2. Kung Fu Hustle
Kung Fu Hustle is a tribute-pastiche to everything that writer-director-star Stephen Chow ever enjoyed in his entire life ever. Bruce Lee films, the
wuxia genre in general, musicals, Looney Tunes, heck, even stuff like The Shining and The Untouchables get mixed into the potpourri. Hustle is a goofy, goofy movie, one that proudly embraces the unreality of cinema. Characters change personalities on a dime, physics get shattered at the drop of a hat (or potted plant) and Chow never even makes an attempt to address logic or reality. He trusts to the exhilaration of unreality that audiences wouldnt care. He was right. The only kind of person who would criticize Kung Fu Hustle for plot holes or inconsistency is whats known as The Friend That No One Likes. But in that exuberance, there is something deeper going on. The very act of rejecting traditional narrative logic in favor of go-for-broke fun is transgressive in its own right. The modern tempo of pop culture is to aim for grime and grittiness, to wrap films and TV shows in misery-soaked faux-maturity. Chow rejects that, and instead reminds the viewer of how much FUN movies can be. Kung Fu Hustle is about nothing more than the liberating joy that can be found in martial arts, comedy and film itself. And in being as entertaining as it is, it makes that case beautifully. Just look at the arc of Chows character Sing. As the film begins, he is a beggar, obsessed with proving how dark and bad he is. A failed attempts at heroics as a young man has left him bitter and determined to join the dark side. I realized then that good guys never win, Sing says. In want to be the bad. I want to be the killer! This corruption of good is shared by many characters. The Big Bad is known only as The Beast with the only given backstory being that he studied kung fu so much he went insane. The tragic, lethal side of martial arts also marks the backstories of several supporting characters. But the finale shows Chow summarily rejecting that. His character turns away from his desire to do bad, and in so doing unleashes a level of power previously unheard of. He can out-Neo Neo. Its in kindness and joy that true power comes, Chow seems to say. And he can level a building with one hand, so I dont think you should argue.