WHO MADE IT? | Director: Stephen Chow Cast: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Oiu Yuen, Kwok Kuen Chan, Siu Lung Leung and Dong Zhi Hua | WHAT'S IT ABOUT? | Small time thief Sing (Chow) is desperate to be a member of the sophisticated and ruthless Axe Gang that rules the city. Stumbling across a crowded apartment complex, known as "Pig Sty Alley," he tries to extort money from one of the locals, pretending to be from the Axe Gang. But the residents are not all they appear. The gang gets word of his exploits and go after him sparking a chain of events that brings two different worlds to a head. | WHAT'S IT LIKE? | Written/produced/directed by Stephen Chow, who also stars in it, this is the follow up to his 2001 smash hit Shaolin Soccer and is even more bizarre and outlandish. An homage to the great Bruce Lee - Chow appearing in the renowned Lee bare chest pose - it is also a mix of slapstick comedy and martial arts action sequences reminiscent of The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but then the choreographer Yuen Wo Ping worked on those films too. This is a totally surreal film with the tough Axe Gang bursting into a show tune, dressed in top hats and using their weapons as walking sticks; the landlady looking more like Hilda Ogden with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, kicks **** by means of her killer scream - the Lion's roar - though she is a martial arts expert too; and two assassins annihilate their opponents by playing their harp and thus unleashing their killer weapons. As I said this is a weird but funny movie. | KUNG FU HUSTLE opens on 24 June 2005
