Kung Fu Hustle (功夫). 2004. Directed by Stephen Chow

Kung Fu Hustle (功夫). 2004. Hong Kong/China. Directed by Stephen Chow. Directed by Stephen Chow. Action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping. With Chow, Leung Siu-lung, Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, Dong Zhi-hua. 35mm courtesy Sony Pictures Classics. In Cantonese, Mandarin; English subtitles. 98 min. One of Stephen Chow’s biggest international hits, Kung Fu Hustle is both a riotous comedy and a loving tribute to classic kung fu cinema. Set in a highly stylized 1940s Shanghai, Kung Fu Hustle stars its director as a petty crook whose attempt to join a notorious gang inadvertently awakens a group of kung fu masters hiding in a squalid tenement. The film fuses old-school hand-to-hand combat and elaborate wirework, all choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping, with fantastical CGI, allowing gravity-defying spectacle to coexist with grounded, legible martial arts. A lifelong devotee of kung fu and admirer of Bruce Lee, Chow displays impressive physical prowess alongside his signature verbal and physical comedy, backed by a cast of scene-stealing veterans whose real-world pedigree grounds the film’s wildest flights of fancy.