‘Kung Fu Hustle’ is a film to chow about

The ads for this film suggest that “Kung Fu Hustle” is “Jackie Chan

meets Buster Keaton meets Quentin Tarantino meets Bugs Bunny,” and I

couldn’t agree more.

Set in a huge, free-standing apartment slum called Pig Sty Alley,

the forces of good and evil battle it out in epic martial-arts style.

Using every trick of computer-generated animation and aerial wirework

(think “Crouching Tiger”) and then inventing some more on top of

that, “Kung Fu Hustle” delivers a stylish, funny, fast-paced romp

with good story lines, excellent characters and even a love story!

Written, produced and directed by its star, Stephen Chow, the film

invites us into a cartoon-colorful world that could be

pre-revolutionary China, or Shanghai in the 1950s, or modern-day Hong

Kong.

The oppressed poor are at the mercy of the Axe gang, a huge band

of vicious gangsters (with matching, oversized top hats and MTV-style

choreography).

Sing (Chow) is a small-time criminal attracted by the wealth and

sophistication of the Axe gang.

Lacking the ruthless heart of a killer, though, he ends up

fighting against them instead, alongside a delightful and surprising

team of Kung Fu titans who emerge from their covert identities among

the slum’s poor.

This is absolutely the most entertaining aspect of the movie. The

Superpowers of Good are decidedly imperfect-looking, middle-aged

citizens; a bickering landlord/landlady team, a tailor, a restaurant

owner and an escaped mental patient, all with their own incredible

Kung Fu powers.

Much of the comedy is here, as well as many of the film’s exciting

surprises.

As these unlikely heroes band together to fight the Axes of Evil,

we are treated to a series of running jokes that slyly refer to

Hollywood film culture, all very tongue-in-cheek.

The 1960s-inspired spy movie soundtrack really enhances this

aspect of the film, along with catch lines and phrases from popular

movies. The audience laughed out loud reading along with the

subtitles!

* MARLA MARTIN is a belly dance performer and instructor in La

Crescenta.