Much hustle about kung fu

perrin99

I have mostly good things to say about Stephen Chow's latest movie.

Kung Fu Hustle, for the most part, is unlike Chow's previous, award-winning action-comedy, Shaolin Soccer, although he has obviously continued the martial arts theme and expanded (massively) his repertoire of sfx.

I am a Chow fan, beginning from the times when he relied on a deadpan expression, toilet humour, spoofs of other movies and books, and good-ending, heart-warming, small-town/village boy-makes-good story lines.

Some of those elements are noticeably absent in KFH. Ng Man Tat is missing, as is the customary female attraction (the main female character has little screen time). The cast of SS is back (excepting Ng), and the goalkeeper of that movie in particular has a roaring time here as the leader of Axe Gang.

But of course, when it comes to KFH, one must talk about the sfx. In themselves they are creatively-done and quite out of the world. As part of the film, one might ask, has Chow stumbled into the cinematic abyss that has caught so many of Hollywood's directors who dabble in the black arts of sfx? Thankfully, the answer is no. True, KFH, unlike SS, is weak on story and characters, which has been characteristic of recent Western yawns such as Van Helsing, Blade Trinity etc. In this, Chow has stepped away from the formula which made SS not just a sfx extravaganza but a successful story. In contrast KFH is a bundle of action sequences thrown together to showcase the sfx.

But the wit and cheekiness of Chow remains. It is gratifying that the fun and sarcasm that has been a hallmark of his acting career have translated themselves well into films that he has produced and directed.

So in KFH we have Chow spoofing the clichés of Chinese martial arts stories: the retired martial arts couple who become petty scrooge and lecher, the heroes who save the neighbourhood (one of them gay) end up getting dispatched soon after, and the con beggar who sells a wu ling mi ji to a naive boy.

Because of the spoofs, the sfx don't become spectacles in themselves, but help to drive the madness upward. Highly-skilled sitar players strum out blades and ghouls in battle, a pugilist using the Toad's Skill croaks and blows out his lower mouth like one, Chow ascends into the skies as he masters the Buddha's Palm with a eagle in the distance, the engrossing mass battle with the black-clad Axe Gangsters, lifted from the Matrix movies. It is all mad, irreverent and at times even affecting.

Still, I do yearn for the good o' Chow. The sfx are fun and crazy. But surely the funniest bit in the film has got to be the knife-throwing sequence. That is good o' Chow. So I don't mind, just bring on the Chow, be it old or new, in the next year.

score 10/10

perrin99 9 January 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0996221/