Flora Stewart

Kung Fu Hustle plays with and then fractures your funny bone with its frenetic but perfectly timed physical comedy. There are multiple layers of stories - many parody the Chinese movie tropes of elder respect, girl meets boy, redemption, falling -literally- in love. The villains are refreshingly funny- while they may take their villainy seriously, we never do. And some of the villains are actually heroes; especially a landowner who could outrun Usain Bolt. If you enjoyed violent cartoons such as the American Road Runner series, you will appreciate the fight and death scenes as funny as hell despite the blood and violence. The battle scenes reflect the superiority of Chinese fight choreography, and if anyone was not injured in the making of this film-that would be miraculous. The sets become weaponized by both good guys and villains, resulting in a movie that seamlessly and expertly incorporates character back story timelines, and hurls them into a crescendo of destruction. Throughout Kung Fu Hustle, shit happens to the heroes. But our heroes take their circumstantial shit and channel it into their field of dreams. There was always humor in Chinese martial arts movies; but Kung Fu Hustle isn’t so much about martial arts as it is about ordinary people finding out that it truly takes a village to make a place home.