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DICK STEEL 2012-05-24 12:29:31

A Nutshell Review: Shaolin

The Shaolin movie I know, was one in the 80s that launched the filmcareer of Li Lianjie, who somewhat faded away until his portrayal ofWong Fei Hong in Once Upon a Time in China that launched him tosuperstardom. Superstars aren't lacking in this update of ShaolinTemple which promises spectacular action sequences, but what'ssurprisingly excellent here isn't the action, but the spirit ofBuddhism and themes that come along with it.It isn't a remake per se of the old Shaolin Temple movie given a freshset of characters and a premise that's remotely similar, set after thefall of the Qing dynasty with warlords battling it out for supremacyand territory in China. In what I thought was quite a stark message inwarning of any future infighting amongst the Chinese if they do notstand united, that foreign powers are more than willing to wait for anopportunity to exploit. Economic advantages offered should also bescrutinized beyond immediate gains, where corruption of the few inpower would mean severe losses on a national scale.That aside, this film centers itself squarely on the central characterof the ruthless and cunning warlord Hao Jie (Andy Lau), who has noqualms in constantly gaining upper hands amongst enemies and allieseven. In a wrongly calculated move to take on his sworn brother in anambush, his protégé Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) probably had understood hismentor's philosophy that no man is indispensable to quash hisinsatiable appetite for power and glory, and through the countless ofindoctrination in the Hao-Jie-School-of-Thought, it is no wonder thatCao Man ultimately decides to betray his master. Think of it asstriking when the iron is hot to become top dog and making decisions,rather than taking them.In a tale about retribution and karma, Shaolin doesn't deviate very farfrom those themes, of how evil intentions can lead one astray andsuffer inconsolable consequences, only for religion to point one backto the path of righteousness and all things good. In some ways thisresembled the story of Huo Yuanjia in Fearless, where pride comesbefore the fall of man, stripping him of everything and down to hiscore, then comes the rebuild of character, and ultimately walking thetalk and redemption. Hao Jie's story follows this trajectory andthere's no qualms about Andy Lau being cast in this dramatic roledespite his lack of real martial arts skills as compared to his othercounterparts in the film, opposite the likes of co-stars Nicholas Tse,Wu Jing, Xing Yu, Xiong Xin Xin and Jackie Chan who serves as comicrelief as a Shaolin monk-cook.But most of the co-stars were severely under-utilized, as the story,with responsibility coming from no less than five writers, didn't paythe others too much attention. Nicholas Tse probably had the meatierrole as the chief villain who schemes and sneers, while the rest are into showcase more of Shaolin martial arts in one film, except for XiongXin Xin being the villainous sidekick to Cao Man, with no dialogue. WuJing, Xing Yu and Ye Shaoqun all starred as the requisite monks caughtup in the firefight as the latter two become part of a group who stealsfrom the army to feed the villagers. Fan Bing Bing was a complete wasteas the token female amongst the cast, and although she had a scene ortwo in a big action sequence in an ambush, little can be said once sheappears on and off as the damsel always in distress.Action direction came from Cory Yuen, with choreography courtesy ofYuen Tak (responsible for Gallants) and Li Chung Chi, all veterans intheir field, so quality is almost assured when the combatants take oneach other, although I must say that most fights ended as soon as theybegan, which is a pity. Quality also goes toward the art direction,with production values culminating in the recreation of the ShaolinTemple, made to resemble a bastion of compassion open to all and sundrydisplaced by warring factions seeking refuge at its doorsteps intumultuous times.Benny Chan's filmography may have blown hot and cold in recent years,but Shaolin establishes him back at the top of the game able to handlea big budgeted spectacle that doesn't necessarily rely on star powerand action to deliver the goods, but actually is a thinking man's filmon the philosophical aspects of Buddhism, and the balance of MartialZen. Recommended!

blackmamba99971 2012-05-24 11:12:56

Sad times

This was a remarkable story of a General (Andy Lau) who became aShaolin monk through tragedy. A man who had everything, a career, awife and daughter, and a knowing ability to conquer anything in hispath. Yet to quell his desires for fame and fortune, his subordinateCao Man (Ncholas Tse) had set him up during a dinner party with theGeneral's own superior. During this supposed get together, a militiateam storms in and creates pure chaos in Cao Man's name. General HouJie (Andy Lau) escapes his death along with his wife and daughter whowere then split up to escape on their own. During the frightful night,the General manages to rescue his daughter and to take refuge among thevery monks he was trying to evict from the province. With his daughtersdeath, his wife blames him for every bit of turmoil they had succumbedto and leaves him, which causes his path to open and learn the wordshumility and self sacrifice. During this time of self discovery, HouJie learns the art of Shaolin martial arts as well as becoming a kindof helper to those who really need it. His kind of mentor would be thecook (Jackie Chan) who gives in his own way the ability to see how anoodle bends, or cooks in boiling water. Not much of a teaching tool,but to Hou Jie, it was more than enough to calm his nerves and hissoul. I found this to be a really uplifting film, to see a General findhis calling, and to create a chain reaction to those who felt war wasthe only answer. Cao Man learnt this as his ex superior gave his lifeto save Cao Man's during a raid of one of the last monasteries inchina's existence. A riveting action film packed with emotions, guns,the turning of the period to the twentieth century, and the music wastop notch. Highly recommended for those who wish to see how China'ssurvival depended on their most needed and most cherished institution-- 'The Shaolin Monks.'

susi-fraser 2012-05-23 09:42:29

This movie is one of the best I have ever seen!! Great great great!!

Wow, what a great movie. To me this movie is as good as or better thanJet Li's Fearless and what a great movie that was. This movie is amovie with a good message, that sticks in the hart. The martial art,the way the monks protected themselves or fighting a righteous fightwas sooooo beautiful and magnificent just as the IP Man movies where.What a beautiful story, not a cliché movie but a story with asurprising ending. I can't understand why this movie is rated 6.7, Irated this movie for the full 10 cause it's worth it!!! I can recommendthis to everyone who likes the styles of martial arts and good plots.You will really enjoy this. I did and I cannot get enough of these kindof movies!

2012-05-22 15:48:54

Finally - The best Martial Arts film sinces Ip Man!

This review is from: Shaolin [HK, 2011] Starring Jackie Chan & Andy Lau (Foil Cover) (DVD) This is the first collaboration between Jackie Chan and Andy Lau since Drunken Master 2 in 1994 and it does not disappoint. Its a huge budget film from director Benny Chan, but he finally got it right in this one. Story is good, and action scenes are incredible. Fights are pretty realistic with minimal use of wires. Fights are very well choreographed. Great film, and highly recommended for martial arts/action fans. The DVD I bought from Loto Surplus was excellent. Very high quality video and sound. This is the official HK release, single disc edition with a foil cover. It is all region DVD so it will play in the USA.

2012-05-21 23:34:39

THE BIGGEST, GREATEST SHAO LIN FILM IN HISTORY AND NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT IT.

This review is from: Shaolin [HK, 2011] Starring Jackie Chan & Andy Lau (Foil Cover) (DVD) SHAOLIN (a/k/a SHAOLIN TEMPLE, 2011, director Benny Chang) is one of the most stunning, perfect films I have ever enjoyed. This is Kurosawa-level good, and let no one tell you any differently. This is a Chinese film that I believe should be shown in schools. Rather than sit here and expound on the storyline, it's better if I explain that the era of this film and some of the major action is based on real life. In the 1920s, there was indeed a warlord in Hunan Province, who destroyed the Shao Lin Monastery after killing nearly everyone there. At that time, in the time of the last abbot until 1984 saw the installation of Abbot Shi Xing Zhen, 90% of the monastery complex was destroyed by fire. SHAOLIN seems at first glance to be some sort of remake of Jet Li's debut film SHAOLIN TEMPLE; it is not. This film tells the story of a Nationalist general who ends up as a Shao Lin disciple after fate has had her way with him. It is the story of true Buddhism, the story of real flesh-and-blood men who became Buddhist priests and fought for their cause: universal peace. As Thomas Jefferson taught us, peace comes at a very dear cost. The cost is home, blood, family, treasure and even history. This film will teach you that, and you will weep several times as I did because it is true, even if the characters are fictitious. This is one of the most exciting films in every way. The details, the acting and the cinematography are really "to die for" - forget the reviewers who complain about the fight scenes. I didn't see any wires, and the 'wire-fu' is requisite anyway on this grand a scale. The producers built up a complete Shao Lin Monastery set, and every detail is shown as the important symbolism that it really was. (The crew was denied permission by the present abbot to shoot anything near the real monastery.) The great Jackie Chan has an important cameo here as the temple cook; the immortal Yu Hai (a/k/a Hai Yu, a super favorite of mine who was in the original SHAOLIN TEMPLE and has been in nearly every Tai Chi film) plays the nameless abbot. A stunning and sexy Andy Lau (WHAT WOMEN WANT, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS) plays the converted General Hou Jie; the wonderful, charismatic Jacky Wu plays the senior monk Shi Ching Neng. The crazed General Tsao Man is played by the very brilliant Nicholas Tse (THE MEDALLION, NEW POLICE STORY), who is one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen. Now for just a few further details brought to you by your favorite know-it-all reviewer. First there is the Buddhist blessing, O Mi To Fu. This does NOT mean "Buddha Bless You". It is a benediction but it means "Rest in the Palm of Buddha." You will see with your own eyes what this really means in this film. The famous exchange between the abbot and the cook actually goes like this: Abbot: What matters more, a pile of gold or a pile of mud? Cook: The gold of course. Abbot: What if you were a seed? Don't cheat yourself.As for the priests' robes: I can't believe they got away with this, but those are not typical Shao Lin robes by any means. They are the exact robes worn by the Dabei Temple monks - who are a bit in competition with Shao Lin today - and I can only guess it was a homage to the Dabei priests. Shao Lin routinely wore fine robes of grey, ceremonial robes of yellow. The abbot's shoulder-robe was always red. Here, Yu Hai's great abbot wears a black hemp robe and a dark brown shoulder robe.DO NOT SKIP THIS FILM. Though this DVD is all-region, and sounds like a vacuum cleaner is in your player at first, do not fear. It is a beautiful transfer, and you have your choice between English, Mandarin or Cantonese and the subtitles are adequate. I do not know what kept this film under wraps, but you'd be a fool not to buy it. One other thing I learned here: this was filmed in Mandarin and all the actors did their own voice-over work. They recorded it in Cantonese - no English dubbing! Then I realized, we never really know what our favorite Chinese actors sound like. Their voices are dubbed one way or the other, the sillier, the better - I have always hated that. This film paid so much detail to the voice-over work and the acting really comes through. Jackie Chan is especially funny speaking Mandarin!I have a feeling this will surpass any film you've ever enjoyed - and it will leave a legacy, because it deals with real events that are mostly forgotten. "Shao Lin will never die, it cannot be destroyed, because it is in our hearts. We take it with us." - the cook

2012-05-21 20:56:59

HK Neo Reviews: Shaolin

A competent and action pack Shaolin movie… It is of a moment ofdistinction to proclaim that Benny Chan's latest blockbuster, not onlyrevisited the glory days of Jet Li's first ever movie, but alsoreunited two of the biggest Hong Kong actors ever. Mr. Andy Lau and Mr.Jackie Chan appears on screen together for the first time since 1994'sDrunken Master 2. The moment they appear together, the screen goes onfire. It is a special little segment that excites HK cinema fans,including myself. However, Shaolin fails to exceed the audienceexpectation and the result is a competent and efficient movie thatcontains wonderful action sequences, but nothing more.The real problem of director Benny Chan is not direction, but ratherthe criminal under usage of Fan Bing Bing and Nicholas Tserespectively. Tse for one, should be critical of his own performance.His villainous turn is neither convincing or menacing. In fact, heshould take a leaf out of Mainland's actor, Liu Ye – book of acting.His evil laugh is more cheesy than imagined and his overacting is fartoo laughable than villainous. A poor effort from someone who haveimproved immensely in films like Beast Stalker and Pigeon Stool. As forFan Bing Bing, she performs wondrously in her extremely limited screentime. Her teary eye caught my attention, but with just two significantscenes, she is officially wasted.All in all, Benny Chan improves from his previous Aaron Kwok's endeavor– City Under Siege. From cheesy to competent action blockbuster, Chanperfectly casted superstar Andy Lau in a role that allows him to gothrough the motions. At the end of the day, this is a highly effectivefilm for what it is. Unfortunately as with most Benny Chan's movies,the film entertains, but fails to delivers anything special or originalto make a good film, great. Basically, Shaolin is a good film, but notgreat……(Neo 2011) I rate it 7.5/10- www.thehkneo.com

Emma Dinkins 2012-05-11 21:50:43

Chix Chat on Film review: A battle obsessed general in the young Republic of China encounters Shaolin monks who change his life.

Shaolin is one of those stories that integrates a number of lifelessons into an action adventure. This movie is akin to top grademartial arts films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which haslong been one of my personal favorites. The story gives the viewersomething of a history lesson into the tyranny in China when warlordshad no concern for the people only a desire to increase theirterritorial hold and gain power.In this story Hou Chieh commands a massive army that wages war to takecontrol of the city Tengfeng,Henan, China. This ruthless, dispassionatetyrant is portrayed very convincingly by Andy Lau, who has quite animpressive film career, I recall him from House of Flying Daggers.Second in command to General Hou is Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) who is veryastute in taking in all the Tyranny 101 lessons. This film had some off the chain equestrian stunts, with horsestraversing stairs, doing front and side flips, whereas I could not helpbut to cringe at some of the scenes. I can only hope that no animalswere harmed during the filming, so PETA is not up in arms, perhaps thevisuals were the result of some very creative computer generatedimagery, but things looked very real. This is a religious based film where the territorial war spills intothe Buddhist monks Shaolin temple, we see that the monks are the onlyentity that cares for the people and the temple is the only sanctuarythat the people have against the warring armies. There is a bit of aRobin Hood mini story taking place in the background of everything elsethat is going on with some of the monks at its core. I found itinteresting that the Shaolin temple was identified as the birthplace ofmartial arts, having seen quite a few of these tales I do not recallcredit being given for where it all began. There were several recognizable faces in this tale including theShaolin cook, Wudao(Jackie Chan), this seemed like a small rolecompared to some of the other big movies he has performed in, but hedid show he still has it where martial arts are concerned. This was avery entertaining story, with plenty of martial arts and other actionso much so that the two hour running time is barely noticeable. I givethis film a big Buddha green light.

2012-05-11 04:23:53

Blown away

I could not wait to get my hands on this film. A collaboration with Andy Lau and Jackie Chan, what more could I ask for? OK, let's throw in Bing Bing Fan, Jacky Wu and Nicholas Tse and make it a movie about the Shaolin temple, Buddhism and martial arts. Score!This movie is beyond excellent. Andy Lau has the lead role and carries it effortlessly. Jackie Chan's role is minor in comparison but memorable. Nicholas Tse plays a pitch-perfect role as Lau's protege that learns ruthlessness and lust for power at his master's knee and karma comes back to bite Lau pretty darn hard. When Lau loses everything, he finds himself taken in at the Shaolin temple and learns what forgiveness and redemption really mean. Of course, it wouldn't be a good kung fu movie without some fighting, so the bad guys have to come defile the temple and the monks must defend it from Tse and his cohorts. We are treated to some truly amazing and wonderful martial arts fighting here, right down to the littlest monks. And Chan the cook teaches the bad guys a thing or two about how to roll dough. Dramatic, action-packed, humorous, touching and heart-warming all come to mind when I think of this movie. It is destined to be a classic.

2012-05-10 13:14:45

More than Kung Fu

I read how a lot people complain about the kung fu being over the top an all that other nonsense.Look past what your seeing and feel what the film is about.Its about how men no matter how bad can have a second chance to do right and how just that one man with firm conviction can change the hearts of others.Take responsibility for your actions know how their are consequences for your wrongful deeds but know that if you try and give yourself to your beliefs you will have a place in the next life.Thats what i got from it and was almost moved to tears because I got what the movie was about.The action was now where the high point,this was a film about heart.I mean no disrespect to the people that gave it a bad review but thats the problem with a lot of films out there,and to many times we are bombarded with junk with a plot no more complicated than a $2 porno.I going to buy more copies for a few of my friends into these kind of films because the care about story more so than action.

j-m2002 2012-05-09 22:27:13

Spectacular thou missing the Mark

I have to admit this was not one movie Andy Lau, was meant to be in: atleast not a monk. At times the plot gets confusing though it makes methink: Why did he become a monk? I mean really it could have gone in anopposite direction. But the message is quite clear where cruelty is notan absolute answer to everything, with responsibility there is moresteps you have to take to watch yourself. That is really quite it ofwhat I watched this movie. 1. story line was quite weak with transitionwith the general turning into a monk, it almost seem like he was acoward. 2. though give them credit where its due which, there iscompassion and forgiveness where Buddihism comes into play. Amazinglythey only fight for their self righteousness and self defences. 3.overall I only would recommend viewers seeing this for time to kill ornothing else to do. When i say it missed the mark it seemed like I waswatching Ghandi, but the shortened version. The best part of the filmsis at the end where everything comes together to tells a story of thenonsense. Between the struggling of the feudal lords and their idealsto gain in whatever way.

basilisksamuk 2012-05-02 10:04:57

Don't Mess with the Shaolin Temple!

There's nothing better than a film with an uplifting moral messagebought to you interspersed with lots of martial arts action and blowingstuff up. I can therefore heartily recommend this film.Whilst being a good watch there is also some good old-fashioned sillytranslations to add to the enjoyment. "Don't mess with the ShaolinTemple" is one fine example and another is "You bastards come andattack the temple, I'll send you to the Netherworld." (I don't know ifyou get this with the English soundtrack as I was watching thesubtitled version.) There's a solid storyline and the usual stuff about the baddie findingredemption and making good his evil ways but it's not as 2-dimensionalas these plots often are as you see the effect on Andy Lau's wife anddaughter in no uncertain terms. The martial arts action is good thoughnot outstanding. Jackie Chan has a supporting role but when he doeseventually get an action scene it is laugh out loud funny andabsolutely true to the character he plays in the film.It's not the world's best film but it would be hard to go wrong withthis if you want to watch an entertaining epic with lots of action. I'mintrigued to know how much of the battles scenes and destruction ofbuildings was CGI and how much miniatures. I suspect it was a mixture.I'll have to listen to the DVD commentary to find out

appubhai007 2012-05-01 21:38:10

An action blockbuster with the spirit of Buddhism

Being a huge fan of Hong Kong and Chinese visual effects, I reallywanted to see this one and also for Jackie Chan, although he didn'thave a huge role to play in this one. Also action direction coming fromveterans Cory Yuen, with Yuen Tak and Li Chung Chi, its definitelysomething not to be missed Benny Chan's films may not have been thebest in the recent past but with Shaolin he definitely delivers ablockbuster. A movie which is not only high on action but also rich inthe spirit of Buddhism.The main protagonist Hou Jie (Andy Lau), a ruthless warlord who beargrudges with Shaolin Temple and sets to get rid of the people aroundhim for his own benefits, is betrayed by his own brother and repentsfrom the mistakes he made which leads to the death of his daughter. Thecook (Chan) at the temple takes him into refuge where Hou decides tobecome a monk at the Shaolin which is where the Buddhist teachings comein to play. Disciples in Shaolin who bear grudges with Hou for hisdeeds in the past eventually accept him and in the climax war they alldefend Shaolin from the invasion of Tsao's army and the Western powers.Jackie Chan's cameo in an amusing role as the cook provides some comicrelief for the audience in an otherwise intense plot which doesn't lastfor long since it deviates from the main concern of the film. But thereis one fight sequence with Chan.But what I did miss was some beautiful landscape views, with itsmassive set pieces it was something that was expected. Also, apart fromthe main characters not much attention was paid to the co-stars. Nofemale presence as such in an overall grand movie of all sorts.In the end its definitely worth a look, but you'll somehow just wish itwas better. The climax with its awesome fight sequence and huge setsbeing exploded is also worth the watch.

2012-05-01 05:48:43

bootleg?

This review is from: Shaolin [HK, 2011] Starring Jackie Chan & Andy Lau (Foil Cover) (DVD) When I first tried this video the english subtitles did not come up ( thought it was bootleg). However, after using a different dvd, it finally had english subs. It was just a hassle to change dvds. Otherwise the movie was ok :D

Bernard Sinai 2012-04-30 18:06:58

Shaolin,2011,Cao Man,Hou Jie,Jackie Chan,Andy Lau,Nicholas Tse

Set in the Warlord Era (1916 – 1928), Lau plays the warlord Hou Jie whofinally seizes control of Dengfeng in Henan Province but is afraid thathis sworn brother, Song Hu (Shi Xiaohong), could take advantage of himand take everything. He then plans an ambush for Song. However, hisdeputy Cao Man (Tse) has other ideas and orchestrates a plan toeliminate both warlords, ultimately taking control of their armies.Losing his daughter in the attack, Huo Jie manages to escape and seeksrefuge in a Shaolin Buddhist Monastery where he becomes the disciple ofcook Wudao (Jackie Chan) and later progresses to become a warrior monkwith assistance from his seniors Jingneng (Wu Jing) and Jingkong (XingYu). He also learns to control his anger and finally find peace.However, his former ally cum enemy Cao Man learns that he is stillalive and sets out to kill him.

Destroyer Wod 2012-04-29 20:27:09

Awesome Movie with unnecessary wired scenes

If you read most of my review, you know by now when it comes to Chinesemartial arts movies there is something that annoys me a lot and itswire fights. I never understood the need of the Chinese to put"obvious" wire fights in there movies. Now for this particular movie,at least there aren't that much of them and they don't taint the movietoo much. Wired seem to be used when it comes to jumping and landing,and for the fights themselves, there is a couple scenes involving them,but its nothing out of mind like Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragons. Thestory is nothing very original, but its effectively done andinteresting. Overall Shaolin is a pretty good movie that looks like alot of other Chinese classic but with a more modern look to it. Thewire work is not too annoying and even if your not fan of it like me,you can watch this and love it too.

batudingin 2012-04-29 04:36:05

A for Effort and Acting,

Andy Lau gives his all. And it certainly shows on screen. I do wonderwhy has he not done more Hollywood movies. Maybe he does belief partsof things that he said in this movie, cannot really tell you what itis, but I think those who have seen it get it. The effort to make this movie a little Hollywood-like certainly shows.I guess it is to attract audience. But I do miss closeups and landscapeviews, since they are not that many in this movie. Action scene iswonderful, but dimmed down to make pace of the movie. Overall it isunderstandable, though lacking in power and presence of the scene,Acting-wise, no complaints.I do feel sorry for the scene placements, it just doesn't make sense.It feels rushed at times, and slowed down quickly, than rapid changesof action scenes and dramatic scenes. And the music with it certainlydid not help since there is countless time I thought the movie wasover, but then the music and scene start action again. Needs to learnthis one from the western counterpart.Speaking of western counterpart, the villains, damn they were awful.All of them, through the dire of Andy's acting, you get their presence.But without Andy, I would beat up the villain easily, they just looktoo nice, bad acting. But given the circumstances of the greatness ofthe movie, still A for effort. Lastly, the CG and Special effects. Just because you can do big, doesnot mean you must do big. Play it on occasion and it would look great.Play it too much and the power will fade away. I'm guessing that is whythey cut and paste scenes overlapping too much when the action startsto get going. Should learn more from Lord of the Rings for the actionscenes.Thank you.

abiraghi 2012-04-28 17:51:37

There's no reason to see this movie

There's just no need for stories that have been already told in asimpler and fresher way in 30 years of kungfu movie. This is not anaction movie because the action is scarce and mediocre (there's shouldbe a rule setting a minimum of martial arts, in terms of quantity andquality, in a martial arts movie). Is not an historical movie. It's nota kungfu movie, because the martial art scenes are nothing special. Themovie is slow, with excesses of drama and floods of fake dark blood.The plot is unreal. The cameo of Jacky Chan slowly turning into asecond Sammo Hung has been seen hundreds of times in hundreds of moviesand has noting to do with the rest of the movie. With gems like Ip Manaround, there's no one single reason to waste time on this purenonsense. A boring melodrama, with poor action and an excess ofhistrionics.

2012-04-28 01:57:50

One of the best movies I've seen in a long time

This review is from: Shaolin [HK, 2011] Starring Jackie Chan & Andy Lau (Foil Cover) (DVD) I recently went to China. I saw this movie on the plane. I loved it. There are so many Chinese movies that we never see here in the States. I'm glad this one was available.

nemoklee 2012-04-26 09:44:31

Good Movie

The movie is great when it comes to life values. the story line is toredundant. It is used to many times in other Chinese movies. The actorsdid well. The special effects is good but not great. on a budget of 29million that was not bad. This morons who did not understand why AndyLau became a monk did not get the story. They did not understand thatthe Shaolin is the purest place on the planet. That is why he wentthere for protection as well as atonement. After he understood theShaolin way he needed to protect it. Jacki Chan makes a cameo in themovie. He plays a ex monk who can't be pacifistic. He in the end is theone who must continue with the traditions and teach the future monkssomewhere else. Budda Bless All of You

brucev13 2012-04-25 19:14:42

Actionwise pretty solid everything else is too tragic for my taste!

When hearing the name of Shaolin I immediately think kungfu. And thereis just enough of that to make this movie your worth wile.However,thismovie is just too serious and melodramatic for my taste. It is onetragedy after another. You will see people dying in almost every scene.Shaolin tries too hard to tell a message which for some reason doesn'tget clear except for the most obvious one.Greed is bad and makes youkill people.Or something in that fashion. One could also argue if themessage is that war in general kills people. Duh! Whatever the messageis,it is killing the flow in the movie. Of course I like to see a nicestory in an action movie. But most of the time that doesn't gotogether. The actors are completely wasted in this and they have shownmuch better in the glory days of the Kungfu genre. Try to enjoy thismovie for the action and forget the rest or if you are up for it bringtissues.