Kung Fu Hustle centers on a battle between the residents of an impoverished town and a major gang. The battle begins when two travelers come to the town posing as members of the gang, called the Axe Gang. They threaten the townsfolk, but when they discover they cannot compete with them physically, they call upon the actual members of the Axe Gang.

The Axe Gang arrives as summoned and are quickly disposed of. Normally, a gang would not bother with a poorer town, since they have nothing of material value. But to protect their reputation, and egos, they aim to defeat the town.

The main protagonist of the story is one of the two travelers who had posed as an Axe, Sing, played by writer/director Stephen Chow. Sing is on a journey to ultimately discover whether he wishes to fight on the side of good or the side of evil. Luke Skywalker could be of assistance.

The film uses a blend of martial arts and physical humor to create a unique coming-of-age tale. The stunning visual effects are created with CGI, green screen, stunt harnesses and wires that create a sort of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets Looney Tunes. There are also homages to Spiderman, The Untouchables, The Shining and The Matrix.

Some of the fighting styles are quite innovative. There are two masters who use a sitar to create knives out of the sounds created with the instrument. The landlady (Qiu Yuen) of the town uses a powerful, high-pitched yell, referred to as the Lion’s Roar, to weaken her opponents. You’ll be cringing at the toe-stomping technique exhibited by Sing.

But for each great fight, there are equal amounts of humor. One character spends the entire movie with his butt exposed despite the fact that he’s wearing pants with an elastic waistband. Sing is subjected to stabbings and a shower of snakes while his bumbling sidekick attempts to take down the landlady. The landlady is rarely without a cigarette teetering on her lips, even during fights.

Kung Fu Hustle puts a new spin on the traditional martial arts movie. The action is balanced out by the comedy to yield a wild new genre – the martial arts comedy. Sure, some martial arts flicks have some comedy, like many Jackie Chan movies. But still, the main focus is on the action. There is a lot more comedy here. The new fighting styles also set this film apart from the typical martial arts movie. You might say that it’s all been done before, and you’d probably be right. But I’d argue that they haven’t all been done together until now.

Kung Fu Hustle follows in the footsteps of another film that sparked this new trend, Shaolin Soccer, which also comes to us from writer/director Stephen Chow and stars many of the same actors.

If action and physical comedy isn’t your thing, you may want to skip this film. But if you dig Steven Segal or Jean Claude, or even Jackie Chan or Jet Li, take a break from the usual Hollywood poop-la and give this a shot. I think you’ll be blown away.

Grade: A

Taryn can be reached at tas75@comcast.net .

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