Tuesday Review: Kung Fury

I like to think of Kung Fury as a manifestation of what's going on inside my head at any given moment. It's a thirty-minute nostalgic assault on your senses that takes the whole "love letter to childhood" concept to an entirely new level.

For those that may have stumbled upon Kung Fury for the first time when it made the internet explode last week, there's actually a great story of how it came to be. Swedish-born director and star of the film David Sandberg initially tried to fund the project himself, then turned to Kickstarter with a modest $200,000 goal in mind. He ended up with about $630,000 from the campaign (although I'm sure it was significantly less after Kickstarter took their cut and rewards were doled out). Had he gotten $1 mission, the stretch goal was to make a full feature film, but I think the thirty-minute version is exactly as long as it needs to be.

The movie itself is really a loving homage to the Cannon action films of the 1980s. Cobra, Invasion USA, Bloodsport, the Ninja series--all of them are given a wink and a nod in Kung Fury. And like those movies, Kung Fury features cartoonish levels of violence, with exploding heads and people getting chopped in half with ninja swords. Throw in a million other 80s references to everything from the Nintendo Power Glove to Terminator to Miami Vice, and you've got a movie that lends itself to multiple rewatches.

But as much of a visual buffet as Kung Fury is, my two favorite things about it are the soundtrack and the dialogue. The soundtrack features popular synth artists like Mitch Murder and Lost Waves, and it's freaking amazing. Oh, and then there's this little diddy by the man who is still worshiped by most of Europe--David Hasselhoff:

Not only is the soundtrack available now, but there's a special edition coming out on vinyl as well.

As far as the dialogue, I think everything I love about it can be summed up with this one quote:

"Before I could pull the trigger, I was hit by lightning, and bitten by a cobra."

I absolutely loved Kung Fury, and apparently so did everyone at Cannes, because there is a feature film now in development. Watch it, and then watch it again.

Oh--I'd be remiss if I didn't mention something that i think was a big inspiration for Kung Fury--Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Like Kung Fury, it's an homage to '80s movies, and it's a game that I highly recommend if you thought Kung Fury was amazing. here's the trailer:

You can also get the soundtrack for Blood Dragon, which was done by the amazing Power Glove. DO IT.