What is there to say about Kung-fu Hustle, apart from it being a post-modern explosion of ideas, references and conventions? Stephen Chow in this film has taken everything we may associate with the kung-fu genre when it comes to large fight scenes and spectacular stunts and has combined it with other ideas by way of the Classical Hollywood musical; 'Americanised' kung-fu films such as The Matrix and Equilibrium; Warner Brothers cartons and has even thrown in a pinch worth of a reference to French animation for the overall narrative. Needless to say, Kung-fu Hustle is a breathless and relentless series of scenes that entertain on one level but also captivate on a more appreciative level as people jump, leap and pirouette through the air in a series of amazing stunts.

I'm sure everyone likes to go into a film with the mindset that they will get something out of the picture that they can really enjoy and go away with. Some aim higher than others; some like a lot of action, maybe a standout performance with others looking to appreciate depth-of-field or attention to mise-en-scene. In Kung-fu Hustle, it's difficult to think of anyone who might not get anything out of the film at all. Yes, Kung-fu Hustle is chock full of fight scenes and yes, some may be quick to label it something lower than it is but I think this sort of reaction is somewhat unjust. Hollywood have churned out some really appalling action films in the last couple of years; films like Bulletproof Monk and Charlie's Angles: Full Throttle  films that more resemble computer games aimed at people who play computer games than anything else. But in Kung-fu Hustle, the violence or 'action' has a certain aesthetic to it  it is like watching a dance or a ballet; it is like being in the front row of a large, grand opera with towering sets and a huge casts of extras.

One of the reasons I got this feeling is due to the music that plays during one specific scene, in which two resident kung-fu masters battle against two other hooded hit men  their weapon of choice is a string instrument that, with added power of enlightenment, can churn out fists and knifes to counteract their opponents. The music is of a classical and instrumental variety, playing during the fight thus juxtaposing any violence we might think will occur, especially when knifes and blades on the end of sticks are introduced into the arena. But the emphasis is more on the music, the sheer poetic movement of the characters and the slow motion than what weapon they're using and to distract us enough and to 'wow' us enough for us to focus on these things is an achievement in itself.

So the film puts across its violence more so as poetry or as one, large dance than a simple action scene with one side over here and one side over there accompanied by nasty rock music (Blade: Trinity, anyone?). Something else the film does during the mentioned scene is include a re-occurring joke, the hardest of all jokes to get right because it is the repetition of the gag that must remain strongest  are people going to laugh more than once at the punch line? One character's constant sapping of another to 'get out of the way' acts as a perfect topping to an already delicious scene. But the film is delicious as a whole. The film is less concerned with actors, characters and story lines and more focused on the expansion of ideas and the updating of recent Hollywood clichés.

The character of the Landlady (Yuen) is one of great strength and independence; she is also female. The fight scenes do not exist to merely entertain an attentionspan-less audience but act as a demonstration as to how this can be and should be done, in reply to the American films I mentioned. The story is straight out of the popular French Astérix comics in the sense a much larger organisation or 'gang' (The Romans, the Axe Gang) wants to rule further. To do this, they must take a much smaller area but have trouble doing so. Astérix's village and Pig Sty Alley act as this buffer, both of which house individuals with strength great enough to repel the forces of evil  the character of Sing (Chow himself) will also suffer his epiphany through learning what's right and wrong because of this.

Then there are the many references to popular culture through spoofing of Road Runner and such. I see this as Chow and China as a whole spoofing and perhaps attempting to 'ruin' pieces of popular American culture just as America cashed in post-Matrix with an invasion of horrible Hollywood action films such as Bulletproof Monk et al. Kung-fu Hustle takes back the kung-fu genre for China. The film is one about the expansion and globalisation of a lethal group but along with this it pokes fun at the expansion and Americanisation of Kung-fu as a means of disposable entertainment. Big; clever and very cinematic, Kung-fu Hustle is a winner if you're in the mood and even if you're not.