Forget Batman Begins, the only film worth its money this summer is Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle. Funny and witty this is the ultimate in the nonsense film genre, something of a speciality in Stephen Chow's CV.
The film centers around the fight between the Pig Sty and machete waving Axe Gang. Caught in the middle is loser thief Sing whose comical attempt at extortion triggered the attention of Axe Gang's warlords to the small village inhabited by a bunch of retired old masters.
Taking cue and inspiration from Roadrunner shorts, this film has been described as Matrix meets Crouching Tiger (ugh!!!) combined with the comedy wit of Airplane! and Tex Avery films by British critics. I don't know about the Matrix/Hidden Dragon (boo!!!) part other than the fight sequences were choreographed by the same guy.
The plot is nonsence but this is a Chow film after all. Growing up and watching his films as a kid this is the sort of bullshit film you would expect. How we all laughed throughout the fully filled theater. I never witness such a funnier film this year or the last especially when compared to the shit Hollywood factory churns out every month (Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughen, Owen Wilson, Jackie Chan - why don't you all retire). It won't touch the older non-martial art films by Stephen Chow. Those were the classics. But it sure came close and with it blows all Hollywood'ised romantic martial art films away.
1 comment:
Heh. I watched it when I was back home a few months ago. I still prefer old Stephen Chow's movies. :P
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