Skip to content
Traveta reviews
Twentieth Century Fox
- Cert: PG-13
- Cat.no: 2004388
- Running time: 81 minutes
- Year: 2002
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Chapters: 28
- Languages: English, Dolby Surround only: French, Spanish
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: 2.35:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: $26.98
- Extras: Steve Oodekerk commentary, alternate audio tracks, foreignlanguage 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 outhumour? Yes, I think it is. Wow, the last movie I saw like this wasNaked Gun 33 1/3.See, this is one of the most funniest Hollywood genres thatisn’t really around the much anymore: slapstick. Read my review ofUHFto see how much I like these films. This is one of those movies whereyour brain must be turned off to enjoy it. If you go in expecting a highcalibur comedy then you’re going to wind up picking your DVD player upand throwing it out the window.
Truly a great concept (I hope they don’t do this to a great film likeStar Wars though, oh wait they did) Steve Oodekerk took a cheesy HongKong flick called: Crane and Tiger Fists. Then he put himself into themovie with the help of blue screen and dramatically changed thestoryline (I doubt the main heavy’s name was Master Pain in the HongKong flick).
Kung Pow tells the story of a character called the Chosen One and histrials to find the man who killed his parents. Throughout the movie hewill fight a cow (complete with Matrix parodies of course), go throughdozens of humorous fight scenes, talk to Mushu Fasa (sendup to the LionKing) and tons of other comical mishaps. The story isn’t exactlyShakespeare but it will do for a fun flick like this.
I actually liked this film. But maybe it’s because I have that sort ofsarcastic attitude that this film has in spades. It’s just a lot of funbut not without it’s problems. First, even at 81 minutes it seems todrag 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 scenethat was kind of uneasy to watch and it’s at the beginning when TheChosen One as a baby rolls down a rock cliff for a while, It’s all ingood 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 isplaugued with grain and scratches sometimes. I’m sure it was intendedbut I still think they could have touched it up a lite bit. For that I’mjust going to give it a 3 out of 5.
The sound is decent though. It seemed a little too low at some timesbut mostly when the stock footage is there. Everything is audible but Ithink it could have been better.
The extras are a welcome suprise. Oodekerk has given the DVD a MontyPython and the Holy Grail sort-of feel as there are tons of things onit. Don’t let my description topside fool you, there’s more than meetsthe 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. Aleave-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 theroad. Two, it could be forgotten among the myriad of DVDs and videosalready out there. Let’s make sure the former is its future.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALLEmailTraveta
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.