Kung Fu Hustle
2004 · Directed by Stephen Chow
Original language: cn
- action
- comedy
- crime
- fantasy
The story
It's the 1940s, and the notorious Axe Gang terrorizes Shanghai. Small-time criminals Sing and Bone hope to join, but they only manage to make lots of very dangerous enemies. Fortunately for them, kung fu masters and hidden strength can be found in unlikely places. Now they just have to take on the entire Axe Gang.
What it’s like
Saturated, cartoonish colour throughout: lurid yellows, blood-red awnings, sickly greens in Shanghai's gangster alleys, and bright tenement courtyards that look like a stage set. The camera is playful and fluid, with exaggerated wirework fights, sudden pans and whip-zooms, and cuts timed to punchlines, while the score swings between jaunty 1940s swing, old-style Chinese opera strings and goofy sound effects. Its vibe is anarchic, sunny-chaotic and affectionate, a slapstick wuxia spoof with a sweet heart under the mayhem. It suits a Friday night with friends, a laugh-out-loud comfort rewatch, or anyone who wants big energy without much darkness. Pacing is brisk and escalating, with set pieces that grow ever more absurd, and the emotional thread follows two bumbling petty crooks slowly finding a kind of dignity. Violence is frequent and highly stylised: bone-crunching fights and cartoonish gore, plenty of bodies flying, but no real menace or lingering cruelty, and the tone stays comic throughout. Sexual content is minimal. It is for people who love kinetic physical comedy, martial arts spectacle and a gleefully silly take on gangster films.
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