Review: Kung Fu Hustle (15) ****

Stephen Chow, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Dong Zhi Hua, Chan Kwok-kuen and Huang Sheng Yi

LIKE a breath of fresh air, Kung Fu Hustle is original, inventive and a very funny piece of slapstick with a broad appeal.

Kung Fu Hustle is set in pre-revolutionary China, where the streets are run by criminals, and law and order simply does not exist.

One of Asian cinema's biggest stars, Stephen Chow, plays a petty crook called Sing, who sparks off a war between real mobsters and the inhabitants of a run- down ghetto.

It all kicks off when he impersonates a member of the feared Axe Gang to try to get a free haircut.

After an explosive opening fight, the story unfolds of the battle between the Axe Gang and the residents of the unfortunately named Pigsty Alley.

But the cocky mobsters soon realise they have certainly picked a fight with the wrong people.

The ghetto is full of an unlikely array of kung-fu masters who can more than hold their own.

Our hero, Sing, finds himself caught up in the mayhem with his incompetent and chubby sidekick.

We even have a love story thrown in for good measure.

Kung Fu Hustle is non-stop action and a belly-laugh orgy of fun.