Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

It is 1940's China, and gangs rule the city. The most notorious of them all is the axe gang, lead by the insane Brother Sum. A slum called Pig Sty Alley is the only area safe from the Axes because the people there are so poor. Soon, wannabe gangster Sing and his pal Bone attempt to extort money out of a barber and fail, drawing the real Axe Gang to Pig Sty. However, it turns out that there are several kung fu masters living in the slum, and soon the two sides are enemies. As hilarity ensues, Sing must decide- should he become a mobster, or save the day?

Trivia: Surpassed Siu Lam Juk Kau (2001) (Shaolin Soccer) in February 2005 to become the highest-grossing Hong Kong-made movie in Hong Kong. As of 2005, this film had the widest cinematic release in the USA of a foreign language film. Two scenes are not directed by Stephen Chow but Sammo Hung Kam-Bo. The "Burly Brawl" parody where the One fights the thousand men in black suits. And the fight in the night, where the three masters face the two musicians. Qiu Yuen, who plays the landlady also appeared as one of the two japanese girls that defend James Bond in The Man With The Golden Gun.

This is the movie Ninquelosse had my watch for guessing my "R" movie. I like the way Roger Ebert described this movie, it really fits. He said "Imagine a film in which Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meet Quentin Tarentino and Bug Bunny." Well that pretty much describes it. It is a parody and parodies are hard to do right but this film pulls it out. If you like kung fu movies, this is defenately for you. There are a ton of straight up hollywood homages too, from the Batsignal to the "Big Burly" in the Matrix, it has just about everything. It is also a movie that you will probably have to see several times to get all the rapid fire jokes. Thanks Emily.