Martial arts movies are often at their best when they embrace the wacky side of the genre, being an enjoyable watch even decades after they were originally filmed. Martial arts movies are keen to put the action front and center, with the narrative connective tissue ranging from deeply philosophical dissections of kung fu to totally absurd and nonsensical fairy tales. Surprisingly, some of the most fun to watch entries in the genre are the latter, being unique experiences unlike anything else.

In many cases, the martial arts films that do this best are great fun to enjoy due to their status as so-bad-they’re-good classics. The combination of time and culture shock many foreign-made martial arts films employ can result in a hilarious telephone game that results in an enjoyable weird time. Others are more intentional with their wackiness, knowingly engaging in well-written tongue-in-cheek comedy while still exhibiting some flawless kung fu choreography.

10

Kung Fu Hustle

Wildly successful at martial arts humor

Few films are as venerated as intentionally hilarious kung fu movies as Kung Fu Hustle. The plot centers on a pair of dimwitted con artists, Sing and Bone, who attempt to fool the citizens of the hilariously-named small town Pig Sty Alley that they’re members of the dreaded Axe Gang. Their lie is challenged when the real Axe Gang comes to town to wreak havoc, but luckily for the duo, three very real retired kung fu masters already live in the run-down neighborhood, stepping up to defend their home.

Kung Fu Hustle plays with many famous tropes the martial arts genre is known for, right down to the presence of the Axe Gang, a time-honored tradition in the space. The bizarre kung fu powers, such as magical traditional Chinese instruments and powerful Buddha palm techniques, are all hilarious to watch in action, paring well with the cartoonish humor of the characters. It’s no wonder that a sequel to Kung Fu Hustle has been in the works for a long time.

9

Human Lanterns

A hilarious trip through a horror kung fu funhouse

Considering the sheer breadth of martial arts films made by the famous Shaw brothers in Hong Kong in the 70s and 80s, it’s no wonder that other genres occasionally found their way into the mix. Enter Human Lanterns, a bizarre hybrid horror-martial arts film directed by the esteemed duo. The story centers on a classic love triangle involving two martial arts masters who soon sink to increasingly grisly lengths to accomplish their goals.

One of the most gory and jarringly violent films ever made by the Shaw brothers, Human Lanterns earns its name when the skull-masked villain begins flaying human victims alive and turning them into glowing lanterns. The set design and cheap quality of the absurd action make for a dizzying trip through a nightmarish horror-kung fu funhouse. That being said, Human Lanterns has fight choreography and graceful wirework that can stand with the best, making it a fantastic wacky experience for those who can stomach the gore.

8

Holy Flame From The Martial World

A staggeringly multi-faceted Shaw Brothers production

Yet another Shaw Brothers production to get creative with a miniscule budget, Holy Flame from the Martial World is some of the best in fantasy kung fu movie filmmaking. The threadbare plot, as much as there can be said to be one, is stock-standard for a kung fu movie, following a brother and sister who seek revenge for their parents’ murder. In order to do so, they must seek out and wield the тιтular Holy Flame.

Holy Flame from the Martial World has too many bizarre ideas crammed into a short span of time to be believable until one can see it for themselves. The non-stop, breakneck-pace action includes laser sword lightshows, magical blasts that turn people into skeletons, paintings the come to live and birth hordes of ninjas, and deathly spurts of laughter. For a rare gem of a film that flings its high-octane fighters through the air more often than it allows them to fight on solid ground, Holy Flame from the Martial World is too stacked with bizarre ideas to ignore.

7

Shaolin Youth Posse

Does the most with pint-sized action heroes

It’s rare that martial arts films utilize children, outside of the Karate Kid series, with the heavy regulations surrounding child labor laws making the arduous process of good fight choreography all the more difficult. Shaolin Youth Posse has no such weaknesses, putting its pint-sized monks front-and-center in the action. The plot centers on a monastery of shaolin monks who take in a royal-blooded child, prompting a response from an evil tyrant to send ᴀssᴀssins to kill the monastery’s children while the adults are away.

Not only does Shaolin Youth Posse allow literal children to jump into the fray, but it’s more than comfortable showing them be horribly killed on-screen, with many unnamed young monks dropping like flies in the ongoing ᴀssault. Bad guys include a flamboyant vampire and a swordsman dressed like Wonder Woman who inexplicably has the ability to shoot fire from his palms. As the kung fu-weilding kids fling themselves into a variety of human pyramid formations to fend off their attackers and even summon ancient ghost monks to help out, there’s no shortage of wonderfully strange chaos.

6

Lady Iron Monkey

A simian love story

Thanks to the immense cultural staying power of the ancient Chinese folk tale, many kung fu movies based on Journey to the West, featuring an ape-like protagonist similar to Sun Wukong, have come and gone. But only one stands out as a female twist on the classic myth, that being Lady Iron Monkey. The film tells the story of a woman who is raised by apes, somehow becoming half-monkey herself in the process. When she’s taken in by a kung fu master, she ends up falling for an evil prince who abuses her uncontested fighting ability.

Lady Iron Monkey makes the most out of its protagonists’ simian theme, hilariously introducing her with flashing cuts to stock footage of an actual chimpanzee. The audacious slapstick comedy, strung together with cartoon sound effects and a uniquely great synth soundtrack, makes for an enjoyably weird journey. Beneath all the bizarre action scenes that see the protagonist use her tail like a propeller to fly through the air lies a genuinely heartfelt story about recognizing a person for who they are and shedding infatuation.

5

Matching Escort

A uniquely odd heroic journey in kung fu

Also known as Fury of the Silver Fox, Matching Escort is the second installment of the Wolfen Ninja trilogy created by visionary genius director Pearl Chang Ling. The story opens on a forbidden romance between a gentle but fierce prince and a simple commoner girl, separated by the gulf in their social classes. The girl is forced to wear heavy iron shoes all throughout her childhood, giving her formidable strength in kicking and jumping. After her inexplicably large family is murdered for the priceless Jade Mandarin Ducks they own, she seeks revenge.

Pearl’s character later falls into a toxic pool in a cave that gives her even more superpowers, further enhancing her quest for revenge alongside her dashing prince and his lovable manservant, Peanut. She faces shark-like water ninjas and an audaciously silly poisoner, culminating in a final battle with a dastardly villain sporting a flying cybernetic arm. The trippy Alice in Wonderland art design and surreal colors make the whole experience into an enjoyably absurd dream of well-realized martial arts battles.

4

The Battle Wizard

Blurs the line between martial arts and magic

Some of the later Shaw Brothers movies began leaning more and more into the fantastical, but The Battle Wizard is one of the famed producers’ earliest attempts at a more magical kung fu experience. The film follows a cloistered scholar who travels with his sword-toting sister to take on three villains in order to bring peace to their troubled family lineage. The bad guys include a snake charmer, a lecherous monster with flying chined pincer-hooks for hands, and an evil wizard with metallic rooster feet in place of his legs.

The Battle Wizard is one of the most absurd kung fu movies ever committed to film, more interested in characters that can fire beams of death out of their fingers or breathe fire than do any actual martial arts. That being said, it’s relentlessly entertaining, and the growth of the sibling protagonists is quite natural and believable as events progress. Filled to the brim with the most audacious of wuxia movie fantasy madness, The Battle Wizard isn’t one to miss.

3

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Brought weird kung fu action to the mᴀsses

Compared to the other films on this list, Everything Everywhere All at Once stands totally on its own in terms of quality and popularity. That being said, it’s still an unbelievably strange martial arts movie that ᴀssaults its viewers with a wacky stream-of-consciousness unmatched by any other. The story centers on Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn, a struggling business owner, wife, and mother who is suddenly thrust into an interdimensional conflict spurred on by the nihilism of an ultra-powerful variant of her own daughter.

To activate the kung fu prowess of their other selves, the characters of Everything Everywhere All at Once have to trigger incredibly unlikely events. This prompts them in races to eat chapstick, chuge 2-liter bottles of soda, or even stick desk toys where the sun doesn’t shine, resulting in some of the most creative and hilarious martial arts fight sequences ever dreamed up. With a genuine emotional core around which the weirdness can unfold, Everything Everywhere All at Once is very deserving of its Academy Awards.

2

Mortal Kombat

Revived 70s martial arts weirdness in the 90s

Although the more recent take on Mortal Kombat might technically be a better-made film, the campy charm of the 1995 original still reigns superior in terms of wacky fun. Despite being a PG-13 movie based on one of the most violent video games of all time, Mortal Kombat does its best to tell the tale of the тιтular martial arts tournament, in which multiple dimensions come together in an organized power struggle. To do so, the Thunder God Raiden gathers movie star Johnny Cage, shaolin monk Liu Kang, and special forces operator Sonya Blade to compete.

The Halloween-store set design and garish early 90s CGI all make for some lovably cheesy fight scenes that make the most out of the film’s iconic blaring techno soundtrack. It’s this kind of wacky charm that the more authentic 2021 film simply can’t hold a candle to, not to mention the far better chemistry behind the main trio of Earthrealmers. The upcoming Mortal Kombat sequel will have to do a lot to win over those, like myself, who prefer the classic version.

1

Shaolin Soccer

Combines sports with kung fu for hilarious results

Also by Stephen Chow of Kung Fu Hustle fame, Shaolin Soccer was an earlier attempt to show off the funnier side of the martial arts genre. Combining kung fu action with sports movie drama, the plot centers on a former shaolin monk who reunites with his five brothers in order to form a soccer team. Their goal is to weaponize their unique kicking skills honed by years of kung fu mastery in order to popularize the techniques and bring them to the mᴀsses.

It’s not every day that nigh-supernatural shaolin powers are used to send soccer balls flying like meteors into goals with bicycle kicks, but that’s exactly the kind of absurd action Shaolin Soccer revels in. Of course, the world of the film rises to the challenge of meeting the protagonists’ hilarious sports advantages, pitting them against a so-called “Team Evil” that uses American drugs to turn its players into monstrously strong superhumans. Lined with golden jokes and a decidedly unique usage of kung fu, Shaolin Soccer is the pinnacle of wacky martial arts movie fun.