The God of Cookery

Shi Shen is a hilarious parody to Chow Yun Fat's God Of Gamblers movies. It is all about Stephen Chow playing a role of a famous Chef with a natural born talent for cooking. He makes it big and shows his unmatched strength in the Chinese Cuisine Underworld. He encounters a counterpart who frames him and takes his position as the God Of Cookery and fights his way back to try and regain his position. I enjoyed this movie quite a bit since I enjoyed the God of Gamblers and am amused by Stephen Chow's witty sendups. I give it an 8 out of 10.

This film is laugh-out-loud material throughout. For those familiar with Hong Kong cinema, you'll get an extra kick out of the razor-sharp spoofs of various genre by Stephen Chow, but even if this is your first-ever HK film you'll find it non-stop laughs.

Chow plays the so-called "God of Cookery", a media hype creation who is a legend in his own mind, but not necessarily the kitchen. When he involves himself in a shady business deal, he is publicly shamed and loses all of his wealth and fame. After meeting up with the tough-as-nails Sister Turkey, a street food vendor (played to the hilt by Karen Mok), he seeks to regain his fame and fortune... but still hasn't quite learned his lesson yet - that takes a bit more plot and dozens more jokes.

Highly recommended! I rate it a 10 out of 10.

God of Cookery is a hilarious parody of a number of other great HK films (the gambler series, early Jackie Chan, and "Chinese Feast" style cuisine dramas), though I didn't know that when I first saw it... it's how I got into the genre. Because it's satire is so over the top though, you also start to get a feel for the huge differences in film tabus between western and eastern cinema. Production values are amazingly high, and although they "fixed" a couple of hilarious subtitles in the DVD version, at least you can read them in most scenes. The self referential jokes about english translation and subtitles are still there.

The best of Kung Food!

I've seen all of Stephen Chow's comedies, and The God of Cookery is on the top of my list (right above From Beijing with Love). This film is the perfect "Intro to Stephen Chow" for all the unfortunate people that have yet been subjected to his spectacular brand of humour. If you're a fan of Chinese films, you must see this movie. If you're not, that's just too bad... it's never too late though.

I'm now a proud owner of this hilarious and original film. Full of comedy ranging from the physical silliness of the Three Stooges, to the absurd concept-driven comedy of Monty Python. Another great thing is you get to see Asian cinema making fun of common cliche`s of Asian cinema and animation. There is also a lot of fun references and similarities to the storytelling and cinematography of the Coen Brothers. I can see some ideas may have been borrowed from The Hudsucker Proxy, from 2 years before it. Very enjoyable for those who can read subtitles.