This film is freaking hilarious! I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Afterwards I wanted to tell people how funny it was but every time I tried I would start laughing again simply from thinking about it. Stephen Chow is incredibly funny and talented. Its hard to write why the film is funny without spoiling it but I'll give it my best shot because Kong Fu Hustle deserves to be seen without having any preconceived notions about it.

The principal actors are all very funny and have great sense of timing and even though I saw the film subtitled it didn't make it any worse. Especially Stephen Chow is funny and both his posture, facial expressions and general timing is high above average. I also like the fact that he has a high degree of self-irony and is not afraid to let the joke be on him, which pretty much all the jokes in the film are. Among other actors worth mentioning are Wah Yuen who plays the landlord and Qiu Yuen who plays the landlady. They both seem enthusiastic about the project. The supporting cast is pretty good as well.

The acting is not in the high seat, however. Obviously the main attraction is the action and all action scenes are brilliant. They are executed in a very stylish and aesthetic manner and are also very, very funny. There are scenes that were just beautiful and left me breathless but they never lose the self-irony which is so incredibly well executed and are therefore also incredibly entertaining. Much more than in other Hong Kong action movies like Hero, which in my opinion could have done with a dose of self-irony. The computer effects are blatantly obvious but they still seem pretty believable within the confines of the film universe and they are generally very well done. Also I found the burly brawl sequence to be incredible and it had me in stitches. Overall the effects and fight scenes make the film very worthwhile and therefore highly recommendable.

Overall Kong Fu Hustle is an incredible achievement in film making and everyone who is not afraid to see the Hong Kong action genre spoofed should definitely watch it.

8/10