With a delirious mix of the sublime and the silly, Hong Kong comedy king Stephen Chow Sing-chi has taken the kung fu comedy genre to new heights of chop-socky hilarity. The cult clown prince, whose last hit, "Shaolin Soccer," was picked up internationally by Miramax, now returns with a bold tour-de-force titled "Kung Fu Hustle," which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In his new film, Chow combines "Matrix"-style effects, Yuen Wo-ping-choreographed fights and his own scatological slapstick for a wildly broad piece of entertainment that is more accomplished than it would seem. Not only is "Kung Fu Hustle" funny, it is action packed, moves like a bullet train and, most surprisingly, is beautifully shot and edited. Given that Sony Pictures is a major funder, this could finally be the vehicle to break out Chow worldwide.
The story centers on an ax-carrying gang terrorizing the lowly inhabitants of a tenement called Pig's Sty Alley. When a trio of locals with kung fu expertise fights back, the gang resorts to hiring more lethal martial arts mercenaries in an escalating battle that, frankly, defies all logic and sense. But as anyone in-tune with Hong Kong pop culture knows, ridiculous turns of plot is nothing new.
Stephen Chow's peculiar vision of an action - comedy - musical - drama. For over-the-top excess, this takes pride-of-place."
-- Victoria Alexander, FILMSINREVIEW.COM
3.5/4 "A lush piece of entertainment! Wow! Big action. Big comedy. Big heart. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll laugh and cry at the same time."
-- Ross Anthony, HOLLYWOOD REPORT CARD
B+ "Chow packs a lot of action, a crazed cascade of comedy, a parade of characters and a non-stop barrage of loving jabs at classic martial-arts adventures into 99 minutes."
-- Sean Axmaker, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
4/4 "The humor may be lowbrow, but the Looney Tunes timing is impeccable."
-- John Beifuss, COMMERCIAL APPEAL (MEMPHIS, TN)
3.5/4 "(Kung Fu) Hustle is a rapid-paced conglomerate of action and laughs, mixed with special effects that look like they were lifted from a Warner Bros. cartoon. "
-- Bob Bloom, JOURNAL AND COURIER (LAFAYETTE, IN)
3/4 "A nonstop orgy of madcap martial arts mayhem."
-- Matt Brunson, CREATIVE LOAFING
3.5/4 "Rock crumbles, wood splinters, and cartoon sound effects yelp in Chow's full-bore looney tune."
-- Peter Canavese, GROUCHO REVIEWS
9/10 "Chow knows what his audience wants, and what that audience wants appears to be utter comedic insanity."
-- Jeffrey Chen, WINDOW TO THE MOVIES
B+ "inspired silliness at 100 mph"
-- Laura Clifford, REELING REVIEWS
3.5/5 "Not only is it hilariously funny, but it's also a fiendishly entertaining (albeit somewhat cartoonish) action movie."
-- Rich Cline, SHADOWS ON THE WALL
5/10 "An enjoyable but lightweight kung fu movie."
-- Jackie K. Cooper, JACKIEKCOOPER.COM
B+ "Equal parts Chuck Jones, Buster Keaton, Bubsy Berkeley and Bruce Lee, Kung Fu Hustle tows every line perfectly."
-- Rick Curnutte, THEFILMJOURNAL.COM (OHIO)
3.5/4 "The hugely enjoyable Kung Fu Hustle races across the screen in a colorful collage of kung fu films, silent comedies and Tex Avery and Chuck Jones cartoons."
-- Jeffrey M. Anderson, COMBUSTIBLE CELLULOID
4/4 "A deep river of imagination flows through Stephen Chow’s indiscriminate fairy tale."
-- Jeanne Aufmuth, PALO ALTO WEEKLY
" Low-brow but involving, and never predictable, this is a feast even for those who can't stand subtitles. "
-- Angela Baldassarre, SYMPATICO.CA
2.5/5 "Kung Fu Hustle is inventive, wild and completely pointless."
-- Josh Bell, LAS VEGAS WEEKLY
3/4 "Kung Fu Hustle has a new spin on an old genre..."
-- Emily Blunt, BLUNT REVIEW
"I can only assume Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle is the first chop-socky extravaganza to lift entire passages of dialogue from Jean Renoir's Rules Of The Game."
-- Sean Burns, PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY
3/4 "A delirious-verging-on-surreal send-up of Kung Fu attitudes and traditions mutated with a Tex Avery cartoon."
-- Walter Chaw, FILM FREAK CENTRAL
"An almost exhaustingly inventive action comedy that uses every available trick."
-- David Chute, L.A. WEEKLY
B+ "There is so much slapstick humor, so many comic book like characters and outrageous special effects that Kung Fu Hustle should easily cross demographics"
-- Robin Clifford, REELING REVIEWS
3.5/4 "Can a movie be hilarious and violent simultaneously? Well, yes, if it's "Kung Fu Hustle.""
-- Linda Cook, KWQC-TV (IOWA)
3/5 " It’s an explosion of solid silly fun."
-- David Cornelius, EFILMCRITIC.COM
4/5 "The soundtrack is cool, the action is hot, and the laughs are numerous. Step aside Jackie Chan; there's a new master in town."
-- Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, THEMOVIECHICKS.COM
