MOVIE: Kung Fu Hustle

From the team that created and starred in Shaolin Soccer (awesome movie) comes this rather inferior follow up. The story is distinctly lacking - which can be fine in a martial art's film - however the martial art's prowess fails to impress, both from unextroadinary fight choreography and B grade computer augmentation. My overall impression was B-Grade throughout.

Sloppy shooting angles and graphic enhancement with objects flying in unrealistic directions and speeds contributed greatly to the film's inability to create suspension of disbelief. Furthermore the reliance on obtuse use of CG and over dramatic or comic images highlighted the obvious flaws in the what was being witnessed.

Direction was not clear in this film, it combined 20's retro styles with sheek asian designs, moments of through the 4'th wall comedy (not based in reality), serious (?) fight scenes of violence and evil - but resulted in a jumbled incoherent mess. The influence of thematic and scenic devices from the later Matrix movies was evident, but failed to achieve the aesthtic high of those film's for more than a moment, after which all the atmosphere built up was lost. Unimaginative and unvaried use of Chinese classical instrumental score was at times extremely inappropriate and ruined scenes that no longer visually and audibly matched.

Some will enjoy the irreverent comic theme, but expect to be disappointed at least a little. Oh and I won't even get into the 'love' story of the film or the use of old and ugly people for primary roles... :S