Fight Clip Club: Kung Fu Hustle

Those cats were fast as lightning.

This is such a silly, fun movie that it’s easy to forget how many kung fu film legends are involved in the creation of its fights. The plot is a very simple premise (central character wants to be a part of dangerous gang, and so postures and poses and picks fights in an attempt to do so), and so that leaves lots of room for elaborately ridiculous action sequences. And boy, are there ever.

The landlady in particular as a badass female character was such an icon in the early aughts when this movie first came out—is she still legendary among action movie fans? I know a lot of people in the stunt field itself still hold her in high esteem, but is she the icon to laypeople that she is to me? Let me know in the comments.

As I reiterate below, I could have literally rolled a die to decide which fight scene from Kung Fu Hustle to analyse here, and kind of did so: I chose this one almost at random. Let’s go watch it and discuss, yeah? Get your rollers in your hair and your cigarette lit, and meet me below the paywall.