Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle is a hyperactive puppy that tries performing every trick in the book to get a pat on the head. If Tarantino riffs on Asian cinema in his retro-pop homages, then this is one Asian film returning the favour. It opens with homages to old school Hollywood musicals and Tarantino’s own beautiful stylised bloodlust, before going on to checklist various Asian genre archetypes and clichés – all in a comedic light.

I can honestly say I have never seen anything quite like Hustle. It takes the amazing and majestic fight scenes of modern Asian martial arts blockbusters like Hero and then infuses them with Looney Toons mayhem, as you do. It seems as if Writer/Director/Star Stephen Chow is kind of pulling the piss at the type of Asian films that do well overseas (i.e. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), and in doing so has cunningly made a film that itself is has unabashedly international appeal.

The culmination of all of this is a total farce, a farce more intriguing than enjoyable. Although Kung Fu Hustle is unique, and filled with “cool” moments and some truly amazing fight scenes, and it really is just junk-food cinema – can be tremendously tasty at times, but really it is just empty calories.