The Flipcritic

I must admit that after the first 20 minutes of KUNG FU HUSTLE, I considered myself the last person qualified to review it. Slapstick schlock, Stooges’ slaps, butt cracks, bad dental hygiene, and other all-too-easy comedic potshots were flashing before me (Thank God it wasn’t my last breath). I couldn’t understand what some people were laughing at. Was all this still funny in the 21st century? Maybe they understood the kung fu stereotypes the film was spoofing. Yet, I have seen my fair share of 1970 and 1980 martial arts movies. How could I not spot them as well?

Then I saw two of film’s main characters chasing each other around like Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (yes… with matching leg movements). So naturally, I thought the director had lost it. If no rules were set for the story to run its course through, what would be the basis of our laughter?

Thankfully, the dust of incoherence settles. The movie’s pacing establishes itself, as does its rules, which are really no different from the kung fu B-movies of old. Key figures reveal themselves, and the comedy sharpens. The film’s director, Stephen Chow (of SHAOLIN SOCCER fame), finally gets into his groove, and how groovy it is.

Set in 1940s Canton, China, the movie revolves around Sing (Stephen Chow), a luckless Chinese vagrant / thief who has ambitions of becoming a member of the “Axe Gang” led by Brother Sum (Chan Kwok Kwan). As a result of Sing’s thieving machinations, the Axe Gang finds itself embroiled in vindictive battles with the residents of the “Pig-Sty” slum. Though poverty-stricken, the slum turns out to be the dwelling of several kung-fu masters. The Axe Gang recruits several martial arts wizards of their own, which of course leads to a final battle of demi-godlike proportions between the number one good guy and bad guy.

What makes the movie so watchable is its laughable improbability. For example, seeing a bunch of impoverished toilers (a tailor, a cook, and a coolie) take on hordes of Chinese gangsters in black suits (this is the way THE MATRIX RELOADED should have been done), has to be one of the damnedest amusing scenes of recent years. But what makes it more satisfying than it has any right to be is its gusto. There is so much effort, attention to detail, and willingness to push the limits. Stephen Chow isn’t just content on giving you laughs; he wants to give you a show.

His zeal is all over the picture. From his wonderfully shot fight scenes (these Chinese directors know how to use slow-motion and camera technique in fight scenes better than anybody in the business) to his hilarious non sequitur kung fu ideas (such a knife-throwing exercise that caused my wife to lose her breath). His love for the movies is evident, with a colorful movie poster of Fred Astaire to acclimatize us to the movie’s setting, to an inside joke any Stanley Kubrick aficionado would enjoy.

Make no mistake though that Mr. Chow is not without restraint. He pulls out all the stops, but knows when to pull back. This is not an exercise in indulgence that HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS was (though he could have used more restraint for the first 20 minutes). Though the movie is billed as a comedy, it does have some moments of tension, and near the end, even wonder. He is skilled in shuffling from hilarity to suspense and back without annoyance or confusion. I admired how he made me laugh at his characters, and yet make me care enough to root for their survival.

The movie’s website claims Stephen Chow is “the number one comedy star in Asia” (though I think Jackie Chan would have something to say about that), and the film’s comedic nature shows how gifted an entertainer Mr. Chow is. He injects humor seamlessly into taut clashes between his kung fu masters, and the clashes themselves are sharply choreographed and dazzlingly conceived. It helps when much of the cast (especially the old-timers!) have been in the martial arts film industry for years. The Landlord (Yuen Wah), Landlady (Yuen Qiu), Doughnut (Dong Zhi Hua), The Tailor (Chiu Chi Ling), and The Beast (Leung Siu Liung) are all fight veterans (one of them even does ballet).

The film’s final fight even has a kind of awesome quality to it, where trademark moves are not only measured in physical strikes, but also in blows of deific dimensions (I gotta learn that Buddhist Palm). But best of all, you just have to stand back and admire how inane all of these images are. They truly exist on two levels: action and comedy. How can one ignore a film so ridiculous, yet sublime?

Posted by FLIPCRITIC at January 11, 2005 01:33 PM