Kung Fu Monster Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

Kung Fu Monster Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 7, 2019

Perhaps some of you have friends with supposedly savage canine breeds like pit bulls, and who (if they’re like my friends with such pets) frequently post on social media about how kind and loving this particular kind of dog can be when simply raised with kindness and love. That may be suspect for some who believe in “nature” over “nurture”, but there is in fact a kind of “nature vs. nurture” subtext running through the often playful Kung Fu Monster, a film which posits a kind of toothy furball which may remind some of certain little fuzzy items in Gremlins. This particular beast is supposedly going to be transformed into a killing machine, at least if it’s tortured according to the plans of Crane (Alex Fong), one of the film’s villains. Luckily, the little creature has the goodwill of Ocean (Louis Koo) on its side, and Ocean decides to free the animal and to foster its kinder, gentler side.

The film goes on to document Ocean’s freeing of the beast, and the resultant chaos that ensues when Crane wants his “weapon” back, presumably with Ocean's “dead or alive” body in tow as well. A number of almost slapstick laden vignettes occur, supposedly due at least in part to a number of rather haphazard “heroes” who are initially on the hunt for Ocean and the critter, but who decide to help Ocean instead. The film is a rather bizarre mash up of genres and ideas. It may potentially delight some undemanding audiences, but it never quite registers as anything other than an oddity.

Kung Fu Monster Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kung Fu Monster is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is another film where I unfortunately haven't been able to track down much if any authoritative technical data, other than the fact that film evidently screened in IMAX theaters in some markets. That said, this appears digitally captured and as usual I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. This is generally a nicely detailed looking transfer, though the film itself is, kind of like its story, a stylistic hodgepodge, with a lot of "bells and whistles" added to the imagery, especially with regard to things like scene changes. As can perhaps be gleaned from some of the screenshots accompanying this review, a lot of the film has been graded toward green and/or blue tones. Both of these approaches can tend to rob scenes, especially interior sequences, of at least some fine detail. In bright lit environments, and especially when things aren't so aggressively graded, fine detail really pops very well and the palette looks bright and vivid. Some of the CGI, notably the focal beast itself, is a little "iffy" at times.

Kung Fu Monster Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kung Fu Monster features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Mandarin. The film has a glut of evocative sound effects, including everything from the title creature's squeaks and/or roars, but other elements as well, as in the whip snap of a torture device seen early in the film. Battle elements also allow for some propulsive panning effects and at least occasionally boisterous LFE. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation on this problem free track.

Kung Fu Monster Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Interview (1080i; 1:39)


• Making Of (1080i; 1:26)


• Teaser Trailer (1080p; 00:37)


• International Trailer (1080p; 1:11)

As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that the supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on the Director's Interview featurette is essentially a "Play All" button. After the International Trailer for this film plays, the disc has been authored to move on automatically to trailers for other Well Go USA releases. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Kung Fu Monster Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kung Fu Monster could have used some focusing, and I think the film might have worked better had it tried to fit more snugly into at least one genre (or subgenre), instead of (to purloin a phrase from another far east tradition) "one from Column A, one from Column B". Louis Koo looks a little distressed to even be in this film, but for those interested in a purchase, technical merits are generally strong.