Kung Fu Hustle (14 September 2004)
directed by Stephen Chow
starring Stephen Chow, Xiaogange Feng, Wah Yuen, Zhi Hua Dong, Kwok-Kwan Chan, Chi Chung Lam, Siu-Lung Leung, Qiu Yuen, Chi Ling Chiu, Yu Xing, Hak On Fung, Si Lu Ren, Wen Hui He, Lam Tze Chung
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MPAA rating: Studio: Columbia Pictures, Beijing Film Studio, China Film Group, Huayi Brothers, Taihe Film Investment Co. Ltd. Script: Tsang Kan Cheong, Stephen Chow, Xin Huo, Chan Man Keung Music: Stephen Chow, Raymond Wong, Hang Yi, Xian Luo Zong Running time: 95 minutes Tags: Action; China; Comedy; Foreign Film; ice cream; lollipops; Martial Arts; snakes; soccer Tactical strength: [8/10]
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for sequences of strong stylized action and violence
In the way that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon uses the genre of martial arts films to make a very serious movie, writer/director/actor Stephen Chow uses the same genre to make a very silly movie. Kung Fu Hustle takes all the stereotypes of the martial arts genre, exaggerates them to an extreme, and provides a hilarious tribute to the genre.
Every martial arts movie needs an underdog, and Kung Fu Hustle has one of the lowest underdogs. Sing (Stephen Chow) gets beat up and urinated upon as a kid and as an adult has no prospects. To make something of himself, he aspires to join the Axe Gang that controls all commerce and law enforcement in the local town. But even the Axe Gang doesn't bother with putting the squeeze on the poorest sections of town. The residents of Pig Sty Alley have lived virtually untouched by gang violence because they literally don't have anything the gang would want. Aside from occasional domestic violence dished out by the Landlady (Qiu Yuen) with her womanizing husband (Wah Yuen), the residents of Pig Sty Alley live in relative peace and quiet. At least until Sing and his side kick Bone (Chi Chung Lam) draw the gang's attention to the ally by trying to muscle residents in the gang's name. The gang comes for revenge but finds that five of the alley residents have martial arts backgrounds and can put up a decent fight.
You never take anything seriously in Kung Fu Hustle except for the comedy. Chow packs every minute of this film with send-up references to other Wuxia movies and even tributes to some Western traditions. In one scene, Sing runs from the Pig Sty Landlady in a send-up to Looney Tunes chase scenes. In another scene, the Axe Gang Boss sends a pair of musical assassins to Pig Sty Alley. The two attack the alley with their deadly harp playing. During the interview with the Axe Gang Boss, the musicians quote the Blues Brothers, "Hey, we're only musicians." The script includes bits of regular slapstick comedy as well as numerous comic martial arts fights. When the Beast demonstrates his frog-style kung fu, he literally bloats like a frog about to release an enormous croak. Sing gets beat up, nearly hanged, stabbed, bitten by snakes, and smashed into a pulp -- all in the name of riotous fun. And don't miss the music video of the Axe Gang dancing with their axes to Aram Katchaturian's "Saber Dance."
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