I\u2019m not normally a martial arts movie afficionado but an old friend was staying at \u201cThe Compound\u201d and he took advantage of a Netflix account to watch quite a few of them.\u00a0 One of those films was a movie from 2004 called Kung Fu Hustle and because of the fantasy aspects of the film I decided I could stretch a definition and do a review here.<\/p>\n
First of all, this movie is in Chinese with subtitles.\u00a0 As far as a genre I guess you could call it a martial arts fantasy comedy.\u00a0 So, if any of those categories aren\u2019t for you then you should skip this movie.\u00a0 Stephen Chow is the producer, director, writer and star.<\/p>\n
It is 1930\u2019s Shanghai.\u00a0 Chow plays Sing, a young man who has become disillusioned with the world because of his attempt as a child to defend a poor mute girl named Fong from some bullies.\u00a0 He tried \u00a0using the Buddhist Palm fighting style that he had learned by reading a pamphlet that he bought from a beggar.\u00a0 But he was beaten badly and because of this experience when he grows up he decides to turn to a life of crime.\u00a0 He attempts to shake down some poor people by telling them he is part of the dreaded Axe Gang that rules the city through violence and terror.\u00a0 When the peasants beat him up instead, he signals for the real Axe Gang and an epic battle ensues between the scores of Axe gangsters and the poor people of Pig Sty Alley.\u00a0 As it turns out three of the peasants are coincidentally kung fu masters.\u00a0 Behind their leadership the peasants defeat the gang.<\/p>\n
Now Sum, the leader of the gang captures Sing and promises to kill him after the gang war is completed for causing such a terrible rout of his men.\u00a0 But by some mysterious skill Sing escapes.\u00a0 Meanwhile Sum hires two magical harp players.\u00a0 Apparently, their music generates flying knives and using these they kill the three kung fu masters.\u00a0 Now we meet up with two of the comic characters of Pig Sty Alley, the Landlord and his shrewish wife.\u00a0 They also turn out to be kung fu masters and they avenge the slain men and defeat the harpists.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Sum decides that Sing can be a valuable tool because of his abilities as an escape artist.\u00a0 He hires him to free a man called the Beast from an insane asylum.\u00a0 He does this and, of course, the Beast is a kung fu master and a dangerous lunatic.\u00a0 He attacks the Landlord and Landlady and fights them to a draw.\u00a0 Sum orders Sing to help the Beast kill the husband and wife but Sing has a change of heart and attacks the Beast.\u00a0 The Beast pummels the young man to a pulp and the Landlord flees with his wife and Sing\u2019s unconscious body.<\/p>\n
Somehow the tremendous beating triggers some kind of magical transformation in Sing and he not only completely regenerates but acquires the skills of, you guessed it, a Buddhist Palm kung fu master!\u00a0 He squares off against the entire Axe Gang and the Beast.\u00a0 After a titanic battle that involves flying through the sky and invisible forces that can knock down buildings, he defeats the Beast who then begs to be allowed to be Sing\u2019s pupil.\u00a0 Finally, in the last scene Sing meets up with Fong who is now an ice cream seller and I guess they live happily ever after.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll probably say this is a ridiculous plot and it is.\u00a0 But the action scenes are very well done, the comedy is funny and the story keeps your attention.\u00a0 The martial arts scenes are somewhat reminiscent of the choreographed fight scenes in the Matrix.\u00a0 If you aren\u2019t completely opposed to a movie in this genre then I\u2019d highly recommend you give this one a look.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m not normally a martial arts movie afficionado but an old friend was staying at \u201cThe Compound\u201d and he took advantage of a Netflix account<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,237,4,243],"tags":[200,2411,2412,43,38,1355],"class_list":["post-10381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-movie-reviews","tag-fantasy","tag-kung-fu-hustle","tag-martial-arts","tag-movie-review","tag-review","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\n