Kung Pow! Enter the Fist is a 2002 American martial arts comedy film that parodies Hong Kong action cinema. Written, directed by and starring Steve Oedekerk, it uses footage from the 1976 Hong Kong marital arts film Tiger and Crane Fist (also called Savage Killers), along with new footage shot by Oedekerk, to create an original, unrelated plot.
The film was a moderate box office success, grossing $17 million worldwide, and received largely negative critical reviews but has become a cult film. A sequel, to be written and directed by Oedekerk, was announced in 2015.
Plot[]
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist is a movie within a movie, created to spoof the martial arts genre. Writer/director Steve Oedekerk uses contemporary characters and splices them into a 1970s kung-fu film, weaving the new and old together. As the main character, The Chosen One, Oedekerk sets off to avenge the deaths of his parents at the hands of kung-fu legend Master Pain. Along the way, he encounters some strange characters, one of which is a cow trained in the martial arts.
Cast[]
- Steve Oedekerk - The Chosen One
- Jimmy Wang Yu (archival footage)
- Alejandro Olazabal - The Chosen One as a baby
- Hui Lou Chen - Master Tang
- Fei Lung - Master Pain aka "Betty"
- Leo Lee - Young Master Pain
- Ling Ling Tse - Ling
- Lin Yan - Dying Ling
- Lau Kar-wing - Wimp Lo
- Banjo - Dog
- Jennifer Tung - Whoa
- Chi Ma - Master Doe
- Tad Hornio - Chew Fat Lip
- Nasty Nes - Boombox Henchman
- Ming Lo – Father
- Peggy Lu – Mother
- Tori Tran – Peasant Woman
- Simon Rhee – Young Master Pain's Henchman
Voiced-over characters
In many scenes, Jimmy Wang Yu, the lead actor in Tiger and Crane Fist, was replaced by Oedekerk via post-production chroma-key techniques. Oedekerk also re-dubbed all of the original cast's voices himself, inventing a different voice for every character. The only exception is the character of "Whoa", who was voiced by her actress, Jennifer Tung. During filming of their scenes, Oedekerk and Tung spoke nonsensical lines, which were later re-dubbed with the correct lines from the script, in order to maintain the appearance of poorly-dubbed foreign language consistent with the rest of the film.
DVD Special Features[]
- Deleted scenes
- Directors commentary
- Alternate audio tracks, including the "What They Are Really Saying" track, which includes the original Chinese and the speech Oedekerk uses to parody the bad dubbing in old kung-fu movies. Another notable audio choice is 'Book on Tape' where all the lines are read by a calm British narrator.
- Alternate ending featuring Betty in a speedo singing the Kung Pow theme song.
- Making-of featurette
- "Tonguey Tribute" featurette
Reception[]
Kung Pow! Enter the Fist received an 11% 'rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes,[3] as well as an average score 14 out of 100 on Metacritic.[4] Kung Pow! Enter the Fist grossed a total of $17 million worldwide on a budget of $10 million.
Sequel[]
In 2015, it was announced that a sequel is currently in the works with Oedekerk returning to write and direct.[5]
Gallery[]
