Kung Fu Dunk

Clearly inspired by the success of Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Dunk, starring Jay Chou, is another slick sports/martial arts mix-up full of wire-enhanced action and CGI; but where Chow's film regularly bangs 'em in the back of the net, Dunk is far less reliable, the ball frequently rolling around the rim but failing to go in.

The 'pure' basketball scenes work well enough—expertly choreographed and hyper-energetic, they are the highlight of the film; likewise, the kung fu is fairly impressive when it happens. However, unlike Shaolin Soccer, which effectively combined its sports action with its crazy comic-book fantasy fighting, Kung Fu Dunk fails to make the two elements gel, the result being a film which switches awkwardly from one genre to the other. Similarly, the film's dramatic content lacks fluidity, director Yen-ping Chu clumsily juggling his over-sentimental themes of unrequited love, petty rivalry, and the importance of friendship and team spirit over individual wealth and success.

On a purely aesthetic note, the special effects are absolutely dazzling (standout scene; the players and crowd at a basketball match are quite literally frozen in time), and Charlene Choi is as appealing as ever, but some well rendered icicles and one cute-as-a-button 'twin' isn't quite enough to make this a winner.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Technically, it may not be on par with films that deserve a 7 star rating, but it sure is entertaining. Its iconic original soundtrack by Jay Chou, paired with fun and entertaining kung fu and basketball scenes makes this an iconic gem in many asian millenial and gen-zs lives.

Tagline: A much lesser attempt at recapturing the spirit of Shaolin Soccer… Review by Neo: Kung Fu Dunk follows the same route as one of HK's biggest movie in Shaolin Soccer, but the results is totally another story. While the aforementioned flick starred the arguable the biggest Hong Kong superstar, Kung Fu Dunk have Taiwan's own favourite son in singer turned actor, Jay Chow. Combining kung fu with sports is no longer something new and the result providing the audience with an average mindless entertainment. While Shaolin Soccer is a classic three act underdog story, Kung Fu Dunk goes like a roller-coaster rides but without the thrills in between. Sure, some fun can be had and the duo chemistry in Eric Tsang and Jay Chow is even at times touching, but this is by no means a great movie at all.

Jay Chow is a stoic actor and in other words he is like a piece of wood. His face is expressionless and while he once claimed that he wanted to be become the next Jet Li, it is fast becoming more of a dream than reality. Li is a stoic actor, but not one without emotions, one classic example is Li performance in Hero. On the outlook his performance is that of wooden, but looking closely his eyes contained deeper motivations as he confronted the King. Needless to say, Li is now a Best Actor in his acclaimed role in Warlords, and if Chow wants to become anywhere near his ambition, he will need to learn and reflect upon his method of acting. Despite sharing the same surname as Stephen Chow, Jay is no comedian and while he is easily likable, he does not oozes the same level of charisma as say Li or the much more famous Chow counterpart.

Perhaps the film unlikely saving grace comes in the form of veteran Eric Tsang, in what is most likely his best role since Infernal Affairs. Tsang is a flawed character, yet he is sympathetic and probably the only person in the whole movie that seemed human and real. He is greedy, selfish, but deep down he is sentimental and his belief in Jay till the very end allows the audience to relate to his human character, rather than special effects. Tsang lifts up this film from bad to average and for that Mr. Tsang take a bow. While the cover of the atrocious Dangerous Games claimed that his performance there was better than Comrades: A Love Story, maybe the cover designer was referring to this movie.

Charlene Choi also appears in the flick, but in the end, she really has nothing to do other than look cute, promote that style of glasses, act cute and be cute. With her counterpart Gillian now in seclusion, it is now up to Charlene to stand up by herself. It is disappointing to witness Choi in such an insignificant role, especially after her Hong Kong Film Critics award winning performance in Simply Actors.

At the end of the day, the real reason why Kung Fu Dunk did not work is really pointing at the producers and director. The overuse of crappy special effects is one huge downfall and adding to the mix is the unrealistic script based on a manga. Without forgetting, it is ultimately the director's (Kevin Chu) fault in filming such crappy basketball sequences. As a basketball player for almost 14 years (despite the fact that Neo is not a good player still), the film lack any sort of tactical awareness or the "never give up" spirit that is required in competitive basketball. Without being a big head, this movie did reminded Neo of a little over 7 years ago that he was once in the school basketball team which reached the State Grand Final. In the final, Neo lifted up his game and played the best basketball he has ever played. Despite losing in the final, Neo holds no regrets, as we played our best as a team and as an individual. Even though 7 years on, he may never have another chance to reach those heights again, that feeling and emotion of playing in a grand final is priceless.

All in all, Kung Fu Dunk is at best, a mindless entertainment, but even so, it is just an average one. It is a shame that it cannot be what it intended to be (namely Shaolin Soccer), and with technology 7 years on since that little Stephen Chow movie, it is just not good enough. Jay Chow has done extremely well as a debutant director in Secret, but here his acting has become all too familiar. There is no doubt that he did not deserve the Best New Artist Award for Initial D, where Anthony Wong commented so strongly. Still, it is really just yet another average Hong Kong movie, but once again, it is really the case of what could have been. So what's next on the menu? Kung Fu Tennis sounds utterly original… (Neo 2008)

I rate it 5.5/10

• www.thehkneo.com

Well sometimes quite literally. Not in a way Basketball is supposed to be played. Then again, I sometimes dreamt of playing a few sports like the Shaw Brothers would have taught me. Flying through the air and all that. Might not be fair to be honest, but then again the bad guys don't play fair either, do they know? That was rhetorical, because they obviously don't.

Having said all that, this is quite cliche and you can actually see where this is going. If you don't mind that, go ahead and watch it and enjoy the romp for what it is. Some fantasy come through, with many flaws and predictable as can be ... but you know fun

If you go looking on Netflix or Hulu you can watch this sports movie Kung Fu Dunk. It stars Jay Chou. You might remember Jay Chou from the movie The Green Hornet. Jay Chou plays a orphaned boy that grew up at a kung fu school and eventually becomes a talented basketball player. This movie is mixture of basketball, kung fu and a love story.

Many people have compared this movie to Shaolin Soccer and may have thought it wasn't as good. I actually like this movie. There are parts of this movie that were really funny. In the beginning the kids master dies trying to alter the universe. He ends up being frozen. I don't know if I should be laughing or crying. There are elements that you won't find in most sports movies. This movie doesn't follow the usual formula for most sports movies.

Parts of this movie did feel disjointed. There is the kung fu, the basketball, a love story and the kid trying to reunite with his parents. I feel like there is something that could have made it better. If you can get around the flaws this is a good movie.