Critic Reviews

The cast is attractive and committed; the storyline has multiple avenues to pursue; Ms. Liang can carry the show. And the thrust of the pilot, at least (the only episode made available), is not Asians against the world, but good against evil. From what one can tell, the production itself makes a political statement, but the storyline won’t.

In a premiere brimming with melodrama, the visceral fights are imbued with grounded emotion. ... Liang, the relative newcomer, holds together the odd mix of modernity, mysticism, soapy arcs, and acute action with intuitive ease. Indeed, she and Kim make a formidable creator-star duo.

In all, “Kung Fu” presents a compelling heroine, ably played by Liang, who feels obligations to community and family both generally relatable and specifically drawn. The mystical element of Nicky’s skills is treated matter-of-factly and with engaged interest — nothing here feels rote.

The new “Kung Fu” isn’t as serious as its predecessor, and it doesn’t have the makings of a classic thus far. But its light and affectionate portrait of Asian American family life feels both heartening and right for this moment.

While this new version of Kung Fu has been CW-ified to its detriment, there’s more than enough to like about it to recommend it, hoping that the stupids that infiltrated the pilot get smoothed over in subsequent episodes.

Representation matters, so the existence of an almost all-Asian cast on a broadcast network series is a welcome development even as the show’s format and themes feel overly familiar.

If a pilot is your opportunity to establish premise and put your best resources forward, Kung Fu is a mixed bag anyway. ... There are definitely characterizations that are trope-y here, with the difference being the variety of representations and the likelihood that, given more than an episode or two to play out, even the things that look like stock types in the pilot will evolve and add depth. That's where Kung Fu has me interested, if not hooked.

An uninspired series whose action and key narrative device owe at least as much to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as its half-century-old namesake.

“Kung Fu” definitely has potential, but the premiere episode also boasts a few other warning signs. There’s an enormous amount of exposition throughout the premiere and characters discuss their backstories and talents with the subtlety of a bag of sledgehammers.

The pilot — the only episode available for review as of this writing — is a busy, busy thing that packs in a mess of cursory exposition, introductions, family business, romantic groundwork, an operation for a subdural hematoma and a game of ping-pong, at the expense of subtlety and character.