Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle is about to get a full release in the US, which, after the fiasco with Miramax's US release of his previous film, Shaolin Soccer, is a bit of a relief. As with House of Flying Daggers, Sony Pictures has gotten this film to the American market just months after its Asian premiere, rather than years.
Thanks to my triad connections, I was able to view a Hong Kong VCD of Kung Fu Hustle a few weeks back. I really liked it, and liked it a lot better than Shaolin Soccer, which had a certain Football World Cup cash-in factor for me. Kung Fu Hustle could be accused of cashing in on the current western wire-fu craze, I suppose, especially if you didn't know that Chow was doing this sort of thing back in the early 1990s. But really it's very much it's own beast. A lot of the film is an opportunity for HK stars of yesteryear (such as the fabulous Yuen Wah) to riot about. The film is also an example (at last!) that computer graphics can be used imaginatively - you just have to give the job to a director with some imagination.
The only thing Chow doesn't seem to have much imagination with is his own role, which only comes through at the very end, and seems fairly afterthoughtish. It's a far cry from the days when Chow used to storm through his films like a comic colossus, but given he's been in dozens of these films you can forgive him for wanting a change. Still, I prefer the playful antics of Flirting Scholar, Hail the Judge, Legend of the Dragon, or Forbidden City Cop, to more recent Chow outing, that are much less jolly. This is all fine - clearly he's moved on - but I hope these earlier movies will get wider exposure in the light of Kung Fu Hustle.
I'm also hoping Kung Fu Hustle gets a proper release here, rather than straight to video, like with Shaolin Soccer.
I'm hoping to do reviews of the other Chow films I've seen in the next while.
Posted by stuart at April 20, 2005 10:52 AM