Kung fu
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Movie Reviews of Kung fu
Movie Review: Excellent fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been to see this movie three times so far, and it gets funnier and more enjoyable with each viewing. I am overwhelmed by the superb action sequences, the comedic timing, and the serious, touching undertones, all of which integrate to produce a truly wonderful experience. I whole-heartedly recommend this movie!Movie Review: "A FINE BALANCE OF FIGHTING & FUNNY"
Summary: 5 Stars
ANOTHER GREAT ACHIEVEMENT OF STEPHEN CHOW IN THE BOOKS ONCE MORE,IT'S AN AWESOME DELIGHT TO SEE MORE FILM'S OF THIS CALIBER.,WITH SUCH CLARITY AND SHINE IT'S NO WONDER THAT IT IS #5 AT THE BOX OFFICE IT SHOULD BE Review: Great, Original Kung Fu FilmSummary: 4 Stars Shanghai, China, the 1930s. The Axe Gang is taking over the town but is not interested in the poor slums. This leaves the residents of Pig Sty Alley to deal with their overbearing Landlady. One day, Sing (Stephen Chow) and his sidekick, walk into the Alley and attempt to blackmail people there. When the residents of the tenement stand up to fight him, he reveals that he is part of the Axe Gang and signals for help. Gang members show up and the landlady and the tenement residents fight them off. The Axe Gang realizes that they have been called to help someone who is not a part of the gang, but Sing is desperate to become a member. Now that the gang and the residents of Pig Sty Alley have met, they can't back down from each other, fighting until one group is victorious. The leader of the Axe Gang realizes that he will not be able to fight them alone and brings in The Beast.
"Kung Fu Hustle", written and directed by the star, Stephen Chow, is a fun, exhilarating, fast-paced film, borrowing elements from and paying homage to many other genres. Chow is clearly a filmmaker who loves films; he seems like a kid in a candy store. Now that he can make a film, how many different types of things can he get into the story? "Hustle" combines all of these elements in a way that is fresh and exciting.
The opening sequence is a homage to police interrogation films and westerns. When the opposing sides face off on a dusty road, we are transported from Shanghai to the Wild West. The sky turns magenta and everybody faces off, preparing for a classic gun fight. This scene is very theatrical, comical and sets the tone for the remainder of the film. Of course, we aren't in the Old West and the leader of the Axe Gang uses an axe to prove his point and keep us firmly rooted in the world of kung-fu.
The story is a framework for Chow to throw each and every trick in the book at the audience. After he introduces the Axe Gang, we then meet the residents of Pig Sty Alley. Landlord walks through the shops, receiving tributes and terrorizing everyone in a jovial way. Until he meets up with his wife, Landlady, who terrorizes her husband. Everyone in the Alley appears perfectly normal until Sing shows up.
When the two groups meet, we learn that people have special skills that they hesitate to use, unless absolutely necessary. They will do anything to protect their lives and friends. This leads to a series of amusing, entertaining fights, in which their skills are comically enhanced by special effects. Chow deftly blends all of these elements together making them appear somehow natural. Amazing considering all of the special effects, cartoon style action and over the top acting. Once we have accepted that these things can happen in this universe, we can accept the behavior as it becomes more cartoonish and more outlandish.
The story, while slight, is effective at creating a character that we can root for. Chow's Sing is just a guy looking to join the Axe Gang, but as he witnesses their brutality, he seems more drawn to the people of Pig Sty Alley. He realizes that their efforts to use their powers, only when absolutely necessary, to defend themselves, is the more responsible course of action. Throughout the film, we see glimpses of a pivotal moment in his childhood; he saves a deaf mute girl from a bunch of bullies and buys a book about kung-fu from a street beggar. Later, we learn that Sing may be the Chosen One. To live up to this prophecy, he has to make some changes in his life.
All of these over-the-top, disparate elements combined together would normally create a mess of a film. In "Hustle", they come together to create a fun, enjoyable film that will hopefully spur filmmakers to come up with more creative ways to tell a story.
Movie Review: Stephen Chow's International Crowd-Pleaser!
Summary: 4 Stars
Having seen Stephen Chow gone from goofy TV star in the late '80s, to becoming the king of comedy of Hong Kong with a long list of box office hits since the early '90s, it's great to see him combining jokes, outlandish special effects, and Kung Fu in this film that is by far his most entertaining work, even better than Shaolin Soccer. This is no doubt Granddaddy Sing's(his nickname) most ambitious movie, since it had already conquered the box office in all Chinese cinemas as well in most Asian countries. Finally, his movie is getting to be launched in North America in wide release. Let's see if it'll kick ass like Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Since I have already acquired Sing(Stephen Chow's) style of comedy and action for film, I know it's not going to be a Jackie Chan or Jet Li kind of action/comedy. He's very much on a league of his own, so he's got something different to offer the foreign audiences. Fans of Jim Carrey will very likely dig Sing's movie, because the two actors have been compared a lot.
The movie is about the war between The Axe Gang and The Pig Sty Alley, and Sing is pretending to be an amateur while seeking
to become a member of the Axe Gang. There are some very powerful retired masters of Kung Fu Warriors living as normal residents in The Pig Sty Alley. The Tailor, The Coolie(handyman), and The Baker all have great power and skills, but have not use them until the intrusion of The Axe Gang. They defeated the gang effortlessly. The Axe Gang then hired The # 1 Killers(two men who use musical instrument to produce deadly melodies as their weapon) to fight against the Alley. Just when they had defeated the three defendents of the Valley, The Landlord and his wife The LandLady came out to show them some serious kung fu. The Landlord's special power is his body movement that can be bent like elastic, so his opponent cannot hit him easily. As for The Landlady, she can ran like a motorcycle, and her ultimate power is her voice(a skill known as The Lion's Roar). Sing was hired by the Gang to go help The Beast escape the mental Assylum, so that he can fight against The Alley. The Beast was known to be the best of the best in the world of kung fu, and he was in the Assylum because he had defeated everyone already. The Landlady and The Landlord were caught off guard when The Beast appeared. They thought they were the best in kung fu, and now they have to face the enemy of a life time. Who will save them if they failed?
Wah Yuen(Landlord) and Qiu Yuen(Landlady) are very good together, and they delivered the laughs and great battle scenes. Qiu Yuen is actually very striking, espeically when she had the funniest lines and a outrageous personality. Other supporting players including the goofy Gang Leader(Danny Chan), and Tailor provided with some funny moments. The scene when Tailor was prancing around wearing a pair of red underwear seen through in a pair transparent pants, and got mocked by Landlady was a comic relief. The Lollipop Girl was unerexposed here, and I was expecting to see her practicing some special candy power, but she's just Sing's love interest. The action direction from renowned martial arts veteran Yuen Woo Ping certainly made the fight scenes over-the-top here. Along with a ton of special effects, it's very captivating, even if it looked kind of cartoonish at times.
Stephen Chow didn't totally dominate the movie like his other films, and he allowed the supporting cast enough screentime, so that the group scenes are worthwhile. In fact, I didn't find him to be as funny as his previous films. He's more serious, and his fight scenes have improved a great deal, considered that he's not an action star.
Movie Review: Interesting Hong Kong "Comedy" Film from Stephen Chow
Summary: 4 Stars
Kung Fu Hustle is from the same person, Stephen Chow, behind Shaolin Soccer. You all remember Shaolin Soccer, right? Oh right, it was cut to pieces by its American distributor and then never widely released in the USA (if it was released at all on the screen).
Shaolin Soccer was about this ex-soccer player (football to all you non-US Americans) that was very good, missed a goal, and was brutally beaten by a mob. That ex-player became a flunky to one of his former soccer teammates, until he leaves and eventually forms a soccer team with some bums he finds in the streets (not all bums). The team ends up entering a competition and the final game is against Team Evil, the team owned by that former teammate. There is something of a coherent plot in Shaolin Soccer (as long as you watch the uncut verison). Kung Fu Hustle is a lot more disjointed.
Kung Fu Hustle is filled with many actors, so much so that it becomes hard to tell which actor, or set of actors we should care about. Hustle is about crime-filled 1920s or 1930s Shanghai, where gangs run rampant, except in the poorest areas. One gang has, apparently, come to dominate most of Shanghai. That gang is the "Axe Head Gang" (or something like that). The movie opens with that gang "fighting" the head of a rival gang. The leader of the Axe gang likes dancing around during fights and afterwards.
Later, two con men visit one of those poor areas, Pig Sty Alley (I believe that is the name of the alley). They claim to be members of the Axe gang and demand money, but are disbelieved by the poor citizens of this alley (actually somewhat humorous scene where chief con man, Stephen Chow, keeps picking people out of the audience to fight, only to find out that he keeps choosing some tough looking people). Eventually the real Axe gang turns up, some Kung Fu masters spring up out of the poor mass of the Alley and . . . don't want to give everything away.
The movie can be surprisingly funny at times, but is a lot more violent and bloody than you might expect from a "comedy." I would probably give this film 4.22 stars out of 5.
The main actors are: Hisao Liang (leader of the Axe Gang); Stephen Chow (Sing); Wah Yuen (Landlord); Qiu Yuen (Landlady); Xing Yu (coolie; more of a supporting part); Siu Lung Leung (The Beast); Dong Zhi Hua (Donut); Kwok Kuen Chan (Brother Sum); Chiu Chi Ling (Tailor) and etc.
- Michael S. Briggs -