Kung Fu Hustle Review

With movies trying to reach a more global audience, Kung Fu Hustle may provide an example of how to make a successful movie. The film drew elements from America, Hong Kong, and Mainland China to make it have a broader appeal. This fared better in the box office than previous films like Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because it had a little bit for everybody. Also, it probably helped that the film fell into the action comedy genre.

The film is loaded with many references from western pop culture as well as Chinese. In the scene where the landlady chases after Sing, the visual style is taken from the chases from the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon. I feel like the scene also incorporates Chow’s comedic style when his character, Sing, uses the knives stuck in his shoulder as rear-view mirrors. Those knives are stuck in his shoulders because of some unsuccessful attempts at throwing knives minutes before. At the conclusion of the chase, the landlady crashes into a billboard. Incidentally, the product advertised on the billboard was White Flower Oil (白花油), a product used externally to alleviate minor aches and pains as well as nasal congestion, probably something the landlady needs at the moment. For people who have knowledge about the product, it may have bought up a chuckle or two. Additionally, it brought in a famous quote from the comic book superhero Spider-man dying Uncle Ben. In the film,a fighter suffered grave injuries and his last words were "With great power comes great responsibility." This quote already fresh in the minds of the American audience as the first Spider-man film was released 2 years prior.

For the fighting scenes, there was a Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon feel to it because they had brought in the same choreographer from those movies Yuen Woo-ping. In the final fighting scene, we can see something similar to a Matrix scene when Sing takes on an army of gangsters just like Neo took on a horde of Agent Smiths. The wire work for the fighting scenes show that the fighters are flying or floating above ground is from wuxia, similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film also pays homage to Bruce Lee by having Sing use his fighting style and wear a costume from one of Lee’s movies. The theatrics of the fighting could not have been done with the support of American studios.

The collaborative efforts with the US studios also included more local elements of Chinese and Hong Kong culture. The set of Pig Sty village was inspired from the movie The House of 72 Tenants. The various forms of Chinese martial arts were on display with each fighter having their unique style and the Buddhist palm move that Sing delivers to defeat the Beast. The collaborative efforts allowed for the inclusion of these elements that would not be possible or visually pleasing without the financing and technology provided by Hollywood. This method was regarded as "glocalization", which means to include local elements by the non-US directors or producers while using resources from the US.

The movie editing techniques from American producers, producers from China that had their own input to appeal to the Mainland Chinese audience, and the vision of Stephen Chow to incorporate Kung Fu and his own comedic style created a new category of film. Overall, the efforts from different parties made this movie more a of transnational film and, as a result, a very successful movie.