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This movie also comes from the mind of Stephen Chow and feels like the natural evolution of Shaolin Soccer. Bigger budget, more special effects and more of what made the first movie this great. The back story involves the “black axe gang” that represents the Yakuzas in Japan. A small housing complex gets into a scuffle with the gang but there is more then just ordinary people living there. Kung fu masters are revealed and they must defend the people living there.

It’s surprisingly fun to watch, there are few unexpected turns, and it pokes fun at reality more then once, when you see two characters running like cartoons with their legs rolling like if they where on bikes. You will recognize many cast members from the previous movie, but this one has a much more mature approach to the manner. People get hurt and die, they fight for good or wrong reasons but it remains a fun movie. It’s a pleasure on the eyes to watch. If you want some entertainment and some martial art action, Kung Fu Hustle is for you.

On last week Totally Rad Show (TRS #55), they made a review of the latest Stephen Chow movie called CJ7. During their review I realized that this guy was also behind Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. Proposed as great movies I was set to correct my mistakes and made sure I saw these two movies back to back. Here’s how great it was!

Shaolin Soccer
Imagine you take one part Soccer, and you mix it up with one part Kung Fu you will get one of the most intriging Kung Fu sports movie you’ve ever seen. Stephen Chow was relatively unknow until his action hits became mainstream. This movie was popular enought to come out of Japan and reach the north american market. I watched the dubbed version because I did not feel like reading through all the subtitles but I am not one to avoid a movie simply because it is subtitled.

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A while back I got pretty excited when I saw the trailer for The Forbidden Kingdom. I was sure this movie would spike my interest, and I can say it delivered all I was expecting. The movie was released today and instead of reading my review you should go out tonight and see it. It’s a kung-fu movie with a fun story line, predictable you might say, but still very much satisfying. Jet Li and Jackie Chan are not enemies but they do get their fair screen time fighting each other in different styles. The Forbidden Kingdom will swept you off your feet and bring you to this magical world. This young teen from Boston is a fan of kung-fu movies and spends way to much time in a pawn shop in China Town. Through very dramatic events he is thrown into an other world where his mission is to return his staff to the Monkey King of legend and end the tyranny of the an evil warlord. I feel like I want to see it again, I get that feeling only from great movies! Trailer is after the jump and pictures.

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