Kung Fu Hustle

Waning Gibbous Moon

When you are an aging retired teacher, taking the advice of your former students is not always a great idea. You are pushing seventy and astonished by all the $^*# that is happening in the world. They are in their twenties and what they are not already experimenting with, they are cheerfully considering. Half the time, you don't know if you should fist bump them or report them to Interpol. But mostly, you remember the times they made you smile and you are happy they are still in occasional contact - even if now they feel a little too comfortable using the F-word around you, like two or three times per sentence.

Recently, however, I picked up a movie recommendation from one of my most trusted young amigos who just got back from a trip to Japan with his family. He is an aficionado on all things Asian, gleaned mostly I think from modern comics and video games, two things about which I know zippo.

He and his friends were posting back and forth on Facebook last week about a movie called Kung Fu Hustle. They were saying that it combined terrific, over-the-top Kung Fu fight scenes with hilarious, irreverent comedy. Well, that was a giant understatement! I watched it on Netflix at a friend's house and I'm still laughing two days later!

Basically, the story is about a low-level gangster loser who evolves into a Master fighter by virtue of the unlikeliest of circumstances. To say that the narrative has a few holes in it is putting it mildly, but that doesn't matter. The action is bold and screwy and wild and riddled with joke after joke and ridiculously funny sendoffs of every martial arts film stereotype you can imagine - and probably some you would never ever think of. My favorite character is The Landlady, but there are a dozen more just as funny as she is.

The Landlady may not seem that terrifying, but just you wait until you see her unleash The Lion's Roar.

There are others, of course, all of whom have some tie to the main bad guy mob called The Axe Gang. 

Here is the unlikely chosen one who has to fight hordes of The Axe Gang dudes,
then conquer The Beast to save the day.

The Beast barely feels anything. He is amused by your feeble onslaught.

The fledgling Master was told that if you whistle, the snakes won't bite...yeah, right...

Probably the most important take-away of Kung Fu Hustle is that you never ever want to mess with The Buddhist Palm. Just ask The Beast.

I don't have Netflix at home and it's probably just as well that I don't, but if you subscribe, do yourself a big favor and immerse your funny bone in the perfect gang fight comedy stew that is Kung Fu Hustle. If you love it as much as I do, you might even spring for a set of KFH toys to keep prominently displayed on a shelf for all to see. Spread the word.

Peace, Love, and I Didn't Even Mention The Tailor,

Jim