Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

I have watched my fair share of dubbed foreign movies in my time. I have also seen a lot of subtitled movies. I prefer subtitled because with dubbing I always felt that sometimes the people dubbing the movie were leaving stuff out or changing what the characters said just to fit their mouths. Here we have a guy who not only changes what they say to a ridiculous degree, he also added himself to the flick. This movie is actually an old martial arts movie. The dubbing has been changed though and some new scenes were added. I found this movie very hilarious. Though it is probably just me, as this one didn't score very well. I don't care though cause it just worked for me. I usually find with comedies though that I prefer the obscure stuff to the more mainstream hits that usually show all the highlights in the trailers. The weakest parts of this one are the scenes that were added to the movie while the best stuff is when the main character interjects himself into the movie or adds things to the original movie. Though none of it to me was particularly weak. You may want to read other reviews though as this is not a comedy for every one.

The more of a basic understanding of the history and genre of this movie type the viewer has, the more he will appreciate the good natured satire that celebrates it. Oedekerk exploits all of the essential points of this movie style's formula, and does so from a very alert and skillful standpoint. The extra attention and energy given to the inherent goofs and inconsistencies in the original movie ("Tiger And Crane Fists", Hong Kong, 1976) are priceless. The accuracy of the spoofing, and its entire purpose in this film has been needed for quite some time (since 1976), and it's very welcome and highly applauded by those of us who appreciate satire at its best. This film deserves an award.

OK... Usually I hate juvenile, pointless humor. Thats why the films of directors like Kevin Smith so attract me. The situations and characters serve as the platform for the jokes.

"Kung Pow!: Enter the Fist" is a movie I should have hated. In fact, when I saw previews for it back in 2002 (five years ago now, wow time flies!), I thought it looked like the worst movie out there.

Finally, in 2004, when my friend convinced me to watch it, I realized just how wrong I was.

"Kung Pow" is without a doubt the stupidest film I have ever seen in my lifetime... bar none. But, I have to say, it is also one of the funniest movies I have seen in quite some time. The humor comes from how dumb it is. Steve Oedekerk (director/writer/star) really does an excellent job at making what is essentially an 80-minute Nickelodeon cartoon entertaining enough for the open minded to enjoy.

I was surprised that within 10 minutes, I was laughing at a pretty constant pace... and laughing with much more gusto than I did with big-budget studio-based duds like the "American Pie" films. (I'm not dissing "Pie", mind you, it just wasn't my cup of tea.) Sure, the humor is pretty random... For example, unnecessary quips from characters, and oddball visual touches added into the footage...

And some of it just falls flat as a pancake... Like our hero (aptly named "The Chosen One") fighting a CG cow, and the fact his tongue has a face and can talk...

But the ingenious parodies of martial arts films in general (everything from bad dubbing to bad visual effects to bad directing/editing) is pulled off perfectly.

If you are willing to look past the fact that you will feel like your IQ is dropping whilst watching this film, you will probably have a blast.

And that is why I give it a very good 8 out of 10.

There are only two ways to master the world. One is through Kung Fu. There are only two ways of becoming a Kung Fu master: by doing the work, or by dedicated watching of certain movies.

This is no relaxing work in general, my little crickets, and this movie may need some guidance from someone trained in the inner art. Take my word for it that hidden beneath some repetitious, dumb, childish, cardboard humor this movie contains the final secrets for those waiting to get through the eleventh portal.

Naturally, you cannot watch this in its English translation, rather you need to see it in the original language, actually several languages. But be careful; one character is there to throw you off and is obfuscating in glossolalia.

Thanks go to Quenten Tarantino. His uncredited efforts to bring this to the masses could result in a massive shift toward enlightenment.

Also, the tongue-works rocked!

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

I first saw Kung-Pow on DVD with friends who had seen it in the theater and loved it. But they said that people had been walking out of the theater, lots of people. Despite this, I still watched. Everyone around me knew the jokes, and knew when to laugh. I quickly picked up on Oedekerk's sense of humor in this movie, and I ended up loving the movie. If it hadn't been for my friends, I could easily see myself hating this movie too.

There are so many things that seem like mistakes, but are done *on purpose* by Oedekirk. If it looks like a mistake, it's probably a joke. After all, it is a spoof type movie.