Even considering the filmmakers that I’ve already covered on
this blog, Stephen Chow might be one of the single weirdest that I’ve come
across. I say this because, from the works of his that I’ve seen, his cinematic
expertise seems to lie in two very different and very conflicting thematic
styles. He tends to stick to his own brand of martial arts shenanigans, as
influenced by the Shaw Brothers as he is by Tex Avery, resulting in some
incredibly energetic and cartoonish action scenes. Alongside that, he has a
habit of injecting elements of Buddhist philosophies and a rather nuanced
perspective on the matters of life and love, resulting in some remarkably
touching moments and end-of-film codas.
These are two worlds that really have
no business next to each other, which makes it even more perplexing when he
does it well. And really damn well at that; Kung Fu Hustle got the man a lot of
attention when it came out and for very good reason. So, with this sequel to
his film Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, and Stephen Chow’s script
being utilised by director Tsui Hark, how does this clashing of energy levels
turn out?
