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.
