Opening

75% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
22% The Hangover Part III May 23
67% Epic May 24
98% Before Midnight May 24
80% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
87% Fill the Void May 24
20% A Green Story
—— Alyce Kills May 24

Top Box Office

87% Star Trek Into Darkness $70.2M
78% Iron Man 3 $35.8M
50% The Great Gatsby $23.9M
46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
55% Oblivion $2.3M
99% Mud $2.2M
36% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31
89% The East May 31

Kung Fu Hustle (2005)

tomatometer

90

Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 181
Fresh: 163 | Rotten: 18

Kung Fu Hustle blends special effects, martial arts, and the Looney Toons to hilarious effect.

86

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 42
Fresh: 36 | Rotten: 6

Kung Fu Hustle blends special effects, martial arts, and the Looney Toons to hilarious effect.

audience

85

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 222,729

My Rating

Movie Info

The work of international superstar Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle is a humorous, special-effects-filled, action-packed martial arts epic set in early '40s China. A bumbling thief named Sing (Stephen Chow) desires to be the toughest member of the dreaded gangster hit squad known as The Axe Gang, but to completely join the gang he has to commit murder. When Sing attempts to rob a crowded run-down apartment complex known as Pig Sty Alley, the locals begin to defend themselves with some high-flying

Aug 9, 2005

$17.0M

Sony Pictures Classics - Official Site External Icon

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Cast

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All Critics (181) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (171) | Rotten (18) | DVD (32)

So disarmingly eager to please that only a stone-faced kung fu purist could object.

November 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Newsweek
Newsweek
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Chow's movie may seem nutty on the surface, but its slyness, its dreamy unfolding of so many moods and genres, becomes intoxicating.

May 12, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Magazine
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Kung Fu Hustle snaps and crackles like nuclear popcorn on a scorching griddle.

May 20, 2005 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Washington Post
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But for all its stylishness, verve and moments of visual poetry, the relentlessly punishing slapstick and overall cruel tone left me cold.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comments (4)
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Retrieving the martial arts movie from the gentrified middlebrow tastefulness of movies like House of Flying Daggers is only one item on Kung Fu Hustle's agenda.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

With Hustle's release on 2,000 U.S. screens this week, Americans get to see what's so funny about Chow. The laugh's on them for not noticing him before.

April 22, 2005 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Slapstick silliness and martial artistry of the highest calibre.

May 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

A smart and very funny action comedy that will really knock your socks off.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Cinema Crazed

The ever-shifting genre of martial arts films takes on yet another variation with writer/director/actor Stephen Chow's CGI spectacle infused comic Kung Fu adventure.

April 16, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com
ColeSmithey.com

Gravity takes a backseat to levity.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review
Sacramento News & Review

This rowdy martial arts comedy is best for older teens and up.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

Keeps the gags flying almost as rapidly as the fists.

December 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comments (2)
Big Picture Big Sound

A film that is geared simply, straightforwardly and, above all, honestly to providing absolute entertainment.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film
Eye for Film

Absolutely insane comic tribute to classic martial arts films and stars.

September 12, 2007 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com
TheMovieReport.com

The laws of physics no longer apply, if they ever did; characters leap, run at neck-breaking speed, bash each other through several walls with one blow.

August 4, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

The 'Axe-Kickin' Edition' DVD comes with a nice selection of extras.

July 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

While those who can't stand long fight scenes might find it a bit tiresome, everyone else is going to consider this a sweet, light-hearted martial arts treat.

July 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

Giant action sequences, funny characters, and, my favourite, a giant hand carved into the earth, whomping the bad guy into submission. So much fun.

June 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Scouts
Film Scouts

A strange, fun flick that loves its source material dearly, Kung Fu Hustle is destined to become a cult classic.

September 25, 2006
Christianity Today

Simultaneously and paradoxically irreverent and loving. A terrific piece of cinematic entertainment

July 4, 2006 Full Review Source: Cinemania

Kung Fu Hustle flies by on bursts of dizzying slapstick invention. There's rarely a dull moment, but the wise-guy tone and the non-stop frenzy wear you down.

February 7, 2006 Full Review Source: MTV

Audience Reviews for Kung Fu Hustle

I seem to be the only one that did not enjoy this movie. I found the comedy to be way too elementary. I ended up not laughing too much. (It's been a while since I've watched this movie so bear with me).
November 25, 2011
Albert Kim

Super Reviewer

An inept would be gangster inadvertently causes a war between a tap dancing, axe wielding gang and a poor rural village which unwittingly acted as a retirement community for ex-martial arts masters. The follow up to Stephen Chow's amusing genre send up Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle is more Loony Tunes than Crouching Tiger. Its mix of slapstick comedy and cartoon violence feels like a breath of fresh air in such a po-faced genre, and anyone who enjoyed the mix of martial arts and comedy of Mr. Vampire or A Chinese ghost Story will surely enjoy this. It's a deconstruction of classic Asian cinema from the likes of the Shaw Brothers and introduces tongue in cheek, post modern comedy that almost reminded me of Terry Gilliam in places which makes for a warm homage to the genre with plenty of laughs at the expense of grandiose Asian mythology. As action packed as it is deeply silly, Kung Fu Hustle is huge fun from beginning to end.
November 4, 2006
garyX
xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Kung Fu Hustle (DE)
  • Kung Fu Hustle (UK)
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