Kung fu hustle review rotten tomatoes

What makes a comedy a classic? Something that floats on the changing tides of time and taste, remaining relevant – and hilarious? It probably takes more than a football to the groin or a juiced-up fart on the audio track. (Though we’re not not saying those can sometimes be the pinnacle of professional-grade jokes.) We don’t have the answer, but with our Essential list assembling 150 of the best comedies ever made, we’re getting closer to laugh-out-loud enlightenment than humanly thought possible. We’re melting minds, splitting sides, and slapping knees here.

To that end, we’ve included all forms of the comedy movie. From slapstick (Dumb & Dumber, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World) to silent (The General, Modern Times). Rom-coms (Moonstruck, Annie Hall) to screwball (It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby). Parody (Airplane!, Scary Movie) to postmodern (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Galaxy Quest). These 150 movies will take you to college (Animal House), past some fan favorites (Step Brothers, Super Troopers), and all around the globe (Kung Fu Hustle, Amelie).

There’s no minimum review count for this list. We opened it up to movies of yesteryear, which typically don’t get as many reviews as their modern comedy rivals. Many of these inducted films have high Tomatometer scores and are Certified Fresh, but the Tomatometer was not our only guide. Some comedies that stand the test of time did not necessarily pass the critical test on release, and we’re honoring those here. These are not the best-reviewed comedy films ever released, but they are the essential comedies, movies that broke the Laugh-O-Meter – we’ll totally trademark that soon, so dibs – shaped the genre, molded generations, and which audiences return to time and again, to lift the spirits.

And with our most recent updates, we’ve added the latest and greatest in new funny movies (Booksmart, Blockers, Game Night), and some more comedy classics that have definitely earned their place in the pantheon of guffaws (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harold & Maude).

Ready to whip out your funny bone and bash it violently on the nearest flat surface? Then you’re ready for our list of the best comedy movies ever: Rotten Tomatoes’ 150 Essential Comedies! —Alex Vo

J.J. Marley's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s): Orlando Weekly

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Known for his outlandish style of humor and rubber-faced facial expressions, actor, director and producer Stephen Chow has become a martial arts powerhouse on the Hong Kong cinema circuit. Along with fellow fight master Jackie Chan, Chow has dominated the Asian box office for most of the 1990's. Chow's "Shaolin Soccer" (2001), a madcap romp where the ancient power of Shaolin Kung Fu meets the modern game of soccer, took in over $46 million across Asia, making it the highest grossing movie in Hong Kong history.

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KUNG FU HUSTLE, (aka GONG FU), Stephen Chow (in white), The Axe Chain Gang, 2004, © Sony Pictures Classics Kung Fu's early episodes could use a little more focus, but beautifully choreographed fight scenes and a likable cast led by the brilliant Olivia Liang's inspire hope for a bright future. Read critic reviews

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Watch Kung Fu: Season 1 with a subscription on Max, or buy it on Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV.

Episodes

• A quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China; when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption. View Details
• When adjusting to life back at home doesn't go as planned, Nicky turns to Henry for help in her hunt for Zhilan; Jin looks forward to life getting back to normal. View Details
• Nicky and Henry follow a lead involving a professor who may be able to help in their search for Zhilan; a squabble between Jin and Mei-Li points to bigger issues in their marriage. View Details
• Nicky and Henry follow a new lead that brings them to a private collector in Napa; a tension-filled dinner with the Soong's leaves Althea to question her worth; Evan's suspicions about Henry continue to grow. View Details
• An officer-involved shooting in Chinatown sends shock waves through the community; Mei-Li and Jin are forced to revisit a traumatic experience from their past; Nicky and Henry make a startling discovery about the weapons. View Details
• When the retrieval of a weapon doesn't go as planned, Nicky takes matters into her own hands; Jin takes Mei-Li on a surprise date; Althea finds herself faced with an ultimatum. View Details
• After learning some devastating news about Pei-Ling, Nicky attempts to keep herself distracted by offering to help a young woman in need; Zhilan confronts her past; Mei-Lei makes a startling confession. View Details
• Nicky and the Shens deal with the fallout after a family secret comes to light; Althea prepares for her bachelorette party. View Details
• Nicky follows a lead that brings her, Henry and Evan to a quiet town in Canada; Zhilan joins forces with Kerwin Tan; Jin and Mei-Li find themselves at a crossroads. View Details
• Nicky offers to help Evan when the case he's working on takes a turn; Ryan decides to officially introduce Joe as his boyfriend to his parents; Zhilan and Kerwin receive a surprise visitor. View Details

Kung Fu: Season 1 videos

Kung Fu: Season 1 Featurette - Yvonne Chapman = Badass Big Bad

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Trailer - Family Style

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Trailer - Warrior

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 12 Trailer

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 11 Clip - Stealing Tickets

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 11 Clip - Selling Restaurant

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 11 Trailer

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 10 Clip - Sibling Argument

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 10 Clip - Meeting Joe

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 10 Clip - Kerwin & Zhilan Fight

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 10 Trailer

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 9 Trailer

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 9 Clip - Kerwin Tan

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 9 Clip - Evan Helps Nicky and Henry

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 8 Trailer

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 7 Trailer

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 7 Clip - All I Want Are Answers

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 4 Trailer

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 3 Clip - Evan Meets Henry

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Episode 1 Clip - Nicky Surprises Family

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Kung Fu: Season 1 Photos

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Tv Season Info

• Genre:Drama
• Network:The CW
• Premiere Date:Apr 7, 2021
• Executive producers: Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Bob Berens, David Madden

Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for Kung Fu

Critic Reviews for Kung Fu: Season 1

Audience Reviews for Kung Fu: Season 1

• Jul 21, 2023 the worst series I've ever seen in my life, there is nothing worse I think
• Apr 17, 2023 I really like this show, it's the story not only of a superhero, but her family and it's such a nice family. I really enjoy watching it.
• Mar 11, 2023 Always having had a weak spot for kicking girls and this one is no exception. The story could have been developed bit more, but some of the twist and turns were quite nice.
• Dec 05, 2022 Great show, good acting, fun fight scenes. Good balance of fast action scenes w slow relationship scenes.
• Oct 27, 2022 To much teenage drama for my taste.
• Oct 09, 2022 Cheaply produced series with martial arts theme. What could have been interesting is completely destroyed by the poor production quality. Script, camera work, actors, special effects are all below the level of what passes for the lowest average these days. The fight scenes are simply ridiculous when compared to the perfectly staged fight choreography from the series Warrior. No one expects that they will be surpassed but you should be able to shoot so that you do not see the massive use of ropes. Pathetic what it heutezutage everything on the air may go.
• Jul 19, 2022 Terrible. I could barely stomach the first 30 minutes of the pilot. Lol there's an all women's monastery that trains in Kung Fu and they can defeat male raiders who should be experienced if they're raiding, but they literally can't even touch the main female, 100lb lead. Camera shots were wonky. The actual Kung Fu looked fake. The script was dumb. Everything so cliche including the love triangle. I'm sure there's something redeeming here..
• Jun 16, 2022 Enjoyed the story and I can't wait to know more about the characters. To anyone assuming that this is an LGBT heavy show it's not. It's also just a breath of fresh air compared to other CW shows.
• Mar 13, 2022 Wow, amazing! Not the show itself but the fact the CW didn't turn it to oh wait just as I was writing this the show just revealed that the Asian brother is gay so yeah it's a CW show cramming down it's agenda of lgbtq+, girls are powerful in the fact that the 100 pound female protagonist is a powerful martial artist that learned her skills in an all female monastery that fended off an all male attack force besides the powerful female ninja triad leader and goes back to her home town and starts beating up 200 lb men to fight crime, just missing the stereo-types of Asians...oh wait they shoved that in too...then just missing the diversity as it's mainly an Asian cast with Asian villains, I am very suprised they didn't change the main villain to a white guy since like the 4400 they love white oppression and white people abusing others. As an Asian myself, if it was realistic at all, their entire family would have died as soon as they were seen at the docks in the first episode. The crime lord who was knocked out by the protagonist would have found out who she was within a couple days and sent people gun down everyone at the wedding as a message to the Asian community but hey it's a CW show so a young female adult with no life skills except 3 years at a monastery can bring down a criminal organization routed in the community super easy, barely an inconvience. However after thinking about it, she wouldn't have gotten that far. She would've been shot outside her house after she beat up the triad members in Chinatown. You publicly humiliate and beat up triads in their turf after asking around everyone about their boss, they will just get your identity from the store owners she was asking around with and POW dead by evening. I will not be watching the rest of the episodes, I am not really into high fantasy of stereo typical Asians who do stupid things with no consequences. Victoria L said, "The writers really try to accurately reflect what a common Asian household dynamic is like." Really? If you were Asian you would know that is not a common Asian household. It's a very stereo-typical Asian household probably written by a white guy who thinks he knows what an Asian household looks like. Asian encompass everyone in Asia from Vietnamese to Chinese to India to Cambodian, etc. Each of these Asian countries have totally different cultures that changes further depending on the area within that country and also depends if they are fresh off the boat to which generation born in the country, the common Asian household dynamic is completely different. Victoria and the people who wrote Kung Fu, have no freaking idea what a common Asian household is but they sure do know what a stereo-typical one looks like and assume that is what an common Asian household is like.

Mar 01, 2022

This feels alot like Disney star wars, all-powerful female lead that just wins all the time. Lead actress has never studied martial arts, they should have gotten a trained martial arts actress. Shot in Vancouver, dead around the world.

Is Kung Fu Hustle hit or flop?

Kung Fu Hustle received great reviews and grossed over $102 million internationally. It remains one of Chow's most popular films.

Is Kung Fu Hustle a good movie?

It's a visual feast that only a crack director could provide, and it's mounted within a story and setting that, played utterly straight, might still have made a good movie. Brilliantly choreographed and shot, Kung Fu Hustle is often grisly, visually spectacular and unabashedly silly, sometimes all at once.

Why is Kung Fu Hustle so popular?

Kung Fu Hustle is many things and all of them are fun. It is a lean and hilarious parody of the gangster genre. It is one of the greatest martial arts films ever made, even while it is poking fun at every martial arts film that has gone before.

Is Kung Fu Hustle worth watching Reddit?

I have watched this movie maybe a dozen times and every single time I am blown away by it. It was a relatively low budget movie that had great special effects but more importantly, it created its own world full of humor, energy, and zaniness. It pulls no punches in trying to be what it is.