Stephen Chow has a knack for combining impressive special-effects, interesting characters and hilarious comedy. The prototype of Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, demonstrates many of Chow's strengths but the film does not rise to the same level of excellence as the later film.
The film relies heavily on making the characters as pathetic as possible but lacking the multi-level approach of Kung Fu Hustle the characters just come off miserable at first and then suddenly get better for no reason. The story also focuses too heavily on a central duo of characters and the badguys are left more to the background.
The film still has hilarious Kung Fu references and excellent visual-effects and gags which keep the viewer invested in the film but the structure is too straight-forward and too simplistic to compete with Chow's later work.
However, it's entertaining and I guess that's what really counts.
The film relies heavily on making the characters as pathetic as possible but lacking the multi-level approach of Kung Fu Hustle the characters just come off miserable at first and then suddenly get better for no reason. The story also focuses too heavily on a central duo of characters and the badguys are left more to the background.
The film still has hilarious Kung Fu references and excellent visual-effects and gags which keep the viewer invested in the film but the structure is too straight-forward and too simplistic to compete with Chow's later work.
However, it's entertaining and I guess that's what really counts.