Kung Fu Hustle (Blu-ray)

Watched Kung Fu Hustle again after all these years, this time with my kid—and it still absolutely holds up. The mix of over-the-top martial arts, cartoon-style chaos, and unexpected heart had us both laughing the whole way through. It’s one of those rare movies that manages to be completely ridiculous and totally brilliant at the same time. My kid was hooked, and I was reminded why I loved it in the first place. If you haven’t seen it in a while, it’s 100% worth a rewatch.

My first experience with Hong Kong producer/director/writer/actor Stephen Chow came when a good friend recommended Shaolin Soccer (2001), a film which I enjoyed a lot primarily due to its kinetic energy and off the wall, mind bending special effects, so when I heard Chow was coming out with another feature, titled Kung Fu Hustle (2004), I was very interested...sadly, I missed the theatrical release, but I was able to catch it on video and I wasn't disappointed. Co-written and directed by Stephen Chow (God of Cookery, Shaolin Soccer), who also shares credits in producing, writing, and original music, the film features Chow, along with Qiu Yuen (Kung Fu Mahjong), Wah Yuen (Kung Fu Mahjong), Zhi Hua Dong, Kwok-Kwan Chan (Shaolin Soccer), Chi Chung Lam (Kung Fu Mahjong), and Siu-Lung Leung (Kung Fu 12 Kicks).As the film, set in the 1930s, begins we learn a ruthless group known as the Axe Gang pretty much control everything through intimidation (and axes), except for an area known as Pig Sty Alley, a poor, residential block not worth bothering with as those who live there have very little, if anything, to offer up. As a result the residents of Pig Sty Alley live a relatively peaceful life under the thumb of their chain-smoking, hag-like landlord who's always dressed in a natty nightgown, rollers in her hair, and funky flip flops. One day a pair of hapless buffoons show up, one of them named Sing (Chow), pretending to be Axe Gang members, and start pushing people around (in a really funny sequence), resulting in the appearance of the real Axe Gang. Well, turns out three residents of Pig Sty Alley are actually powerful, semi-retired warriors, and a crazy battle ensues as the trio single-handedly beat the crud out of the gang. The gang retreats to lick their wounds and ends up hiring a pair of musicians who moonlight as professional killers and another fantastic fight sequence ensues. Meanwhile, Sing and his fat friend, eager to join the Axe Gang, are tasked to perform some evilness, in which they fail miserably. Things get a bit murky around this point, but the gang ends up having to hire the number one killer, someone known as The Beast, played by Siu-Lung Leung, who's currently locked away in a mental institution due to the fact he studied kung fu so intensely it caused him to go crazy (I guess). Anyway, turns out Sing, the bumbling would be criminal, has within him a power even he's not aware of, one rivals even The Beast himself.While I'm not an expert on Asian cinema, I have seen enough of it to know at least one thing...a good deal of it doesn't often make a lot of sense, to me at least (but then again I'm an idiot). Maybe this is due to translation issues tied to my own Westernized sensibilities, I don't know, but I've come to expect, and even rely on, the fact that whenever I watch an Asian import, specifically within the martial arts genre, there's going to be aspects I won't understand, and that's certainly true of Kung Fu Hustle. I don't see this as a negative aspect as generally I can get the gist of the story (the student avenging the death of an authority figure theme is pretty common) even if some of the finer points are lost. Here the main theme seems to be protectors coming forth to stand up for the little guy against seemingly insurmountable odds. I went with that, letting the rest (the parts that didn't make sense) slide, managing to get through the film quite easily, helped immeasurably along by the virtual non-stop, high flying, kinetic, highly comedic action and crazy go nuts special effects work. At times the film seemed like a live action Looney Tunes cartoon given the balls out silliness involved (there's a foot chase sequence that's right out of a Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon). One of my favorite parts of the film occurs near the beginning when Sing and his fat friend venture into Pig Sty Alley. Sing, trying to appear tougher than he actually is, starts antagonizing a gathered crowd of residents, challenging individuals to a one on one fight. In doing so he tries to pick out those who would seem easy to beat, the first being a man in the crowd who actually turns out to be a giant (seems when the man was in the crowd he was sitting down, so Sing, only seeing the man's head, assumed the man was a relatively small guy). Once Sing sees how tall the guy actually is he decides to choose another, resulting in similar scenarios. Obviously this is a visual gag, so much will be lost reading about it here. There's so much overall nuttiness going on in this film it's hard to describe it, but if you dig on zany Three Stooges antics, you'll probably enjoy this feature. Hardcore film fans may also get a kick out of the film as there's plenty of references to other films, in particular The Shining (1980), The Blues Brothers (1980), and Spider-Man (2002), to name a few. One thing to keep in mind is this is the American theatrical release of the film, so some aspects have been toned down (apparently some of the bloody bits have been removed from the fight sequences). As far as the computer generated effects (CGI), they look as sharp here as in a film like The Matrix (1999), and there's a lot of it, so if you're not a big fan of that type of effects work, you probably won't enjoy the film. I can accept a lot of it, if it looks good and ties within the story (which felt like the case here), but I dislike its extensive usage meant to fill gaps in a production, the intent being to draw focus away from said gaps, as is generally the case with films from someone like Roland Emmerich, responsible for such features as Godzilla (1998) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004). All in all I thought this film a blast, one worth multiple viewings.The picture, presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), looks exceptionally sharp, and the audio, available in original Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, dubbed English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track, and dubbed French Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround comes across beautifully. As far as extras there's a commentary track with Chow and a few performers (with English subtitles), a forty minute featurette titled Behind the Scenes of Kung Fu Hustle, two deleted scenes, an interview piece with Stephen Chow, an outtakes and bloopers reel, a poster gallery for the film, a whole slew of previews for other Sony releases, and subtitles available in English and French. All in all a great package for a highly entertaining film, one I'm probably going to watch more than once.Cookieman108Keep in mind the film is rated `R', as the zany antics I alluded to earlier come off fairly violent played out in live action form, so I wouldn't recommend this film for younger children unless their minds are already warped, then I suppose it probably won't matter...

Kung Fu Hustle - what can I say ... One of the most hilarious movies I own.IMDB rate this 7.7 and it is deserving. Lots of action and plenty of comedy.Good ending too ! This is a movie you will probably watch over and over.It is sub-titled but you should be able to set the player to play with the English (or other) language.One of the great movies.

This movie is a work of pure comic genius, from an unexpected source! Who would have expected a Chinese director to come up with a Warner Bros.-style, Kung Fu, live action cartoon? Not me! Stephen Chow has OBVIOUSLY spent some time either in Hollywood, or in a history of film class drinking in the work of Tex Avery and Robert Clampett! This movie is a HOWL! Imagine if you will, (submitted for your approval,) The Zucker Bros. or pre-"High Anxiety" Mel Brooks getting a hold of a troupe of Chinese kung fu actors and using every "Looney Tunes" gag they can think of to milk the laughs for everything they're worth!Stephen Chow has all the earmarks of a master of kung fu slapstick, something this country hasn't really ever seen before. Aside from the great sight gags, he has also assembled a real soupcon of characters, from Rabbit-Tooth Jane, an unusual girl to say the least, (she acts VERY effeminate and has a look I really haven't seen in oriental women before,) to the bossy, battle-axe landlady, who also happens to be a dormant kung-fu doyenne, to her husband, a fellow, middle aged kung fu master, to a sweet, mute, Japanese-looking girl who sells ice cream. There are others, too numerous to mention here, without tiring you out!The director himself is the hero of the film, and he goes from being a sleazy, gangster wannabe to being a deadpan kung fu messiah during the course of the movie. One hilarious scene, while he is still a sleazebag, is when he tries terrorizing a poor community that has managed to avoid the wrath of an evil cabal called the "Axe Gang", in order to IMPRESS said gang. He calls for a challenger to step forward and to take him on, and he warns them "No cheating!" He calls on a humble lady farmer and dares her to hit him in the stomach, which she does, doubling him over immediately. Recovering from that, he starts picking at random...first a fella he refers to as "Shorty", who turns out to be about 7 feet tall when he stands up from his sitting position. After reminding the crowd "No cheating!", he then calls out a mousy looking guy with glasses, asking him to step forward. He does so, exposing a physique all out of character to his nerdy face. He then scans to what looks like a seven year old boy, who steps out, ALSO revealing a Charles Atlas-like upper torso! Fed up, (and completely cowardly,) he moves on.There is one very poetically done scene involving two hitmen who don't work in the ordinary way...and this is where a major fantasy element joins the cartoon zaniness: In the still of a nearly cloudless night, two assassins hired by the Axe Gang seek to take out the brave inhabitants of Pig Sty Village, who have stood up to their terror. These assassins use a long, autoharp-type instrument to strum out very sino-fiendly chords that somehow manage to produce lethal weapons and figures out of thin air. They set these against the tailor, the baker and the landlady, the tailor and the baker having surprised you earlier with their kung fu expertise...with images of flying sabers, armored zombies and spears. The landlady manages to take them out with her patented "Lion's Roar", sending them whee-wee-wee, all the way home!If you buy but ONE kung fu movie in your life, make it this one! This is, hands down, the funniest, most enjoyable martial arts movie I've seen so far, and I've seen all of Bruce Lee's major releases!