Kung Fu Hustle (with a few thoughts on Batman Begins)

[andrewducker]

I was, it has to be said, disappointed with Batman Begins.  I felt that the plot holes you could drive the Batmobile through and the silly technology didn't fit with the 'realistic' tone of the film, and ultimately it left me feeling that it could have worked better.  Most importantly I didn't like the fight scenes - while Batman taking out a few people stealthily was nicely shot in confus-o-vision, all blurriness and quick movements, using this same technique when dealing with one-on-one combat out in the open was just annoying - I want to _see_ people performing cool moves, not just get an impression that they're moving really quickly.

Which is why I utterly adored Kung Fu Hustle.

Not only is there no point at all even _thinking_ about the silliness inherent in the movie - because it's presented as a cartoon, using real people, but the combat scenes are shot from enough of a distance for you to appreciate that the people doing the fighting are all highly skilled in their own right, not just depending on stunt men and a few weeks training to fake it.

On top of that, the film was fantastically funny and really nicely shot, complete with really nice choreography (including the dance scene), and martial arts from the action choreographer of The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, and many more.  Including a wonderful take-off of The Matrix Reloaded's "Burly Brawl" which looks sooo much better than the original.

If you like comedy or martial arts movies I'd recommend this.  Heck - I'm not a big fan of serious martial arts movies myself, but this was just perfect.

9/10

Comments

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

My only complaint with Kung Fu Hustle, and in some regards this is an improvement over Chow's previous work, was that it wasn't a movie. It was a really cool looking hour and a half long fight scene that was stitched together with some dialogue. Personally, I like that, since the reasons I didn't enjoy large parts of God of Cookery and Shaolin Soccer were due most in part to bad pacing and tedious story.

That said, what did you find unrealistic about the gadgets in Batman? The M.E. mcguffin is a little questionable, but if you're talking about the Batmobile, it was actually a completely realistic vehicle. The only difference between what it did in the movie and what it did in the film is that the interior really looked more like a Nascar racer than what was portrayed with the hero interior shots. I agree with you about the fighting though, as I think only the training sequence fights are truly good.

Also, what did you consider plot holes?

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

What plot holes?

[andrewducker]

No problems with the Batmobile at all. It was more silliness along the lines of:
Head of WayneCorp: I want you to investigate all this illegal stuff and have the reports on my desk by 8am. Oh, and I don't trust you, so you're fired!

or the bit where the citizens of Gotham have been dosed with fear gas that makes them see Batman as a demon. So they attack him. WTF?

If it had been cartoon batman, I'd have let them off with that kind of thing, but they were striving so hard for "This is all real!" that a few bits just stuk out.

[andrewducker]

See reply above.

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

"Lucius, can you forward me all of the material you have on the ME? I need your files so I can find out where we sent it. Oh, by the way, you're fired, so this will be the last thing you get to do here."

I think you're a little off there. It wasn't a matter of having him investigate a bunch of illegal stuff. You've got a point if Earle was taking Lucius into his confidence, but he wasn't. He was demanding data that Lucius had, and then he was going to fire him.

People react to fear differently. And remember, in a mob, all it takes is one person making a strong enough act to grab and pull everyone else along with him.

I only comment because these aren't really plot holes. Independance Day had plot holes. The One had plot holes you could drive an entire universe through.

[broin.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't remind me of 'The One'. What a disapointing download.

And yeah, fear makes you do odd things. The things people do in crowds are wonderfully bonkers. Attacking Bats made sense.

[kurosau.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking specifically about fight or flight, the two things you tend to do when you're in a true state of fear.

[laserboy.livejournal.com]

Those weren't plot holes. Those were whiny issues. :P
(Reasonable explanations were already there, as other people have pointed out).

Plot holes are things like what happened to the ship crew at the end of "The Lost World"? No possible explanation was offered. Of -course- the tyrannosaur ate them, from inside the hold where they'd trapped it...

Another more recent one is the end of the "Planet of the Apes" remake. It seemed to relish making no logical sense whatsoever.

(Oh, you've got me started now..) :)

[douglasbryant.livejournal.com]

I liked the musical instrument part best.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

and where was my invite???

[andrewducker]

Well, when we left you we said we were off to the UGC. Turns out that Kung Fu Hustle was the only good thing on...