Director: Stephen Chow
Writer: Stephen Chow, Kan-Cheung Tsang, Xin Huo, Man Keung Chan (Screenplay)
Starring: Stephen Chow, Xiaogang Feng, Wah Yuen, Zhihua Dong, Kwok-Kwan Chan
Plot: In Shanghai, China in the 1940s, a wannabe gangster aspires to join the notorious “Axe Gang” while residents of a housing complex exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
Tagline – A new comedy unlike anything you have seen before
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Funny Enjoyable Comedy
Story: Kung Fu Hustle starts when hustler Sing (Chow) and his sidekick Bone (Lam) arrive in the slums in Shanghai, Sing wanting to become part of the notorious Axe Gang ends up calling them there to help him, only to discover the slums are filled with masters of kung fu.
To be welcomed into the gang Sing must prove he can kill someone which brings him back to Pig Sty Ally to get the deed done. Sing will now need to learn which side of the law he need to be on.
Thoughts on Kung Fu Hustle
Characters – Sing is a hustler that wants to be a gangster, this leads him to getting into the situations he finds himself in as he is drawn between the two different sides of the law. Bone is Sing’s sidekick, he doesn’t get things done playing the simple card too often. Brother Sum is the leader of the Axe gang, he must find a way to kill the kung fu masters.
Performances – The performances are good from the whole cast, Stephen Chow gets the most laughs, while letting the rest of the cast do most of the kung fu performances until the end sequence.
Story – The story plays into the idea of gangster movies can be wildly over the top as one man needs to find his own place in the world with gangsters, kung fu masters and honest people. This works if you like gangsters movies because everything unfolds like you would expect and being wildly over the top.
Action/Crime/Comedy – The action is kung fu, but madly over the top which does play into the comedy which is good fun to watch, this plays into the crime side of gangs trying to take over.
Settings – The settings shows the different worlds the gang and the masters live which is where the battle takes place.
Special Effects – The effects are used to add to the comedy in this movie as we get slapstick and even cartoonish effects through the movie.
Scene of the Movie – Final fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Holding Stephen Chow back too long.
Final Thoughts – This is one hell of a great fun comedy movie that checks off everything it needs to as it makes you laugh from nearly the opening sequence to the credits.
Overall: Enjoyable throughout.
Rating
