Kung Fu Hustle

Hong Kong director Stephen Chow's (Shaolin Soccer) wonderfully demented Kung Fu Hustle combines his trademark wild cartoon defiance of physics with such unexpected elements as an Old West-style showdown, a Busby Berkeley-esque musical sequence, and outrageous caricatures that bring to mind the satire of Fawlty Towers. Set in a pseudo-Depression-era fantasia world, the throwaway plot concerns the poor schlubs of Pig Sty Alley, who are too destitute to attract the interest of the gangs who run the rest of Shanghai--until a young wannabe gangster and all-around loser named Sing (played by Chow) shows up, pretending to be part of the scary Axe Gang. But the hustle backfires, bringing the real mob down on Pig Sty Alley, whose residents turn out to be not altogether helpless: in fact, some--including the hilariously bitchy Landlady (Qiu Yuen), who is like Sybil Fawlty without the fawning obsequiousness--have hidden talents that would make Bruce Lee and the Roadrunner green with envy. A high-spirited spoof that's lots of fun, this is highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary (by Chow, and actors Lam Tze Chung, Tin Kai Man, and Chan Kwok Kwun), a behind-the-scenes TV special (42 min.), an interview with Chow by Ric Meyers (28 min.), outtakes and bloopers (5 min.), two deleted scenes (4 min.), TV spots (7 min.), a poster gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a fun film.] (M. Johanson)[DVD Review—Aug. 7, 2007—Sony, 100 min., R, $19.95—Making its second appearance on DVD, 2005's Kung Fu Hustle (Axe-Kickin' Edition) presents the uncut original Hong Kong version of the film, adding a minute's worth of footage to five scenes. Although it maintains the first DVD release's interview of filmmaker and star Stephen Chow by Ric Meyers from the first release, all other special features are missing. Instead, DVD extras new to this version include an “Organized Chaos” featurette with action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (10 min.), a seven-minute “Bringing Down the House” production design segment, a “Dressed to Kill” featurette on costume design (6 min.), a Comedy Central-produced interview with Chow (3 min.), bloopers and outtakes from the same interview (3 min.), a storyboard comparison (2 min.), a “Clean Out Pig Sty Alley” DVD-ROM game, and trailers. Bottom line: if you already own the initial release, adding this one is probably unnecessary.]