Stephen Chow has always been a pretty slapstick sort of director, but he really veers away from a lot of those ideals with Kung Fu Hustle. The movie as a whole tends to lack the fun loving attitude he had in previous movies like God of Cookery and Shoalin Soccer. What we get instead is a pretty darkly humored, violent film that tries to illustrate what The Untouchables would have looked like if Robin Williams and Jim Carrey were on the marquis. In short, it seems awkward.

But hen again, that was most likely Chow's intent, taking a page from American cinema so the violence might seem more accessible. What I really did like were the scenes with the assassins which really embodied the more classic elements of Asian cinema and Chow's own wild vision. I was also pleased to see Kwok Cheun Chan had a better role this time around, considering he was my favorite character from Shoalin Soccer in the role as Empty Hand.

Take this movie for what it is, and you'll enjoy it.