Steve Oedekerk's Kung Pow! is something of an experimental comedy. The premise: a parody of kung fu action movies. The gimmick: splicing together shots from Hong Kong martial arts film Tiger and Crane Fist with original footage, sometimes using greenscreen to bridge the gap. The story: fairly simple - a young man, Chosen One, seeks to avenge the murder of his parents by members of the mysterious Evil Council in hand-to-hand combat.
My friends and I put on this movie because we had remembered it being uproariously funny. We are fairly sure now that the reason we remembered it that way is because the last time we saw it, we were twelve. A fairly intriguing concept crumbles in Oedekerk's hands. The humor consists of a series of sophomoric gross-out gags, and even the few shining moments in this rotten script are dragged out until they no longer induce laughter. This is the pitfall of allowing one individual to take on the roles of writer, director, and lead actor. (Unless you're Tommy Wiseau and the result is unintentionally funny.)
Moreover, Oedekerk's treatment of the Tiger and Crane Fist footage lacks true heart, the ingredient necessary to bring a parody beyond mocking and into the realm of enjoyable entertainment. In order to make this concept work, we need to understand why it is that kung fu films, in all their over-the-top splendor, are nonetheless captivating. Had it been the center of gravity of the film, we could have then gotten the chance to laugh at its overindulgence and melodrama while simultaneously enjoying its exuberance. Choosing instead to deface the footage with scatological humor and slapstick renders it irrelevant: this would have been the same film had Oedekerk used 100% original footage, and it would have been similarly dull.
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