Hanging up his soccer boots but not his comedic chops, Stephen Chow takes on double duty as actor and director, returning as petty thief Sing, in a movie taking us back to post-revolutionary China. "Kung Fu Hustle" is the professional funny man's latest film offering since the blockbuster success "Shaolin Soccer" of 2001.

Filmed in Shanghai over a period of four consecutive months, Hustle has got Columbia Pictures investing US$20  million in it, and promises to send audiences in Asia and beyond roaring with laughter.

Chow has gone one up with Hustle by shedding lame plotlines for a more solid story that hides a few clever twists. Coveting membership to the legendary Axe Gang secret society, accountable for gruesome murders and terrorizing the community, Sing must first prove his skills worthy and his act tough enough.

He stumbles into a crowded back alley and decides to up his street cred and notoriety by extorting money from its dwellers. But Sing soon discovers that these are not simple folk who cannot stand up for themselves, but skilled Kung Fu masters in disguise.

When the Axe Gang encroaches upon Pig Sty Alley in the hopes of terrorizing the inhabitants, Sing steps to the fore and realizes that he has it in him to be a hero, not a thug.