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Kung Fu Monster
Movie

Kung Fu Monster

2018 • Unknown

Woke Score
3
out of 10

Plot

In the waning years of the Ming Dynasty, the Bruneian Empire offers a rare creature to the nation as a gift. Ocean, a member of the Imperial Secret Police, has been tasked to tame the beast. Though the furry beast appears ferocious on the outside, Ocean discovers that it is kind by nature. Not wanting to turn the beast into a killing machine on the battlefield, Ocean secretly releases the beast into the wild and elopes with Frigid, the daughter of a man executed on false charges.

Overall Series Review

The film is a Chinese-made Wuxia fantasy-comedy set in the late Ming Dynasty about a kind Imperial Secret Police member named Ocean who rebels against the corrupt government to save a gentle monster, Lucky. The narrative focuses on moral themes of kindness, loyalty, and standing up to systemic cruelty and political corruption. The main antagonist is an ambitious eunuch official who seeks to exploit the creature for power. The hero is captured and must be rescued, with much of the plot driven by a resourceful female character, Frigid, who orchestrates the rescue. A secondary female character, Bella, is shown to possess the most engaging and noblest character arc, bonding deeply with the monster. The movie avoids Western cultural or racial conflicts entirely, centering on an internal Chinese historical critique of a cruel imperial regime. The humor is lowbrow and slapstick, not ideological, and the primary moral lesson involves compassion for a creature judged a weapon by the state.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The film is a Chinese production with an entirely East Asian cast, making the vilification of 'whiteness' and forced diversity irrelevant to the plot. Characters are judged based on their moral alignment—kindness to the monster versus corruption and cruelty—not race or immutable characteristics.

Oikophobia4/10

The narrative’s primary target of criticism is the corruption and cruelty of the waning Ming Dynasty's imperial system and its officials, specifically the evil eunuch and the government's desire to exploit the gentle monster for war. This is a deconstruction of the *State* institution but not a hostility toward the broader Chinese culture or ancestors. The moral heroes are Chinese outlaws, not foreign or 'Noble Savage' proxies, except for the non-human monster itself.

Feminism5/10

Female characters like Frigid (Leng Bingbing) and Bella (Zhou Dongyu’s character) are competent, active plotters. Frigid uses guile to rescue her captured male paramour, reversing the typical damsel in distress trope. Bella is specifically noted in reviews as the character who evolves into the most compassionate and noble of the group. While not a complete emasculation of all males, the main hero is sidelined and needs a woman’s plan to be saved, and many supporting men are portrayed as bumbling idiots.

LGBTQ+1/10

There are no signs of a queer theory lens, gender ideology, or centering of alternative sexualities. The main relationships are traditional male-female pairings. The primary villain is a eunuch, a historically specific governmental role that is not presented as a commentary on contemporary sexual identity.

Anti-Theism2/10

The core morality revolves around compassion for an innocent creature versus the corrupting influence of power and state cruelty. This secular moral conflict does not target religion, specifically Christianity, or promote moral relativism. The focus is on a basic ethical choice (kindness over cruelty), which acts as a transcendent moral code separate from political evil.