# Kung Pow! Enter the Fist
*Kung Pow! Enter the Fist* is a 2002 American parody comedy written, directed, produced by, and starring [Steve Oedekerk](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-oedekerk), built by re-editing a 1976 Hong Kong martial arts film, *Tiger & Crane Fists*, re-dubbing its dialogue with deliberately absurd lines, and digitally inserting Oedekerk into the old footage as a new hero, the Chosen One.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62451) • [2](https://www.cinema.com/articles/876/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-production-notes.body) Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox, it opened in Los Angeles on January 25, 2002, runs 81 to 82 minutes, and was rated PG-13.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62451)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | January 25, 2002 (Los Angeles opening), Twentieth Century Fox; PG-13; 81–82 minutes[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62451) |
| Source film | *Tiger & Crane Fists* (1976), a Hong Kong martial arts picture directed by Jimmy Wang Yu, released in the US as *Savage Killers*[4](https://thengamer.com/AxZ/Pics%20%26%20Stuff/Litt/Leonard%20Maltin%27s%202010%20Movie%20Guide.pdf) • [5](https://kungfumovieguide.com/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) |
| Method | Oedekerk re-dubbed the dialogue, shot new scenes, rebuilt the original sets in Mexico, body-doubled the original actors, and placed himself digitally into the old footage[2](https://www.cinema.com/articles/876/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-production-notes.body) |
| Voice work | Oedekerk dubbed nearly every character himself; Jennifer Tung's character Whoa is the exception[6](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/kungpowenterthefist/) |
| Box office | $16.0 million in the United States[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) |
| Critical reception | 13% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (53 reviews) and a Metascore of 14, against a 69% audience Popcornmeter and an 8.2 Metacritic user score[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and method
The film follows the Chosen One, an avenging martial arts hero whose parents were killed by the villain Master Pain (also called Betty); along the way he fights cronies, a computer-generated cow that fights upright and sprays milk as a projectile, and finally Master Pain himself.[8](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/sites/4/2008/09/182218.2.pdf) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) The plot is a frame for gags aimed at the conventions of 1970s kung fu cinema: crash zooms repeated a dozen times, high-pitched yelps, and dialogue deliberately out of sync with the actors' lips.[9](https://splicedwire.com/02reviews/kungpow.html) • [10](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf)
**How it was made.** Oedekerk acquired *Tiger & Crane Fists*, a 1976 karate picture directed by Jimmy Wang Yu, and substantially altered it: he re-dubbed the characters with new dialogue, shot new scenes, rebuilt the old film's sets at a Mexican location, body-doubled the original Hong Kong actors, and integrated new characters, storylines, and effects, blending old and new footage into what the production notes call a half-old, half-new feature.[2](https://www.cinema.com/articles/876/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-production-notes.body) • [11](https://www.ctinsider.com/movies/article/Kung-Pow-packed-with-cartoonish-gags-2879209.php) The film opens with a disclaimer acknowledging the use of footage from *Tiger & Crane Fists*.[12](https://nickthemoviecritic.com/2018/12/26/flashback-review-kung-pow-enter-the-fist/)
The dubbing is the film's central device. Oedekerk voices almost every character, performing lines that contradict what is on screen; a scholarly study of global cinema cites the film as the prototypical spoof of the mismatch between actors' mouth movements and English dialogue in dubbed Hong Kong martial arts films.[13](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/28353/1/Gray_ETD_2016_1.pdf) Recurring gags include a female character who punctuates sentences with "wee-ooo-wee," an animated face living on the Chosen One's tongue, and a talking spirit in the sky parodying *The Lion King*.[14](https://www.avclub.com/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-1798195601) • [15](https://www.ericdsnider.com/re-views/kung-pow-enter-fist-2002/) The title echoes [Bruce Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-lee)'s *Enter the Dragon*, though one corrections database notes the film parodies martial-arts films in general rather than that film specifically.[12](https://nickthemoviecritic.com/2018/12/26/flashback-review-kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) • [16](https://www.moviemistakes.com/film2728/corrections)
## Cast and crew
Oedekerk serves as writer, director, producer, and star, credited as the Chosen One and for the dubbed voices.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62451) The cast combines original-footage actors with new performers: Lung Fai (Fei Lung) appears as Master Pain/Betty from the source film, Leo Lee as Young Master Pain, Jennifer Tung as Whoa, Tse Ling Ling as Ling, and Hui-Lou Chen as Master Tang.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62451) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) Paul Marshal and Tom Koranda produced alongside Oedekerk; John J. Connor was the cinematographer, Paul Marshal the editor, Hector Velez the production designer, and Robert Folk the composer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62451)
## Reception
**Critics rejected the film.** Its Rotten Tomatoes critics' consensus calls it "a short sketch's worth of jokes stretched into a full-length feature," and the Tomatometer stood at 13% from 53 reviews, with 7 fresh and 46 rotten.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 14, with 11 of 14 collected reviews negative; individual notices ranged from Jami Bernard's "silly, perfect fun" in the [New York Daily News](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-daily-news) (75) to a 0 from the Austin Chronicle.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) The Los Angeles Times review called the result "hopelessly inane, humorless and under-inspired," and Fox opened the film without advance press screenings.[17](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-28-et-thomas28-story.html) [Leonard Maltin](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-maltin)'s guide rated it 1½ stars, calling the gags "occasionally funny, but obvious and repetitive."[4](https://thengamer.com/AxZ/Pics%20%26%20Stuff/Litt/Leonard%20Maltin%27s%202010%20Movie%20Guide.pdf)
**Audiences divided.** The same aggregators show a wide gap: a 69% Popcornmeter from more than 50,000 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.2 user score on Metacritic, where 81% of user ratings are positive.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) The film grossed $16.0 million in the United States, which one retrospective describes as a modest success for a critically panned comedy.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow) • [12](https://nickthemoviecritic.com/2018/12/26/flashback-review-kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) It received one win and two nominations at the [Stinkers Bad Movie Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/stinkers-bad-movie-awards).[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/)
## Legacy
The film has persisted as a cult favorite. Retrospective commentary frames its visible artificiality, deliberate bad dubbing, and refusal to hide its effects as an early example of remix culture applied to a feature film, predating widespread video remixing online.[18](https://letterboxd.com/seanwithaw/film/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) Reviewers have compared its approach to [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen)'s re-dubbed *What's Up, Tiger Lily?* (1966) and [Carl Reiner](https://www.edgepedia.org/carl-reiner)'s use of vintage footage in *Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid*, and to the "Fistful of Yen" parody in *The Kentucky Fried Movie*.[14](https://www.avclub.com/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-1798195601) • [5](https://kungfumovieguide.com/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/) The film ends with the promise of a sequel, which reviewers at the time noted with skepticism.[14](https://www.avclub.com/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-1798195601)
## References
1. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62451)
2. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist: Production Notes, Cinema.com](https://www.cinema.com/articles/876/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-production-notes.body)
3. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_pow)
4. [Leonard Maltin's 2010 Movie Guide](https://thengamer.com/AxZ/Pics%20%26%20Stuff/Litt/Leonard%20Maltin%27s%202010%20Movie%20Guide.pdf)
5. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, Kung Fu Movie Guide](https://kungfumovieguide.com/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/)
6. [Kung Pow!: Enter the Fist, Plugged In review](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/kungpowenterthefist/)
7. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/)
8. [Quebec film classification file no. 182218, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/sites/4/2008/09/182218.2.pdf)
9. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist review, SplicedWire](https://splicedwire.com/02reviews/kungpow.html)
10. [Lip Flaps & High Kicks, Arrow Films booklet](https://mvd.cloud/press/ARROW/BOOKLETS/48273_7_SHAW_BROTHERS_BOOK_INNER_PAGES_WATERMARKED.pdf)
11. ['Kung Pow!' packed with cartoonish gags, CT Insider](https://www.ctinsider.com/movies/article/Kung-Pow-packed-with-cartoonish-gags-2879209.php)
12. [Flashback Review: Kung Pow: Enter The Fist, nickthemoviecritic.com](https://nickthemoviecritic.com/2018/12/26/flashback-review-kung-pow-enter-the-fist/)
13. [Digital Dubbing, Virtual Subtitles, and the Economics of Global Cinema in the 21st Century, University of Pittsburgh dissertation](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/28353/1/Gray_ETD_2016_1.pdf)
14. [Kung Pow!: Enter The Fist, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/kung-pow-enter-the-fist-1798195601)
15. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002), EricDSnider.com](https://www.ericdsnider.com/re-views/kung-pow-enter-fist-2002/)
16. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002) corrections, MovieMistakes.com](https://www.moviemistakes.com/film2728/corrections)
17. [Kung Foolishness in Mindless 'Enter the Fist', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-28-et-thomas28-story.html)
18. [Kung Pow: Enter the Fist review by Shawn Anderson, Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/seanwithaw/film/kung-pow-enter-the-fist/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2000 to 2002*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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