Review of Kung Fu Dunk (2008) by Adam N — 02 Mar 2009

A chinese film where an expert kung fu specialist gets expelled from his school, with no home to go to he meets up with a guy who's impressed by his ability to throw cans into a trashcan. Much like Shaolin Soccer its almost a retake of the same movie with a different sport applied - the wannabe coach even asks the kid if he wants to use his skills for soccer whilst holding a soccer ball to which the kid rejects; obviously a nod to Stephen Chow.

Since the kid doesn't know the sport inside out he has the same flaws like Stephen Chow, he can shoot from anywhere but he can't dunk, he can soar up in the air but he lacks movement.

Later on in the movie the other 4 members of the kung fu class join in to help and combine their skills to improve the outlook - just like Shaolin Soccer. The humour however isn't at all like Shaolin Soccer, whereas that movie allowed for humour within the game this one's a bit more serious with slightly funny moments that aren't really that funny. Its more about the coolness like the videogame NBA Jam.

The copy of the movie I got has same painfully bad english subtitles that hold the film down from being a nice experience - this is a direct translation and often nothing will make much sense. One line in particular says.

"Warriors team in your section bottles that the ball".

I'm almost certain this copy was recorded on tv too because after the credits was a chinese shampoo & toothpaste commercial :P.

In the end I cannot give this movie too many positives, the lead character (Jet - unless that was translated badly too) has a somewhat boring personality and he never truly dominates the court. Even if the translation was perfect I doubt I'd give this a higher rating because its not crucial (or that important).