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Back Shelf Beauties
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Kung Fu Hustle If you loved those late night, badly dubbed martial arts films or classics from stars like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, this movie is for you. For the rest of us it is funny, but not hilarious. In Kung Fu Hustle, a tough mafia-like street gang, The Axe Gang, is duped into battling the residents of a small, poor town known as Pig Sty, when two down and out street punks, Sing (Stephen Chow) and his sidekick (Chi Chung Lam), pretend to be part of the gang and cause trouble. The Axe Gang rules everything in 1940's Shanghai, but Pig Sty holds some dangerous secrets that can topple the kingpins. Little does the gang know, several master warriors have been quietly living in Pig Sty, and another person is The One, who has not realized his unstoppable power as of yet. Will these warriors be able to protect Pig Sty? Will The One learn about his power in time to save the day? Kung Fu Hustle is drowning in critical praise, but it is a better movie for lovers of the kung fu genre because they'll get the jokes. Not your typical action film, Kung Fu Hustle is a parody like Airplane is for disaster movies or Scary Movie is for horror films. The action purposely crosses the line into cartoonish, which provides the movies funniest moments, but writer/director/star Stephen Chow makes it entertaining and fitting for these scenes as he mocks some traditional kung fu staples such as the mysterious and reluctant warriors, the hero who grows into his role just in time to save the day, mystical powers held by the masters and severe overacting by villains. Much like many B-movie level martial arts films, Kung Fu Hustle's story has lots of elements that come out of nowhere for no real reason, but that is the point of the parody. Chow, who also directs and helped write the movie, provides some top shelf action, although some of the best fight scenes are special effects driven such as The One's climactic battle, and a sequence featuring mysterious assassins sent to destroy the saviors of Pig Sty. Kung Fu Hustle throws plenty of jokes at the audience, and is funny, but not outright hilarious for those who aren't as familiar with the source material. If you love the martial arts films, you'll love Kung Fu Hustle. The rest of us kind of get the jokes, but can't revel in their glory. 2 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2005 - WaffleMovies.com
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