Do the Kung Fu Hustle
Not a big fan of the Kung Fu genre and I’ve never seen a Stephen Chow film before, but I have to say I found this to be wholly entertaining.
It is terribly over the top, complete with a roadrunner/cyote-eske foot chase (think spinning legs and dust clouds). They use CGI animation affects that are really really bad, but that may have been intentional. I’ve been told by Kung Fu movie aficionados, that the budget for this film was almost three times more than what is normally spent, which may account for the silly animation.
There is a very blatant commentary on Americans and their tendency to invade and attempt to control small (or not so small) countries. The first scene shows a gang leader dressed in cowboy boots and hat getting killed by a rival gang carrying axes and dawning Abe Lincoln hats. The only Caucasians in the film are either the gang members or in another scene “boy scouts” guarding a foreboding jail.
These gangs ultimately try and take over an impoverished community that turns out to have several Masters hidden among them, who successfully fend them off until the big guns….or musical instruments are brought in. This pent-ultimate fight scene is starts off rather beautiful and eerie, but ultimately turns to be very silly.
This movie misses the mark just slightly, but I would highly recommend it, especially if you are trying to turn someone on to the Hong Kong film. I’ld take this film over “House of Fucking Kill Me Already Dagger” any day of the week.
It is terribly over the top, complete with a roadrunner/cyote-eske foot chase (think spinning legs and dust clouds). They use CGI animation affects that are really really bad, but that may have been intentional. I’ve been told by Kung Fu movie aficionados, that the budget for this film was almost three times more than what is normally spent, which may account for the silly animation.
There is a very blatant commentary on Americans and their tendency to invade and attempt to control small (or not so small) countries. The first scene shows a gang leader dressed in cowboy boots and hat getting killed by a rival gang carrying axes and dawning Abe Lincoln hats. The only Caucasians in the film are either the gang members or in another scene “boy scouts” guarding a foreboding jail.
These gangs ultimately try and take over an impoverished community that turns out to have several Masters hidden among them, who successfully fend them off until the big guns….or musical instruments are brought in. This pent-ultimate fight scene is starts off rather beautiful and eerie, but ultimately turns to be very silly.
This movie misses the mark just slightly, but I would highly recommend it, especially if you are trying to turn someone on to the Hong Kong film. I’ld take this film over “House of Fucking Kill Me Already Dagger” any day of the week.
posted by thatgirlkelly at 9:10 AM
1 Comments:
I happened to see this movie during a long and very bumpy bus ride from Yibin to Chengdu in southern China. It wasn't subtitled so I didn't get any of the dialogue, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. I was slightly disappointed that the classy dance sequence in the beginning was not followed up by others, but there was plenty of other amusing things to keep me occupied. Had a little trouble figuring out who was on what side in the beginning, and why the gang that seemed so omnipotent in the beginning kept turning to a couple apparent incompetents to handle critical missions. No doubt when I see it again in a less bumpy, more English format, such mysteries will be made clear.
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