Kung Fury is a title I have been looking forward to for a while. It has been written, directed and stars Swedish David Sandberg. His idea was to create a tribute to the action and police movies of the eighties. With a couple of friends he created a trailer for his film and started Kickstarter to make it a reality. The goal was to get 200.000 dollars, which it managed to reach easily. In the end he had 630.000 dollars to start the prodcution: A 30 minute movie which would be available online for free. After being shown at the Cannes film festival to amazing reviews it has now been released online for everyone to enjoy. Within a couple of hours the movie has already passed the one million views and I expect it will become a lot more as the end result really is stunning.
When a Miami cop tries to arrest a kung fu master, his partner is killed and he is simultaneously hit by lightning and bitten by a cobra. He changes into The Chosen One (hello Kung Pow: Enter the Fist), also known as Kung Fury (David Sandberg), a cop who fights evil in the streets of Miami. Within the first few minutes we see him fight an arcade machine who has come alive and it doesn’t take long before Hitler (who also turns out to be a kung fu master) shows up and shoots up a police station through the telephone. It’s probably clear by now that this is a movie which takes everything to the extreme, which results in a very entertaining and funny film.
As it takes its inspiration from the eighties, the film also has adapted the look of the time as it looks as it is being played from an old VHS tape, including tracking problems, washed out colors and static, which add to the authentic and charming feeling. Most of the movie has been shot against a green screen, which makes it possible for Sandberg to perform the craziest action you’ve probably seen in a while. Examples are him standing on top of a flying Lamborghini and shooting guns, using a nazi as a skateboard and executing impossible fighting moves.
It doesn’t only take the good and bad properties of the actionfilms of the eigthies (the angry police boss, the new partner etc), but also the style and items of the time and mixes them together for half an hour of pure fun, action and comedy. Every minute is filled with awesome moments, cool one liners and incredible action which will definitely give you a feeling of nostalgia if you’ve experienced the eighties. I actually enjoyed this tribute to the eighties action B-movies slightly more than I did Mad Max: Fury Road and that’s something I definitely didn’t expect. The movie can be viewed below.
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An entertaining short and agree the visuals are impressive. Some viewers might be put off by the over-the-top-ness and extremeness, but a fun ride, with some cool ideas, such as the animation sequence, and the phone scene. One of the better kickstarter films out there.