Wow, that's a big fist!

Kung Fu Hustle is a comedy through and through, slapstick balls to the wall wackiness with touches of genuine brilliance in its varied cultural parodies and frequent vacillation between genuine emotion and Loony-Toon style silliness.
It is above all else, a film that succeeds in a single unambiguous goal, to entertain. Kung Fu Hustle carries no obvious pretensions of high art, it is a sweeping epic of slapstick comedy, well shot choreography, engaging CG, and memorable characters. That is not to say that there is no significant artistic or intellectual undertones at work in the movie, but the purpose of audience amusement eclipses the sociopolitical statements and (in my opinion) ultimately amplifies underlying themes by marrying them to humor and action. Like Quentin Tarantino’s pulpy amalgamation of high-brow intellectualism and cathartic violence (from which the film draws heavily) Kung Fu Hustle proves what can happen when talented creators blur the line between “art” and entertainment.

The story itself follows Sing, a downtrodden everyman whose various misfortunes have convinced him that “good guys never win”. He aspires to join the fearsome Axe Gang and finds himself trapped in an escalating conflict between retired kung fu masters and the dark Hannibal-like “Beast” that the gang hires to destroy the Pig Sty heroes.

Hilarity ensues.

It’s refreshing to see a movie so willing to be spontaneous and uninhibited, Kung Fu Hustle is aware of its source material and intended audience, paradoxically touching and silly as it dissects popcorn munching mainstream successes (primarily Kung-Fu films) with gleeful fervor. Along the way the movie touches upon Spiderman, the Shining, Loony Toons, Kill Bill, the Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and many more. The expectation is that a comedic film so diverse in its source material might drop the ball, derail pacing or simply get lost in pursuit of comedic tangents (any familiarity with recent Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer films i.e. “Epic Movie”, proves that drawing from many different sources of parody is not always a good idea). However, Kung Fu Hustle remains tightly focused even as cultural reference after cultural reference is dropped skillfully into the action. Much like the movie’s subtleties of culture and artistic meaning, these references do not overwhelm or detract from the singular goal of an enjoyable movie going experience.

Kung Fu Hustle’s success as an entertaining piece of culture brings me to an important point for which I must briefly digress, but that I’m sure many reading will find relatable.
Too often when encountering Chinese culture I adopt a straight-faced paranoia that keeps me from appreciating comedy or heart. Every piece of foreign popular culture that falls into my lap becomes an unavoidable search for meaning rather than face-value appreciation of the work’s entertainment value. I read through “Chaos and all that” and “Please Don’t Call me Human” with all the intensity and seriousness of a CIA code-breaker, certain somehow that if I could just study the foreign words in front of me I could unlock some hidden substrata of international understanding. It wasn’t until I heard Jennifer read passages in class that I suddenly realized that these works were meant to be funny. I was somehow shocked that culture was meant to entertain (then again after watching Platform that’s an easy perception to have).

However Kung Fu Hustle remains enjoyable while ensuring that every aspect of its complex combination of cinematography, choreography, comedy, and music is well crafted and cleverly utilized. It's not often that a zany comedy is so brilliantly shot. Not just the choreography, but CGI effects, fast cutaways, the slow panning, high angles and the tracking through intricate sets, even tried and true bullet-time seems fresh when Stephen Chow has his chance at the helm.
No aspect of the movie seems out of place or detracts from its seamlessness, all aspects pointing towards a deliberate cinematic purpose.
The film’s music in particular is extremely relevant, comprised largely of traditional Chinese with only a few more modern exceptions it serves to subtly underline differences in tone between the humble inhabitants of Pig Sty and the nefarious Axe Gang. While the poor peasants are accompanied by folk-like Chinese melody, the Axe Gang and Beast warrant darker tunes, low jazzy trumpet rumbles and sinister tones that display a degree of sophistication and danger.
Throughout the film the music holds up well, often as overtly indicative of drama, triumph, and terror as any traditional action adventure movie music (think Indiana Jones) with the addition perhaps of an eastern flair.

Perhaps the cost of Sing’s slapstick misfortunes and childish hilarity is that Kung Fu Hustle ends up having less to say than a strictly “art” film of comparable skill. Even if that is the case, it’s a reward well worth the cost. In the end, Kung Fu Hustle succeeds in more treacherous territory than most filmmakers would dare tread The film’s sharp, silly dialogue, acutely funny allusions to pop culture, and sudden lurches between humor and seriousness never delay the action or feel tacked on. What actor/director Stephen Chow lacks, is the maturity to invest his work with anything that might provoke a deeper more heartfelt emotional response to his characters beyond momentary sympathy. Nonetheless, Kung Fu Hustle is very entertaining. A film with the sophistication not to overreach, Kung Fu Hustle is a must see for anyone looking for brilliant comedy with artistic bite that translates well across international borders.