Viking Night: Kung Fury

By Bruce Hall

November 17, 2015

I sure do hope he's about to sweep the leg.

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And not a moment too soon. After defeating a murderously sentient arcade machine (just take my word for it), Kung Fury faces his greatest challenge when, for some reason, Adolf Hitler (Jorma Taccone) shows up down at the marina and starts killing cops. Eager for revenge, Kung Fury enlists the help of the world's greatest computer hacker (who happens to work for the Miami-Dade police department) to send him back in time using technology best described as “something something computers Nintendo game glove.”

Of course, it doesn't quite go as planned. But it doesn't really matter, because the fun is in the journey, and not so much the destination. Kung Fury’s detour en route to his final confrontation with Hitler (who cleverly calls himself “Kung Fuhrer”) is mainly an excuse to ping pong between additional pop culture references, and to pick up a pair of Viking women…for backup, of course. None of it makes a lick of sense, even in the incongruous context of the movie’s own universe. But Kung Fury is such a self-consciously, aggressively illogical experience that it doesn't bother me much.

That's not to say it doesn't bother me at all. This movie is clearly intended to cram as many rapid fire gags and subtle references into a half hour as possible, and at this it succeeds brilliantly. If you grew up in the ‘80s (or are a hipster Millennial who wishes you did), you'll delight at the endless shout outs to all the cheesy adventure shows, action movies, video games, tech gadgets and cheap anime you wasted your youth coveting. It's loads of fun, but it's also little more than rapid fire, multi-genre fan service meant for a very narrow demographic.




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That's certainly not a crime, unless you believe that the single greatest low budget combination of self-referential action and humor ever made actually deserves a great story to go with it. Or, if as a filmmaker, you want an audience wider than media hungry Gen-Xers and pedantic twentysomethings who confuse the ability to watch Netflix on a PlayStation with actual tech savvy. As much fun as I had with Taccone’s effete, bumbling Fuhrer, this felt like an antagonist best suited for a sequel. And with Iron Sky still being relatively recent, there's a hint of “been there, done that” to that aspect of the movie.

But been there or not, Kung Fury definitely does it better. With so much stupid fun and genuinely incredible action packed into such a short time, it's a lot easier to overlook the rough edges and just appreciate - and maybe even thank God for - the fact that it exists at all. Shortcomings aside (I’m still not sure why one of the cops is an anthropomorphic dinosaur), just knowing that it's possible to achieve something like this for under a million dollars renews at least a shred of my faith in humanity. And getting David Hasselhoff to record what is actually a pretty damn good theme song? That's worth more than anything money can buy. I don't feel like a cheater, I feel like a winner. And so can you, if you have thirty one minutes to spare.

You can watch it while you fold your laundry.


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