Kung Fu Hustle is a 2004 Hong Kong action comedy film directed and produced by, and starring Stephen Chow. The other film producers were Po Chu Chui and Jeffrey Lau, while the screenplay was written by Xin Huo, Chan Man Keung and Kan-Cheung Tsang. Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Danny Chan Kwok Kwan and Bruce Leung co-starred in prominent roles. After achieving commercial success with Shaolin Soccer,Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia began to develop Kung Fu Hustle in 2002. Although the film features the return of a number of retired actors from 1970s Hong Kong action cinema, it is in stark contrast to other martial arts films around the same time that have made the biggest impact in the West, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. The cartoon style of the movie, accompanied by traditional Chinese music, is often cited as its most striking feature. The film was released on December 23, 2004 in China and on January 25, 2005 in United States. It received extremely positive reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 90% fresh certificate and Metacritic 78 out of 100.