Movie Review : Kung Fu Dunk

So I went out yesterday to watch Kung Fu Dunk, a movie starting Jay Chou.

Chou plays an orphaned boy (Shi Kie) who grew up in a martial arts school, and as such is well versed in kung fu. One day he was displaying his exceptional shooting ability by throwing cans into a trash bin, and was picked by Wang Li (Zhang Zi Wei), a poor man who made his living in the streets to be a basketball player.

I read somewhere this movie was supposedly inspired by the best selling manga series Slam Dunk, written by Takehiko Inoue, but in no way does the film resemble the series. There were passing nods to Slam Dunk here and there, but mostly the film went its own way. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of references to its so-called source material.

To my understanding, this is supposed to be the theme movie for the 2008 China Olympics (correct me if I’m wrong). But as a movie, it totally don't have what it takes. Still lack alot of criterias.

The storyboard screwed up, sending the story into the realms of fantasy bordering on the lines of ridiculousness. Fight scenes without any point other than making Jay Chou look cool flood the opening of the movie.

Shi Kei, Ting Wei’s and Xiao Lan’s basketball skills are totally out of this world. Some scenes seemed forced, and didn’t pan out well. Many scenes are over dramatized, going really overboard. Halfway through the movie it gave up the ghost of a basketball story (not that it really had it much in the first place) and went straight into an all out slugfest between Shi Kei’s kungfu masters and the rival team. The ending…heck, everything about it was cheesy.

But entertainment wise, it’s pretty good. Looking past stuff like directing, execution, acting, story, and all other things, its good. It serves a purpose that every movie should perform, that is, to entertain the viewer.

On that aspect, it did an outstanding job. It had me laughing all the way. Seeing the characters pull off impossible dunks and shots and nifty ball-handling was fun. This is one movie where you won’t get bored, where you will feel reasonably happy parting with your money for.