Zak van Winkle is Kung Fu Joe, a local legend, and this white man with an Afro uses his Kung Fu chops to set things right on the mean streets of his hometown and is always ready to stick his neck on the line for his brother man. Kung Fu Joe is the supreme ladies man; every woman that sees him first slaps him (for leaving), then kisses him deeply and asks where he's been, but he doesn't have time to reminisce when he's on the case.
Kung Fu Joe is his own man, working as a mercenary/private eye, but that sometimes puts him at odds with a local police detective, The Detective (Jeremy Parrish). There's obviously been some history between the two, where their friendship is never explicitly explained, but they have, at minimum, had some run-ins in the past. The Detective is currently working on a strange case, however, that involves hoodlums pushing pastries and disappearing denizens and he needs Kung Fu Joe's help to solve the case. At first, Kung Fu Joe refuses to work with "The Man," but after his sensei, The Master (Alan Shore) tells him to work with the man and his personal case he's been working on for Femme Fatale (Victoria Maurette) looks like it might be somehow related to The Detective's case, this unlikely pair team up to get to the bottom of things.
As it turns out, there is an evil Mad Scientist, The Mad Scientist (David Nevell), behind the pastries and the missing person cases. He is putting his plan in motion with the aid of his henchmen, a hunchback (Robin Corsberg), a literal pot-head and a mute ninja who speaks in sign language. When he needs a stronger henchman, The Mad Scientist creates a new champion, from a recipe that includes the DNA of a wolverine and the brain of Bruce Lee... resulting in French Man (Galen Emmanuele).
Our hero will meet with his first taste of defeat, finding himself bereft of his mojo, but his Master will send him to learn from another, the one who trained him. Captain Morgan (Gregory Pulver) will teach him the art of Pirate Kung Fu. It is only with this new training that he will be able to defeat The Mad Scientist.
The acting is not good. The props are not consistent. The wardrobe isn't even consistent within some of the scenes. Do not adjust your set. This is all intentional. Don't watch Kung Fu Joe for fine cinematography. Watch it with full expectation of truly stupid pokes at movies of the 70s and the various things that we let those movies get away with at the time. Kung Fu Joe spoofs scenes from Star Wars, Kung Fu movies, pirate movies, James Bond and even Soylent Green. If you can just sit back and laugh along with the movie, you're in for a great time. If you're looking for high production quality and good acting, you might find yourself less than impressed, like Psibabe was... or in sheer agony, as J.R. Nip was when he watched the film. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you consider Airplane or The Naked Gun to be a bit too highbrow, then Kung Fu Joe might be just right for you... but you don't have to jump in blindly; on the official Kung Fu Joe website, you can view the different webisodes that make up the movie. If you like the movie, buying the DVD not only gets you the movie with deleted scenes and commentary, but your $14.95 USD goes toward the making of a sequel, and you get to vote on what sequel you want made. So, check it out at the website first and, if you like, do your part to support independent film-making today.
