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 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.
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.
Brother Sum: Ever killed anyone? Sing: I've always thought about it.
For a movie called Kung Fu Hustle, there is not nearly enough dancing, but that's okay, there's plenty of inventive fight scenes and some really funny moments.
Stephen Chow brings the people another very entertaining movie that parodies the plots of kung fu movies, while combining influence from Looney Tunes and The Matrix among other things.
The film takes place in 30s Shanghai, the dangerous Axe Gang is taking over the area. The gang is so evil that dark clouds literally arrive with them.
The next place in the Axe Gang's path is the quaint village known as Pig Sty Ally. This is populated by a bunch of funny characters, some with some secrets of their own.
Stephen Chow plays a bum and wanna be gangster, responsible for bring the Axe Gang to Pig Sty. Soon he is on his way to become an Axe Gang member, but his choices may or may not lead him to showing his full potential as a Kung Fu Genius that fights for the good.
There are so many bizarre moments in this movie involving the comedy and kung fu aspects, but the movie remains very entertaining.
Along with the memorable characters and humor, the movie is also technically extremely well done. The fight scenes are very well choreographed, combining great martial arts, with wire-fu, and other cool computer effects. The scoring is very well done, combining a classy Asian sound with the mayhem going on. Chow has outdone himself in making a very entertaining movie combining various aspects to make a respectable kung fu film that is also a great comedy.
Landlady: You may know kung fu... but you're still a fairy.
This is the bomb, a rip roaring yarn of martial madness. Cartoony and unique love the part with that bad guys head on fire in the car. And that turtle guy on the toilet he oges to get out of prison. A well contrived evolution kung fu mastery flick.
this is a great movie in so many levels. I didn't expected much about it, I supposed it would be another goofy comedy that involved martial arts, I was so wrong. this film can be compared with those old time kung-fu movies only that this has the advantage of special effects thing that make it even more spectacular, and that the movie is intended in a satirical way. It has a great story about a guy who only wish is to be a a memeber of the axe gang and when he fibally have the chance to be part of it, he has the chance to redeem himself. I has a perfect ambientation of the post revolutionary China of the 30's, great costume design. The direction from Stephen Cow is excellent, he gives the movie the perfect rythm to make it enjoyable and to keep you on the edge of your seat. It has a lot of funny moments, the action and adventure is unstopable, it also has the necessary drama and even a little romance at the end. The special effects are simply awesome, the fights are perfectly choreographed that it seems real. Everyone in the cast delivers a very decent performance, specially from Stephen Chow that begins as a bad guy and end as the heroe of the movie. In conclusion, this is a very enjoyable and entertaining movie that has it all comedy, action and adventure, drama, romance and even dancing. Such an epical martial arts film.
Some pretty funny bits in this,it's a slapstick takeoff of kung fu in the 30's surrounded by gangsters,good guy,bad guy,and finding ones strength in the end.
Beslis baie snaaks in die karate sin van die woord, maar nie helemal my tipe an fliek nie. Ek sou dit waarskynlik meer geniet het as jong laaitie. Goeie spesiale effekte, weereens in die karate sin van die woord.
Quite simply one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Admittedly, the humour slapstick at times, will not be to everyone's taste but I couldn't stop crying tears of laughter. Brilliant!
Look out for a ton of tributes to classic films, some amazing fight scenes and some really wacky humour which had me laughing so much at times. Very entertaining and one of the better flicks in it's genre. Stephen Chow is one of East Asia's finest film makers.
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