Review: The Kung Fu Kid packs a powerful punch

There's a meme format where you post that you liked a given movie or TV show for the plot, and then follow it with "The plot:" and a picture of a hot character from the movie or TV show. Here, let me demonstrate.

I loved The Kung Fu Kid for the plot. The plot:

It works doubly well here because it fulfills the meme format while also pretty accurately reflecting the actual plot of The Kung Fu Kid, which is about a hot twink who tries to make it as a professional fighter to try to solve a bevy of life problems he and his friends and family are facing. He alternately kicks ass and gets his ass kicked, and ends up blood and bruised (and thus, extra hot) multiple times throughout the movie. If he is eye candy (and he is), then The Kung Fu Kid is, I guess, an eye candy store. And, beyond that, it's also a rousing sports drama and an absolute showcase of jaw-dropping animation. A winning package from any angle.

Released in China and elsewhere as I Am What I Am 2, that original title clues you in that this film is a sequel to, yes, I Am What I Am, a movie I've wanted to see for years but haven't caught up with. The first movie is about Jiajuan (also known as A-juan or, per Letterboxd, Ah Juan or, per IMDb, A Juan), a boy who becomes a lion dancing champion. In this sequel, Jiajuan and friends have moved to Shanghai, where they're trying to make ends meet with their performances, but it ends up the big city isn't as big a market for lion dancing as they thought it would be. There's no demand, no ecosystem, no money in it, really.

The title change is smart since it doesn't make people second-guess going into a sequel without having seen its predecessor, and The Kung Fu Kid is so easy to jump into, you barely even feel that it's a sequel. The film does a great job of setting the table, introducing the characters, and getting the story going. This is a long movie, especially by animated standards, clocking in at over two hours, but it never feels its length. It's always engaging, exciting, and interesting, and the momentum is propulsive as it shifts narrative gears at key moments.

The main thrust of the story is Jiajuan being recruited by a local combat club (martial arts gym) to compete in a fighting tournament with a big cash prize. If Jiajuan wins, he'll have enough money to help his father get the rehab he needs to be able to walk again. The combat club will get publicity which will help it make more money and thus avoid going bankrupt and getting absorbed by Jinxin Fighting, the bad boys next door who favor modern combat over classic martial arts techniques. There's a lot riding on Jiajuan, and he rises to the occasion as best he can.

It's maybe impossible to watch the movie without thinking of The Karate Kid, thanks to the English title and the general set-up. You even have one of my favorite sports movie tropes, where our hero trains for his sport by training in something else: here, cooking. Lion dancing also comes in handy, with some of the poses and moves used therein coming in handy in the ring, as well. Very wax on, wax off, yeah? Jiajuan's trainer is no Mr. Miyagi; instead, he's a washed-up fighter named Zhang Wate (we're told "wate" means "idiot") whose vision was irrevocably damaged in a bout years ago. But he's determined to help save his late master's business alongside said master's headstrong daughter, Xiaoyu.

The film has a great structure that almost feels episodic: the set-up, the training, the tournament, and then a couple more surprising acts that I won't spoil here. It consistently kept me engaged, and guessing where it would go next, which isn't always the case with sports movies.

From the stills in this review, you might be able to tell how impressive the animation is, but it's even more incredible to behold in motion. This is some of the most gorgeous realistic animation I've ever seen on screen, and it does so without ever stepping foot into the uncanny valley. I was in awe of the realistic characters, the fluid camera movements, the stunning lighting, and the attention to small details, like the barely perceptible hairs on Jiajuan's face (yes, I was looking at his face very closely). 

The combat scenes are obviously a highlight here. The action is so carefully choreographed, and you can really feel the impact of every punch and kick. The fluid camera movements put you right in the ring, spinning and diving and falling alongside the characters. There's a lot of smart sound work in the fight scenes, too. Sometimes, there's no music, no ambient crowd noise, just the grunts and thuds of the action in the ring and the calls of the fighters' teams and coaches. And then, round-to-round, there's a build, until eventually we've got a full soundtrack pumping, screams, the whole nine yards. (Worth mentioning, too, that the soundtrack is killer, both the score and the various background songs. A lot of rap, which was promptly added to my running playlist.)

The film weaves in some evergreen sports movie themes like believing in yourself, training hard, being the bigger person. The more interesting thematic work is the competition between old and new, the way the new combat techniques are trying to push the old martial arts away and discredit those masters. But the film shows that even when the new comes in, the old never really goes away: it still peeks through the cracks, and it's still the basis of what comes after. Like the blades of grass that crop up between the concrete slabs of a sidewalk.

When you watch a sports movie, you can tell if the movie really worked, if it did its job setting the stakes and building the tension, by how well that all-important big final moment plays. The buzzer-beater shot, the final kick, the sprint to the finish line. Here, that final moment is executed so beautifully, poetically, powerfully, it made me weep. It's one of the few moments in the film that kind of leaves the real world and goes into a more figurative, expressive place, which I think helps to really drive home the impact and make it play so masterfully. Yes, I cried.

The Kung Fu Kid is a late summer sleeper surprise -- I'm so glad it's made its way to our shores courtesy of Well Go USA, and it's made me extra determined to seek out I Am What I Am so I can find out what brought Jiajuan to this point.