Kung Pow: Enter the Fist
AKA: The Dubbed Action Movie: Enter the Fist
2002
Director: Steve Oedekerk
Stars: Steve Oedekerk*
This is a re-dubbed and edited version of Jimmy Wang Yu's Tiger and Crane Fists, with director/writer/star Oedekerk taking over Wang Yu's part. I must admit that the gimmick worked on me. The jokes were funny and I got a few chuckles -- for the first twenty minutes or so. Kung Pow wearns thin really quick, and by the end of the thankfully short running time, I had to reach for the Excedrin.
I guess when you advertise a movie as being from the guy who directed Ace Ventura 2 (one of the worst sequels ever and just a unfunny movie) you've got problems. Kung Pow has a very annoying habit of repeating the same jokes over and over. In a 80-minute movie, we don't need to see the same joke three or four times in a row, especially when they're lame stuff like "gopher-chucks" and yet another useless Matrix parody -- and don't even get me started on the lame introduction of science-fiction at the end of the movie.
I could probably write a lot more disparaging this movie, but I'm not interested enough to make the time or effort. Kung Pow just isn't funny enough to be taken as a "serious" parody. In fact, Kung Pow is so unfunny, it's not even good "Mystery Science Theatre" material. What really tees me off is that for the budget for this movie, they could have restored ten real Jimmy Wang Yu films.
At the end of Kung Pow, there is a "trailer" for the sequel -- let's all keep our fingers crossed that never, ever happens.
RATING: 2
* - I am not going to bother listing any of the other "stars", since Oedekerk has redubbed all the voices himself. If you're still interested, here is the listing at the IMDB (keep in mind that they westernize the Chinese names).
A review for the DVD of this movie can be found here