Does it really take a Kung Fu Genius? No. No it doesnt

Kung Fu hustle a pretty great glimpse into the funnier side of postmodern film, where its just a big mash of references and kung fu parodies layed on the skeleton of a typical Kung Fu sort of story that is even more intense and blown out of proportion than usual. In class we talked about alll sorts of references, from ones I could understand like Drunken Master and Bruce Lee movies to some pretty out there suggestions like Star Wars (which was noted as referencing Kung fu and budhism already so thats probably where that came from...) . The references to other films and to other references was used in a very ironic and humorous way in this movie instead of being as serious and poignant like in Mullholland drive. Like Professor McRae was saying in class on monday, I definitely got that this was a film made just for entertainment. The over the top fighting, the hilarious and unexpected characters, the adorable love story; its all in there purely for entertainment, not really to make the audience think all that much.
So was Kung Fu Hustle successful in giving the audience a fun ride? YES. You would have to be some crazy, soulless ...thing in order to not love this film and just have a good time with it. I felt like it was the polar opposite of a David Lynch movie. It isnt designed to make people say "WTF?" and have their head explode. Kung Fu Hustle is all about put the audience in a really comfortable and enjoyable place where they can just laugh and laugh and say "Yea! Thats awesome! Of course the snakes bite him him right in the mouth when he tries to whistle! AWESOME!" The funny thing is that both films use the vehicle of postmodern filmmaking and references to get to completely different places.
Our class reactions really demonstrated this to me in the PERFECT way. End of Mullholland Dr. Credits start rolling and someone just shouts"WWWHAT?!?!?!" We laughed a little but it summed up the classes collective thoughts pretty well in my opinion. Flash forward to the beginning of our discussion about Kung Fu Hustle. "What did you guys think?" is question posed, and there is like this unanimous almost synchronized "AWESOME!" from several people (including myself quietly).
I think that this film was an excellent choice of a last film of the semester. Not serious and depressing or confusing, just really hilarious and enjoyable. But, it still drove home some of the elements of postmodernism because its pretty clear how it is used in this film with all the parodies to other films in this "Kung Fu Universe." From the Xiaolin Temple to the idea of the ranking of the "Number one Figher", and even the transformation of our "hero" into natural born Kung Fu butterfly Bruce Lee. I mean just look at him at the end. Hes Bruce Lee. The hair. The clothes. The facial expressions. The shirt getting ripped off and exposing the ridiculous muscles. Hes Bruce Lee.
Anyway, great movie, glad to see postmoderism being used as Im more used to it like in Family Guy and Seinfeld, etc. Who needs a strong moral lesson? just get to the karate and laughs.