Listen carefully, Grasshopper. There's an unspoken rule about spoofing bad films: the spoof has to be better than what's being mocked. If it's not, then there's always the danger that it'll end up with cinematic egg on its face.
"LAME PARODY"
That's certainly the case with Kung Phooey!, a lame parody of the legendary Kung Fu TV series that throws in references to every bad martial arts movie ever made. It does this without being half as intentionally funny as those unintentionally hilarious chop socky actioners.
After being trained in the martial arts at the Shur-Li temple by Master Key, Master Lock and Master Card (believe it, the jokes are that bad), Chinese monk Art Chew (Michael Chow) comes to America in search of a missing Ancient Peach that holds the secret of eternal youth.
The peach has fallen into the hands of nightclub owner - and villainous MSG pusher - Helen Hu (Joyce Thi Brew) who wants to turn it into a revitalising soft drink, which means Art Chew has a fight on his hands.
That's the backdrop to an endless stream of gags that seem to have been exhumed from the time of the Ming Dynasty. Unlike the vases, though, none of them are particularly priceless. There's the dyslexic black waiter Leroy who thinks he's Chinese because he misreads his name as Roy Lee, a brief airing for the prehistoric 'walk this way' gag, and a scene starring a Hong Kong actor whose lip movements don't match his dubbed dialogue.
How we laughed.
"MORE 'POOEY' THAN PHOOEY"
Someone should have told writer-director Darryl Fong that while the scattergun spoofery of The Naked Gun series looks easy, it's actually an accomplished art. By re-treading much the same ground as the recent Kung Pow: Enter The Fist - though without being even half as witty (a sobering thought indeed) - this proves more 'Pooey' than Phooey.
Kung Phooey! (2003)
