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Cast:
Stephen
Chow Sing Chi
Yuen
Wah
Yuen
Qiu
Leung
Siu Lung
Huang
Sheng Yi
Chan
Kwok Kwan
Lam
Tze Chung
Dong
Zhi Hua
Chiu
Chi Ling
Xing
Yu
Feng
Xiao Gang
Action:
Yuen
Woo Ping
Sammo
Hung
Producer:
Chui
Po Chu
Jeff
Lau
Director:
Stephen
Chow Sing Chi
Score:
 
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KUNG
FU HUSTLE
AKA:
Kung Fu
Year:
2004 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
After
the huge success of 'Shaolin
Soccer', many fans eagerly awaited Stephen Chow's next
project. When their patience was rewarded with the
announcement of 'Kung Fu Hustle', word of mouth was immense
with many hoping that Chow could spoof the Kung Fu genre in a
similar fashion to his assault on football (or soccer).
So does it live up to these huge expectations or is Chow
already falling from grace?
Sing
(Chow) is a petty thief who aspires to be a notorious gangster
as he believes that only the bad are successful. When he
visits a small town and masquerades as a member of the
infamous Axe Gang he uncovers three martial arts masters who
are in hiding. Believing him to be one of their members,
the real Axe Gang come to Sing's aid but are harshly dealt
with by the heroic masters who give an impressive display of
their skills. However, by revealing themselves they stir
up a hornet's nest as the Axe Gang undertake a relentless
pursuit to exact revenge at any cost. As Sing finds
himself caught between the two sides of good and evil he is
forced to re-evaluate his values as to whether he should
continue his lifelong dream to become a gangster or help out a
town in need. But what can he do when he isn't even a
skilled kung fu master, or is he?
The
first thing that is instantly noticeable about 'Kung Fu
Hustle' (and a fact that has been bemoaned throughout the
various reviews) is that Stephen Chow himself seems to be
surprisingly absent for a relatively large portion of the
movie. Now whether this is because of his extensive
off-screen duties or just a purposeful attempt to flesh out
the other characters, it remains an extremely noticeable trait
and one that may detract his hardcore fans. However, on
the larger scale of things this can be considered a minor
issue as 'Kung Fu Hustle' is thankfully an extremely
entertaining film and a very succinct parody of the Kung Fu
genre. Utilising a superb cast that includes the likes
of the badly-missed Yuen Wah and various recognisable players
from 'Shaolin Soccer', the movie offers up a particularly
clever slant on the martial arts classics of the past, slyly
poking fun at the fact that these heroes have vanished from
centre stage which draws obvious comparisons with the
situation for the genre in movies today. This is aided
by Chow's very distinct brand of comedy that, although
slightly subdued in parts for this film, is always consistent
and combines successfully with computer generated effects to
create the feeling of a live action cartoon.
A
movie with 'Kung Fu' in the title also raises expectations for
the audience when it comes to the fight sequences but it's
important to note that this is a comedy first and a Martial
Arts related movie second. That said though, with
notable choreographers like Sammo Hung and Yuen Woo Ping on
board you can always expect something exciting when it comes
to the combat and 'Kung Fu Hustle' is no exception. The
assembled cast of real life fighters may well be old but they
can certainly still bust a move and their opening duel
contains some outstanding demonstrations of kung fu, setting
the pace for the majority of the movie. Alongside the
real talent, computer generated effects are also relied on
heavily (particularly for the finale) but as the technology
advances this becomes less obvious and they are always well
integrated. My one minor disappointment though is
actually attributable to Chow himself who seems somewhat
limited in moves during his shot in the spotlight for the
closing battle. I've spent so long requesting he do a
martial arts related role that perhaps I expected more from
him but this is probably just me picking holes for sake of it.
'Kung
Fu Hustle' was always bound to draw comparisons with 'Shaolin
Soccer' (unfairly in my opinion), but for me this is a totally
separate feature that offers a very different brand of humour.
It effectively combines all the elements that create a
successful parody and contains all the traits that have made
Chow into such a star. If he can continue making films
that are as innovative as this then its no wonder that he is
making waves internationally but lets just hope that Hollywood
doesn't go down the remake avenue and start dismantling his
back catalogue.
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