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Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

Starring: Steve Oedekerk
Director: Steve Oedekerk
Genre: Comedy
Year: 2002
Rating: 1 / 5

Most films that are released in January of a given year are merely holdovers from the previous year, given wide release after ensuring their Oscar candidacy with a brief late-December run. Not willing to compete with the glut of holiday movies, these films hope to find critical acclaim and some semblance of box office success during the less competitive month of January. Of course, some films have a completely different reason for choosing a January release date. When lobbying to be considered the worst movie of the year, it does not hurt to get a jumpstart on the competition. Such logic must surely have been employed by the team behind Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, a deplorable offering that should never have been shown in public.

Steve Oedekerk, the man who brought us Ace Ventura: When Nature Call, is back once again, much to the dismay of the movie-watching public. Oedekerk is the star, director, and writer of Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, meaning that he can take all of the blame for this horrid film. Spliced together from the 1976 kung-fu "classic" Savage Killers, Kung Pow features Oedekerk as The Chosen One, a man who must avenge the brutal murder of his parents. Spliced together? Correct. This film is little more than a re-working of its predecessor, with Oedekerk superimposed liberally throughout the film and featuring some outrageous dubbing, all courtesy of our star himself.

Kung Pow has occasional moments worthy of a chuckle, but these are few and far between. Having caught this film during a preview screening, I was left wondering about its intended target audience. This film clearly requires a complete abandonment of reason and intellect, hoping to elicit laughter by things such as a urinating baby. Steve Oedekerk might be a cult figure in the underground film world, but this big screen offering is anything but entertaining. One of those infamous films "not screened for critics," Kung Pow: Enter the Fist quickly shows us why. One whiff of this stinker of a movie, and audiences everywhere will be scrambling for the door.

Cast:

Certification: Rated PG-13 for language.
Running Time: 80 minutes.

Additional Info: Internet Movie Database
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