Awesome!!

Buddy-28

I did not know what to expect of this movie other than what the trailer showed, but I was completely blown away by this film! Not only does it pay homage to the Matrix and Spiderman as well as Looney Tune cartoons but the opening with the butterfly paid homage to the Men In Black with the dragonfly flying through the opening credits. From that point on, I was totally swept up in the movie and the 95 or so minutes seemed to go by in no time at all! The effects were well within the atmosphere presented by this action/comedy and I found myself laughing at all the jokes presented as well as feeling for the character of Sing as he blundered his way through trying to be a gangster even though he was way in over his head.

Scene after scene flowed with maybe some exceptions here and there, but all in all held together and kept my attention. I, too could have watched this movie without the subtitles and have enjoyed it just as much. The tonal sounds of Brother Sum, the language itself added to the beauty of this film, I could close my eyes and listen to it and be swept away. If the language was not so hard to master at such a point this far in my life, I would love to be able to learn it just to get the true dialogue they were speaking.

From the background story of Sing to the rag tag collection of people living in Pig Sty Alley to the seemingly inept but fear in sheer numbers of the Axe Gang, this film has enough characters to satisfy anyone. They each have a place in the movie and I don't think it would be the same without them.

The story, cinematography, the effects(at times obviously CG but they fit within the context of the film), the characters and even the music all make this a memorable viewing, enough to put this in my collection of films that I could watch over and over without growing tired of it.

There is so much I actually enjoyed of this film, I would love to dig deeper into the career of Stephen Chow. I had not heard of him before this viewing, but I would like to see if his other films were as entertaining.

If you like movies that have martial arts, enough action and comedy to spare with a story strong enough to hold it all together, I would recommend you catch this movie. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD!

score 10/10

Buddy-28 14 May 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1079994/