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