A loving comic salute to the history of Hong Kong action movies, "Kung Fu Hustle" is a total delight.

The latest satiric comedy directed by, co-written, co-produced and starring Stephen Chow offers flying fists of fun in an often surreal martial arts extravaganza that works supremely well on a number of levels.

In his most accomplished motion picture to date, Chow clearly exceeds his amazing work in "Shaolin Soccer," his 2001 martial arts sports comedy, barely released in the United States last year by Miramax in a re-edited version.

Operating with a bigger budget and the full support of Sony Classic Pictures the director of such Hong Kong hits as "God of Cookery," "Forbidden City Cop" and "The King of Comedy" now re-attempts to crack the American market with a formidable motion picture that should firmly establish him as a U.S. box office draw.

For his current release Chow draws inspiration from movie martial arts masters Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, as well as the vintage kung fu films produced by the Shaw Brothers.

In subtly tracing the history of Chinese martial arts movies, Chow progresses from direct contact bouts to spectacle displays of computer-generated imagery by incorporating fight choreography created by legends Sammo Hung and Yuen Wo-Ping of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Matrix," and "Kill Bill" fame.

Like a Quentin Tarantino movie, "Kung Fu Hustle" is also hilariously peppered with American pop culture references that include direct quotes from "Spiderman," "The Shining," "The Matrix," "The Silence of the Lambs," "Gangs of New York" and a variety of Looney Tunes cartoons.

Set in an unnamed urban center in China in the late 1930s, "Kung Fu Hustle" features Chow in the role of Sing, a hapless wannabe gangster who harbors hidden martial arts abilities that are unknown even to himself. Posing as a member of the dreaded Axe Gang, Sing attempts to extort the residents of Pig Sty Alley with disastrous results when the real Axe Gang shows up and takes a surprise beating from a trio of humble martial arts masters living in secret.

This triggers a series of retaliations as the acting head of the Axe Gang (Kwan Kuen Chan) prudently hires outside help to deal with those who dare to defy the powers that be. These hired assassins include a sinister pair of musical hit men, played by Jia Kang Xi and Fung Hak On, whose harp-like instruments release a lethal barrage of melodic carnage invisible to the human eye. Also posing a considerable threat is the Beast (Leung Siu Lung), a deceptively scrawny, ancient killer in flip-flops and glasses who is liberated from an insane asylum to deal with the situation at hand.

All of which proves a big nuisance to the Landlady (Yuen Qui), a chain-smoking harpy and her peeping-Tom husband (Yuen Wah) who control Pig Sty Alley and have a few secrets of their own.

Although Chow is the star of the film he generously allows the rest of the cast plenty of time to shine. Hong Kong audiences, who made this the number one box office hit of all time for a Hong Kong-made release, were also pleased to see former action stars like those playing the Landlady and Landlord and the Beast back in action after decades away from the screen.

In some ways, "Kung Fu Hustle" is like that old joke about dining on Chinese food. Two hours later, you are hungry to see it again.