Kung Fu Hustle Movie Review: By Adam Mast, ZBoneMan.com

Kung Fu Hustle is a wildly creative and endlessly entertaining movie from Stephen Chow, whom, just a few short years ago, dazzled fans with the little seen gem Shaolin Soccer. Here, he’s painting on a larger canvas, but the same spirit of fun is just as palpable.

Kung Fu Hustle (in Chinese with English subtitles) takes place in 1940’s Shanghai and tells the fantastical tale of an Asian village of common folk with a little secret - some of the townsfolk happen to be all-powerful warriors. When a gang of slumlords come to town, these warriors are awakened from semi-hibernation to defend their way of life in a movie that fuses everything from martial arts, to musicals, to farce, to loony tune cartoons, to the traditional western.

Writer/director/star Stephen Chow is a barrel of unlimited energy. It is his ferocious imagination that makes the film sing. There is such a wacky, innovative bravado on display here, that it is virtually impossible not to have a great time while watching this film - particularly if you’re a big time movie geek.

As was the case with Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle is jam-packed with breathtaking martial arts sequences and dazzling visual effects. The movie incorporates wire work, CGI, and nifty camera trickery, to bombard the senses.

Though Kung Fu Hustle is a fusion of several different genres, comedy is the overriding element. The timing in this movie is picture perfect. There were very few moments in this film when I wasn’t laughing my butt off. And the moments I wasn’t laughing, I was absolutely awestruck by the visual splendor of it all.

Stephen Chow reminds me a bit of Quentin Tarantino in that he’s found an exciting way to take material that we might find familiar, and puts a fresh, innovative spin on it. Don’t let the subtitle thing detour you from taking in this glorious slice of cinematic magic. Kung Fu Hustle is an absolute kick, and I get all giddy just thinking about it.

Grade: B+

Adam Mast, ZBoneMan.com