Director – Stephen Chow Sing Chi – 2004 – China – Cert. 15 – 99m
*****
Set in the 1940s, this is at once a comedy, a romance, an effects fest, an action movie, a violent gangster thriller and a treatise on Buddhist values – out in UK cinemas on Friday, June 24th, 2005
An hilarious treat from start to finish, Kung Fu Hustle foregrounds Hong Kong’s ability to bend genres. At once a comedy, a romance, an effects fest, an action movie, a violent gangster thriller and a treatise on Buddhist values, it also manages to throw in a hugely enjoyable, first reel dance sequence and a speeded up chase sequence reminiscent of Warner Bros. classic Roadrunner cartoon shorts (Chuck Jones, 1949-1962) and The Wizard Of Speed And Time (Mike Jittlov, 1988). Which summary doesn’t even begin to do it justice.
Columbia gave director/star Stephen Chow Sing Chi a mega-budget for Kung Fu Hustle but have commendably neither pruned nor dubbed as Miramax (Disney) did on his previous outing Shaolin Soccer (Stephen Chow, 2001). Chow’s extraordinary vision is thus allowed full rein in his native Cantonese tongue to side-splitting effect.
The 1940’s plot involves landlord, landlady and tenants of down and out Pig Sty Alley confronted by the fearsome Axe Gang after low life hustler and loose cannon Sing (Chow) turns up there and throws his weight around pretending to be a Gang member. Aficionados will delight in the casting of unusually villainous Yuen Wah as Pig Sty’s lecherous landlord and seventies martial arts star Yuen Qiu – hitherto retired from movies for thirty years – as his no nonsense-taking, chain-smoking missus.
Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 1999) and The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999) five years ago, this raises the bar for Hong Kong Action in Hollywood movies. It does so by placing a superlative Hong Kong comedy – as thoroughly demented as only the best Hong Kong comedies can be – centre stage in the international film business. The result is far more fun than film audiences have any right to deserve.
Review originally writen for What’s On in London in 2005.
Kung Fu Hustle is out in UK cinemas on Friday, June 24th, 2005
Trailer;