mess genres mainly based stephen chows genre mashups inspiration theres magic kungfu college romance sports gangster action weepy melodrama topping production excellent pacing fast easy get past many flaws filmbr br a baby abandoned next basketball court homeless man brings shaolin monastery thats middle city along special kung fu manual homeless man somehow cant read old monk teaches boy expires tries master special technique manual school taken phony kung fu master assisted four wacky monks new master gets mad  year old boy pretending hurt masters weak punches throws night boy found throwing garbage basket incredible distance man bring gangsters club play darts leads big fight boys expulsion monastery mans decision turn boy college basketball sensationbr br al happens first  minutes happening first  minutes aside extreme shorthand storytelling first problem little get know main character way movie man uses boy sharply defined time first third over plot follows new ground except insane action climax film im sure easily imagine wacky monks show towards end effects photography stunt work top notch make uninspired plot br br stephen chow much better command plot comedy writing film live shadow thats good reason ignore it quite entertaining even scattershot ending recommended