Extras: Steve Oodekerk commentary, alternate audio tracks, foreign
language clips, featurettes, theatrical trailer
Director:
Steve Oodekerk
Screenplay:
Steve Oodekerk
Cast:
The Chosen One/Dubbed Voices: Steve Oodekerk
Master Pain/Betty: Fei Lung
Young Master Pain: Leo Lee
Ling: Ling Ling Tse
Dying Ling: Lin Yan
Wimp Lo: Chia Yung Liu
Master Tung: Hui Lou Chan
Wait, what is this?
A comedy that doesn't rely too much on gross out
humour? Yes, I think it is. Wow, the last movie I saw like this was
Naked Gun 33 1/3.
See, this is one of the most funniest Hollywood genres that
isn't really around the much anymore: slapstick. Read my review of
UHF
to see how much I like these films. This is one of those movies where
your brain must be turned off to enjoy it. If you go in expecting a high
calibur comedy then you're going to wind up picking your DVD player up
and throwing it out the window.
Truly a great concept (I hope they don't do this to a great film like
Star Wars though, oh wait they did) Steve Oodekerk took a cheesy Hong
Kong flick called: Crane and Tiger Fists. Then he put himself into the
movie with the help of blue screen and dramatically changed the
storyline (I doubt the main heavy's name was Master Pain in the Hong
Kong flick).
Kung Pow tells the story of a character called the Chosen One and his
trials to find the man who killed his parents. Throughout the movie he
will fight a cow (complete with Matrix parodies of course), go through
dozens of humorous fight scenes, talk to Mushu Fasa (sendup to the Lion
King) and tons of other comical mishaps. The story isn't exactly
Shakespeare but it will do for a fun flick like this.
I actually liked this film. But maybe it's because I have that sort of
sarcastic attitude that this film has in spades. It's just a lot of fun
but not without it's problems. First, even at 81 minutes it seems to
drag on for a longer time. Second, some of the jokes are overly used
(enough with the Matrix parodies for crying out loud). There was a scene
that was kind of uneasy to watch and it's at the beginning when The
Chosen One as a baby rolls down a rock cliff for a while, It's all in
good fun but still uneasy to watch.
Into the disc. This is has got to be the hardest picture to review.
Since most of the film is stock footage with Steve inserted it is
plaugued with grain and scratches sometimes. I'm sure it was intended
but I still think they could have touched it up a lite bit. For that I'm
just going to give it a 3 out of 5.
The sound is decent though. It seemed a little too low at some times
but mostly when the stock footage is there. Everything is audible but I
think it could have been better.
The extras are a welcome suprise. Oodekerk has given the DVD a Monty
Python and the Holy Grail sort-of feel as there are tons of things on
it. Don't let my description topside fool you, there's more than meets
the eye. Everything you need including deleted scenes, commentary,
featurettes and a short clip of a panicked thumb.
Overall, definitely rent this movie if you a have a sense of humor. A
leave-your-brain-at-the-door good time. This film has two futures. One,
it could find it's place on video and become a cult classic down the
road. Two, it could be forgotten among the myriad of DVDs and videos
already out there. Let's make sure the former is its future.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
