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Spoof movie struggles
By Harold Behling
I've always had mixed feelings about spoof comedies. Being raised on movies like "Airplane," "The Naked Gun," and "Space Balls" I have an instinctual tendency to take a chance on this genre, hopefully to capture some degree of the hilarity that these grandfathers of spoof produced. But then there's the nagging reminder left by films like "Wrongfully Accused", "Scary Movie 2", and "Mafia!" which left me desperately trying to laugh if not only to make me feel as if I'd gotten my money's worth. So when I came upon "Kung Pow" late at night at the video store I decided to put my feelings on hold and gambled that this Kung Fu comedy would be worth my trip to Blockbuster.
"Kung Pow: Enter the fist" is the story of "The Chosen One" fighting his way against the evil "Master Pain" for all the usual reasons (avenge his families death, stop the murdering tyrant, get the girl). The most applaudable (although not entirely original) aspect of this film is that it uses mostly footage from another film, a campy 1976 Chinese Kung Fu film.
Much like Woody Allen's 1966 comedy "What's up Tiger Lilly". "Kung Pow" uses the original footage with new audio dubbed in. What sets "Enter the Fist" aside is that the filmmaker's altered the video as well. Using blue screen technology, writer/star/director Steve Odekerk dubs himself into the lead role, as the chosen Kung Fu warrior. They also incorporated entirely new footage, using a handful of actors and more computer effects. There are two schools of comedy at play in "Kung Pow." One, a more subtle blend of "mystery science theater 3000"-esque overdubbing, complete with funny voices. And two, a more action related comic approach (involving not just a fighting cow or a fighting baby, but both a fighting cow and a fighting baby.) The former features the bulk of what I thought was funny in this film (including a scene where an old Chinese man sings a song about neosporin) The later features some funny scenes, but also some very unfunnyscenes (including an offhand spoof of the matrix...which is ridiculously out of place). This combined approach results in more failing jokes than you wouldhope for in a comedy and also creates a feeling of distance between the two kinds of jokes, as if the film were actually two other films roughly taped together. Overall I was satisfied with "Kung Pow". It has a "fistful" of worthwhile laughs in it, however it's low points can be a little tough to sit through.
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