Kung Fu Hustle (
Chinese:
功夫;
pinyin:
Gōngfu) is a 2004 action
comedy film directed and produced by, and starring
Stephen Chow. The other film producers were Chui Po-chu and
Jeffrey Lau, while the
screenplay was written by Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, and Tsang Kan-cheung.
Yuen Wah,
Yuen Qiu,
Danny Chan, and
Bruce Leung co-starred in prominent roles.
After achieving commercial success with
Shaolin Soccer, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia began to develop Kung Fu Hustle in 2002. Although the film features the return of a number of retired actors famous for 1970s Hong Kong action cinema, it contrasts with other martial arts films released at around the same time that have made the biggest impact in the West, such as
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and
Hero.
The cartoon style of the movie, accompanied by traditional
Chinese music, is often cited as its most striking feature.
The film was released on December 23, 2004 in
China and on January 25, 2005 in
United States. It received extremely positive reviews, with
Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 90% fresh certificate and
Metacritic 78 out of 100. A commercial success (grossing
USD$17 million in United States and USD$84 million in foreign countries.), Kung Fu Hustle was the highest-grossing film in the history of
Hong Kong[9] and the tenth highest-grossing foreign language film. It was also the highest-grossing foreign language film in the United States in 2005.
[11] Kung Fu Hustle won numerous awards, including
Hong Kong Film Awards ...
