'Hustle' packs in action but strives for big laughs

KUNG FU HUSTLE — *** 1/2 — Stephen Chow, Siu Lung Leung, Qiu Yuen; in Mandarin, with English subtitles; rated R (violence, profanity, gore, vulgarity, brief partial nudity, brief drugs); see Page W2 for theaters.

Under no circumstances should any part of "Kung Fu Hustle" be taken seriously. It's certainly not meant to be.

Also, trying to make any sense of this martial-arts action-comedy isn't advised. Its plotting is often confused and confusing, ridiculously contrived and just plain silly.

But that's part of its fun — the film doesn't want you to think about it.

Those who keep that in mind are more likely to enjoy the film than those who don't. If anything, this "Hustle" is more frantic, more frenetic, more cartoonish — and more enjoyable — than filmmaker Stephen Chow's previous film, "Shaolin Soccer."

In fact, there are segments that play like a live-action cartoon (including yet another parody of the "Matrix" movies).

As he did with "Shaolin Soccer," Chow directed and stars. His character, Sing, is a two-bit hood who's hoping to join the Axe Gang, the toughest, most feared gang in 1940s Shanghai.

Sing tries to impress the gang's leader by taking over Pig Sty Alley, but the residents there quickly send him packing, along with his nameless sidekick (Chi Chung Lam).

In the resulting melee, the alley's ornery landlady (Qiu Yuen) and three martial artists injure several Axe Gang members, so the evil Brother Sum (Kwok Kuen Chan) sends hit squads to take care of the rebellious residents.

Brother Sum is so desperate that he grants Sing gang status and gives him the assignment of breaking out the Beast (Siu Lung Leung), an unstoppable killer who's been imprisoned.

The meager plotting is meant to set up the action scenes and specific spoofs of other martial-arts films, which include the early works of Jackie Chan, as well as "Spider-Man" (a specific line of dialogue), Chuck Jones' "Road Runner" cartoons and many others.

Admittedly, some of the gimmicky digital special effects and enhancements do get a little tiresome, but the fight scenes are very well done. Kudos to the action choreographers, among them Hang-Sang Poon — from the "Matrix" movies — and Hong Kong legend Sammo Hung.

The cast also seems to be having a good time, especially the scene-stealing Yuen.

"Kung Fu Hustle" is rated R for scenes of martial-arts violence (as well as some shootings, stabbings and animal attacks — all done for laughs), occasional use of strong profanity, gore (nothing too graphic), some off-color humor and references, brief partial male nudity, and some brief drug use (opium smoking). Running time: 95 minutes.

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