Kung Fu Hustle
Director: Stephen Chow
Year Released: 2004
Rating: 2.5
Parody of kung fu movies by kinetic director/star Chow that can best be described as Chuck Jones directing a Jackie Chan movie - it works wonders in the beginning before losing its charm near the end. Like those old karate movies, there's not much there in terms of story - just a lot of ass kicking by this group or that group - so it's more about how a movie is made (or a celebration of the joy of moviemaking) than depth, which is fine, but then again, CGI-dominated films like The Matrix do the same thing (only they're considerably more serious in terms of mood and purpose). This is exactly the kind of film fans of Shaun of the Dead (I'm talking to you, Connecticut's own Steven Carlson) will cling to with all four claws, but am I being too grouchy in saying that Steve Oedekerk's sadly ignored Kung Pow: Enter the Fist is substantially funnier?
