CALEB STARRENBURG discovers Kung Fu Hustle, Stephen Chow's latest, possibly greatest hybrid of vulgar slapstick and outlandishly choreographed martial arts.


WHETHER or not an international audience realised it, Stephen Chow stole Jackie Chan's crown as Hong Kong's clown prince of kung-fu comedy years ago. With a delirious mix of the sublime and stupid, Chow's films have taken the chop-socky genre to news heights of hilarity.

His Hong Kong box-office monster Shaolin Soccer, was barely seen outside of China, although it gained cult status in New Zealand on DVD and video. With his latest tour-de-force Kung Fu Hustle (Gongfu), Chow may yet find the mainstream audience and acclaim he so richly deserves.

In Kung Fu Hustle, Chow combines CGI effects, superbly choreographed fights and a unique brand of slapstick to produce an undeniably entertaining piece of cinema that is more accomplished than it might seem. Not only is the film funny, it is deftly crafted.

Written, directed, produced and starring Chow (quite the renaissance man), the story (which moves along at a breakneck pace) revolves around Sing (played by Chow), a small-time thief who aspires to be a member of the notorious Axe Gang. Nice guys finish last, so Sing wants to be bad. Real bad.

Sing, during a failed extortion, draws the Axe Gang's ire against a ramshackle Shanghai housing project known as Pig's Sty Alley. When a trio of Pig's Sty residents with kung fu expertise defeat the axe wielders, the gang resorts to hiring more lethal martial arts combatants. This escalates into a battle of delightfully absurd and illogical proportions.

The choreography of martial arts luminaries Yuen Wo Ping and Sammo Hung lends sophistication to virtually every frame of Kung Fu Hustle. And while his peers might aspire for realism in the use of CGI, Chow's effects are delivered with a deliberately cartoonish flair, which makes the film's violence refreshingly escapist (and possibly masks a subtle social satire?).

As an actor, Chow does not yet have the comic ability of Jackie Chan or the physical presence of Jet Li. However, his directorial skill more than makes up for this deficiency, particularly the terrific performances he is able to coax from his co-stars. Notable is Yuen Qiu as the delightfully bitchy landlady, whom cinephiles and film geeks might recognise as the Bond girl from The Man With a Golden Gun. Also, look out for the cameo by Yuen Wo Ping.

Kung Fu Hustle, while throwing loving jabs at a plethora of cinematic influences – everything from Shaw Brothers classics, to Broadway musicals, to silent slapstick and Warner Brothers cartoons – is an entirely unique creation and a film which bares Chow's unmistakably slick technical signature. This is the kind of wholly creative entertainment Hollywood wishes it were making.