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Review: Kung Pow

Posted by JonKatz on from the enter-the-mess-of-a-movie dept.

Well, some of you warned me, and you were right. Kung Pow - Enter the Fist had a great premise and the trailers were tantalizing. Steve Oedekerk borrowed from Woody Allen's What's Up Tiger Lily? to make a Kung Fu spoof patched together from a little known 1976 karate film Tiger and Crane Fists. But the result is anything but funny. Spoilage warning: plot discussed, not ending.

This one should have worked. Oedekerk, writer and director of this mediocrity, is also the star. He uses digital film-editing techniques to insert himself into the older film as the new hero, a creative idea that in better hands could really have been funny.

The Chosen One saw his family killed by the evil Master Pain/Betty and was raised by rodents. He finds his way to Master Tang, then falls in love with Tang's daughter Ling, who speaks in a perpetual whine. The stop-action overdubs and hesitations are funny at first, but then are just headache-inducing. There are a few inspired moments -- I personally loved the karate brawl with the dairy cow -- but the movie derails as he comes closer and closer to his confrontation with Master Pain.

Don't be fooled by the trailers. Every funny scene is in them. There are few movies I can't sit through, but this one was a struggle. It really isn't worth much more discussion, and my best advice would be to skip it altogether.

4 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. I thought it had one shot value by staticdragon · · Score: 3, Flamebait

    My Opinion of the movie: It was probably the worst movie I have ever sat through in a movie theater (never wasted money on Battlefield Earth) but despite how horrible it was I laughed my ass off the entire movie. Now, when a second group of friends invited me to go see it with them, I told them there weren't enough tea in China...

  2. interesting pick this week by spacefem · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    So Kung Pow is bad, who'd have guessed?

    Was anyone actually considering seeing this movie? I didn't think it looked funny from the previews at all.

    --

    spacefem.com
  3. Re: Review? by DrEldarion · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    People get pissed if the Katz reviews are too long.

    People get pissed if the Katz reviews are too short.

    He can't win, can he?

    -- Dr. Eldarion --

  4. Re:Review? by JabberWokky · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    *coughCommie64splayingmoviesinKabulcough*

    *cough* you're a moron *cough* Commodore made other machines than C64 *cough*

    --
    Evan

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien