Starring:
Stephen Chow
Cert: 15
Released:24th June 2005
Sing (Chow) is a down and out and
having been disillusioned about the benefits of being a ‘good guy’ from when he
was a child he has resolved himself to a life of crime. Unfortunately for him,
he is not very good at it; his best laid plans go wrong and everyone he tries to
fight is a lot tougher than he is. All his problems would be solved if he could
only ingratiate himself with the local mobsters but in doing so he just sets up
a feud between them and a seemingly inconsequential shanty town. The town,
however, happens to be habited by a number of kung fu masters only seeking peace
after a lifetime of warfare but willing to defend their homestead and
neighbours.
If you saw Stephen Chow’s earlier
excellent work, Shaolin
Soccer , then
you would have a pretty good idea of what to expect here. If not, then Chow is
the 21st Century’s answer to Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. For all the times Chan’s
martial arts and comedic skills have been degraded through misused special
effects, Chow has found a way to meld the three arts to a near perfect
degree.
In Kung Fu Hustle Chow sets
his story during a more classic era stylising the Oriental fashions of the
villagers and Masters along the lines of Crouching Tiger and the gangsters akin
to Gangs of New York. The action
sequences are excellently choreographed and range from full-on hand-to-hand,
mystical battles fuelled by stunning effects and hilarious Bottom-like slapstick that, again, uses
computer jiggery at times to turn the cast into real-life Loony Tunes.
Chow’s humour is totally self-derisory as each time he tries to be bad,
it just slaps him in the face (or bites him in the lips) and drags him into even
deeper, more outlandish trouble.
Be aware that Kung Fu Hustle
is subtitled so those who cannot keep their attention on two things at once may
miss some of the very dry wit but for the visuals alone this is a film that is
worth watching twice to ensure catching every
nuance.
