Get ready for Kung Fu Hustle and be prepared because IT IS a Stephen Chow film. You already know that it's a rags-to-riches (or riches-to-rags-back-to-riches) film about yet another guy named "Sing" with untapped potential. But it's still the funniest reel I've seen to year. You must admit that it takes a great degree of comedic skill to make an audience laugh at even the most heart-wrenching death scene. How is it possible that you don't know whether to mourn or laugh? It's Stephen F-ing Chow. Many of the scenes are so bizarre and so outrageous that the movie's sheer absurdity becomes brilliant. This isn't some slapstick trash, like Dumb and Dumber, where gags are laddled onto your lap. No, Chow's work hits you like a Mac-10 truck from out of nowhere -- often done by first showing someone's facial expression before delievering the punch line.
I never know what to think about the love interest in Chow's films. Is there a deeper meaning behind the beast-to-beauty motif? Perhaps Chow's hinting to the inner beauty that's hidden within us. But there were scenes that almost made be cry.
Over the years, Chow has really developed as an actor, director, producer, and writer. True, his movies follow the same simplistic (and often cheesy) plot with the same ol' characters (and often actors). The only difference is the setting. Chow's been a chef, lawyer, judge, undercover cop, eunch, secret agent, billards player, gambler, and begger. However, it's a plot that never tires and can always be improved on. Robert Ebert explains that the reason is because we cease taking pleasure at seeing the unlikely, extraordinary outcomes. Each film raises the bar with its use of CGI technology that baffles even our sense of realism.
- God of Cookery - my first Chow film remains the my personal favorite
- Kung Fu Hustle
- Shaolin Soccer
- Royal Tramp 2
- Royal Tramp
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