Kung Fu Hustle

[Brian in Mesa]

Kung Fu Hustle

Release Date: April 8, 2005 (NY, LA; wide release: April 22)
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Director: Stephen Chow
Screenwriter: Tsang Kan Cheong, Stephen Chow, Chan Man Keung
Genre: Action, Comedy
MPAA Rating: R (for sequences of strong stylized action and violence)
Website: Kung Fu Hustle

Starring: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen

Plot Summary: A hapless wanna be gangster, Sing, must overcome his inability to wield a knife and demonstrate his mettle in order to become a member of the notorious Axe Gang. The Axe Gang, meanwhile, want to reign supreme by occupying the most coveted territory, which is a sacred street protected by an unlikely cast of characters, many of whom are highly skilled kung fu masters disguised as ordinary people. After several encounters with thugs and a fearsome adversary known as the Beast, Sing overcomes his inadequacy and realizes he is the greatest kung fu master of them all, destined to protect the sacred street.

 

[Pariah]

Looks...interesting? I saw a trailer for it in the theater.

 

[cardsunsfan]

Looks...interesting? I saw a trailer for it in the theater.

It's got great reviews...

 

[Chaplin]

I know someone that saw the original Hong Kong version and they said it was terrific.

 

[bleedingblueandsilver]

went and saw it, and my friend and I really enjoyed it. Really funny and full of action. Two thumbs up IMO.

 

[bankybruce]

awesome, my friend i went with did not know it was subititles and he hates subtitles, and he loved it. we only saw it because everyone here hated Kingdom of Heaven, so we saw this instead, thanks guys, this is one I will see again before it leaves the theater.

 

[Mulli]

Best Kung Fu movie I have seen in a long time. I loved it. My wife was bored to tears.

 

[PortlandCardFan]

I really...really...really enjoyed this flick!!!

 

[phillycard]

Hey. Harry Kalas, voice of the Phillies, did the voiceover for the trailer. That alone might be reason to see it!

 

[Bada0Bing]

I just watched it. What a crazy movie. It was so dumb that it had me laughing several times. I almost fainted when I saw that it had a 7.8 rating at IMDB. Here is an interesting piece of trivia from IMDB.

The movie contains a large number of parodies and references to other Hollywood and wuxia movies, and popular culture, including: * The escape scene of Sing from Landlady is obviously an homage to Looney Tunes cartoons featuring Road Runner, down to the disastrous result of Landlady (as usual of Wile E. Coyote). * The scene where Landlady repeatedly strikes a bell in order to remove the top and use it as a megaphone is a reference to wuxia film Yu loi sun jeung, where a mortally wounded master strikes the patterns of his art's final techniques into a bell so that his pupil can learn from it. * The evil musicians are reminiscent of The Blues Brothers. In one scene, they respond to a question "Strictly speaking we're just musicians", exactly as the Blues Brothers did in their 1980 movie. * When Donut dies, he says "with great power comes great responsibility", a clear reference to the Spider-Man, when Uncle Ben dies. Afterwards, with his dying breath, he leans up, grabs the Landlord by the shirt and utters in English, "What are you prepared to do?!", a nod to Sean Connery's character Malone in Brian De Palma's 1987 film The Untouchables. * When Sing steps through the fence to enter the asylum, wind starts to blow and lightning appears above the asylum. This is reminiscent of Back to the Future when Doc Brown enters the clock tower. * A scene is reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining with blood gushing down a corridor in the Mental Asylum. * Early in the movie, Sing does a brief trick with a soccer ball. When a child asks Sing if he will teach them, he stomps on the ball, deflating it and declares: "No more soccer." This scene is an in-joke referring to Stephen Chow's previous film Shaolin Soccer. * The final battle between Sing and Beast is a tribute towards Hong Kong black and white fantasy Wuxia movies that appeared in 1960 (Hong Kong didn't use color movies until early 70's) such as "Buddha God Palm fist" - these movies used to aim for children, as there was no cartoon or anime back then. The background music during the fight is a typical black and white fantasy wuxia movie.

 

[mesacardsfan]

It was so dumb it was funny thats the only way to describe this movie!

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Loved this movie!