Kung Fu Hustle

"Everybody was kung fu fighting / Those kids were fast as lightning…" Lightning wouldn't make it off the subs bench in Kung Fu Hustle: imagine Tarantino directing a cast of Tex Avery's finest in a remake of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and you're halfway there. Writer / director / star Stephen Chow is the man responsible for last year's Shaolin Soccer, and this takes up where that genre-bending martial arts extravaganza left off. Here we're in a '40s-style Hong Kong ruled by the murderous Axe Gang; due to a misunderstanding, the poverty-stricken inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley are subjected to the Axe Gang's brand of summary justice. Unfortunately for the Axe Gang, Pig Sty Alley boasts masters of unlikely brands of kung fu (my favourite was the Toad Style of the Kwan Lun School). Cue brawls, rumbles and all-out riots, with Chow leavening the steady stream of chop-socky high-kicks with self-deprecating humour, pop culture references, cinematic in-jokes and surreal comedy (the highlight of which is a Roadrunner-style chase sequence complete with a 'boing ba-dong' cartoon soundtrack). For all that it's a hoot throughout, however, the constant violence gets irritating and then boring. If you're a fan of Bruce Lee meets Monty Python, this is a four-star spectacle you won't want to end; if not, it's solid three-star entertainment.