Metacritic reviews

Kung Fu Hustle is something you rarely encounter in theaters: a genuinely original comedy.

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.

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.

All of Kung Fu Hustle is like that: You don't just watch it, you ride with it, laughing all the way.

Half-amazing, half-ridiculous, thoroughly exhilarating.

Its crowd-pleasing, action-packed brand of frenetic parody promises to spread Chow's mythos even further.

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.

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.

Does the plot spin out of control? You bet. But dumb fun this smart is a gift.

Devoid of genuine inspiration or involving character development.