Review of Kung Fu Hustle (2004) by Tyler M — 31 Mar 2012

What is the name of your technique?

There's two things I know as facts:

1. There's 3 people that view this thing regularly...And where there's three, there might be 4!YAY.

2.Kung Fu Hustle, is perhaps the best DVD I have purchased in a long long time. I can't recommend it enough, it's amazing, it's style is unsurpassable, and it's action is top-notch.

The Story: It takes place in 1940s China a widely feared gang that call themselves the Axe Gang terrorizes a small village. They come across a set of super hero type fighters, each with they're own unique abilities and fighting styles they fight the good fight, but not good enough...All the while, two bumbling young men are trying to become members of the gang, taking on small tasks here and there and eventually working up the ranks in a very comical manner. That's the story for the most part, it's funny, it's action packed and it's incredibly stylish. It's told with some of the most interesting and beautiful special effects I've seen in a long time. It's a surprisingly great story, I admittedly had my doubts about it at first but rest assured those doubts left shortly after the film started. Great story, great action, and great everything else.

The Cast: I don't know any of the cast members for the simple fact that they're all Chinese...And it's one of those times where I'm just too lazy to go find the names, so deal with it...The actors make the action great, and the English dub is actually pretty damned decent to...But if you're against voice overs, and dubs than you can watch with the original soundtrack...So basically I can't tell you how well the cast acted, vocally...But they do superb in the fighting sequences. They really bring the characters to life through the action. The characters are all interesting and the cast looks as good as the fighting...It's one of those rare casts of characters where EVERYONE is memorable. Everyone from the landladly, right down to the barber...Even the smallest roles are great. That's something you don't see very often, and that's what makes this movie worth renting...Hell that's what makes this movie worth buying! So go out and buy it! It's not expensive, and if you don't have the money than, go sell a kidney or something...I mean really, this movie is worth a kidney...Okay, maybe not worth a kidney but definately worth the price of admission.

A Little Bit More: One of the things that makes this film so great is amazing soundtrack and special effects. And by soundtrack I don't mean just the music, which is beautiful by the way, very very beautiful. But also the sound effects, the kicks the punches, even the sound of the fat guys chest jiggling is great!...A little odd that I would say that the sound of a fat guys chest jiggling is great, but it just sounds so damned funny, that everytime I hear it I can't help but laugh...Next up is the special effects, they're fricken AMAZING! At times you can tell it's CG, but that's not a bad thing in the slightest, everything looks beyond great here, boards breaking over peoples heads, buildings being torn apart, everything is working very much in favor of the film here...And one more thing! I dare you to find all the movie references here! There's a lot, I haven't kept count but there's a lot here, and I'm sure I didn't catch all of them.

One to Five Scale: 5.

Stylish, funny, action packed, beautiful sound and special effects, and great characters all come together to get my highest reccomendations. The highest five yet...If you own a TV and a VCR or DVD player and you don't see this movie, than you don't deserve to have a TV, VCR, or DVD player...It's that good.

Tyler.

08/26/05.