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Kung Pow: Enter the Fist - The Chosen Edition

There's not much I can say about writer-director Steve Oedekerk's "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist," a spoof on the kung-fu movies of an era gone by that contains jokes, gags, and humor ranging from chuckle-inducing to all-stops-outs belly laughs. As a humorous play on a overly cheesy film genre that only gets goofier with age, the film follows all the necessary rules; the good news is that unlike such a film as, say, "Scary Movie," you don't necessarily have to be acquainted with movies of this sort to appreciate Oedekerk's brand of humor. ***

Using the elements of the digital age to insert himself as a character in the 1976 Hong Kong film "Tiger and Crane Fist," Oedekerk plays The Chosen One, whose family life was stripped from him in his infant years at the hands of Master Pain, who, in the present, adopts the name "Betty." Chosen One returns after many years, bent on exacting revenge against Betty. *** A pretty lame setup, considering the fact that it was the plot of an actual film. What Oedekerk has done is removed the film's main hero and placed himself and various new characters into the film, all the while providing the replacement voices in the redubbiing process. ***

All of this is corny and cheesy, to be sure, but what is most surprising about the movie is how funny it can actually be if you can get into it. The spoofs of "The Matrix" and "The Lion King" aren't exactly fresh, but they still manage a good deal of hearty chuckles. The bigs laughs come from the Oedekerk's voicing of his character's lady-love, who spends much of her time running around yelling "wee-ohh;" the narration of the story, at times, provides humorous commentary on the present situation, and was I the only one who got a kick out of the tongue gag? ***

What's most enjoyable about a movie like "Kung Pow" is that its dialogue fits right in with the body language and movements of its characters; at one point, a highly-revered master breaks into a coughing fit during the middle of a discussion. Oedekerk's solution? Insert a fly that will enter his mouth. This, and many of the movie's sight and sound gags, are cheap in their construction and execution, but still manage to provide one with a well-spent 80 minutes of almost-continuous laughter. Wee-ooh!

Considering the poor quality of the film's images on the silver screen, it seems only fair that the scenes involving use of vintage footage from "Tiger and Crane Fist" should look somewhat shabby on DVD as well. The special effects insertion of Oedekerk has transferred quite nicely, and the new footage is presented with great clarity. The sound design is mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, and features an abundance of surrounds in action sequences, clear, concise dialogue, some deep bass in some cases, and an overall feeling of satisfaction.

If you hated it, you're likely to hate the stupid fashion with which the DVD has been crafted; if you enjoyed it, you just might find some delight in listening to the alternate audio tracks for the movie, most notably the original dialogue for "Tiger and Crane Fists" cut with the lines read by Oedekerk before being dubbed over. The book-on-tape version is just fodder, though the commentary from Oedekerk and his producer gives away some of the secrets of the visual effects and other interesting facts. The behind-the-scenes featurette, the promo spots, and the trailer are all throwaway features, but the deleted and alternate scenes are mildly hilarious, and the before-and-after visual effects comparison plates are interesting in their own right. And if you thought the tongue gag was at the very least chuckle-worthy, the Tonguey Tribute is just your ticket!