With a delirious mix of the sublime and the silly, Hong Kong comedy king Stephen Chow Sing-chi has taken the kung fu comedy genre to new heights of chop-socky hilarity.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The movie refers glancingly to dozens of Hollywood classics, from "West Side Story" to "City Lights," but at heart it is a debt of honor richly paid by Stephen Chow to his martial-arts forebears and to the traditions that shaped his sensibility. His gong fu is the best.
Devoid of genuine inspiration or involving character development.
Chow manages to have his cake and eat it too: Kung Fu Hustle is a kung fu parody that's also a terrific kung fu movie.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Viewers will discover that the film has something to offer nearly everyone, whether they are a novice or a black belt in kung fu cinema.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Ken Tucker
Half-amazing, half-ridiculous, thoroughly exhilarating.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
All of Kung Fu Hustle is like that: You don't just watch it, you ride with it, laughing all the way.
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Does the plot spin out of control? You bet. But dumb fun this smart is a gift.
Kung Fu Hustle is something you rarely encounter in theaters: a genuinely original comedy.
The A.V. Club by Tasha Robinson
Its crowd-pleasing, action-packed brand of frenetic parody promises to spread Chow's mythos even further.