Kids from Shaolin
Director: Cheung Sim-yim
Year: 1984
Rating: 7.0
I had been expecting
a follow up to the story in the first Shaolin Temple film, but surprisingly
this second film in the Shaolin Trilogy has no connection to the first film
in either characters, plot or even mood. Many of the same actors are in this
film, but in completely different roles. While the first film was your basic
blood revenge story, this outing is much lighter and playful in nature as
it combines terrific wushu with a plot that is part Romeo and Juliet and
part Seven Brothers (make that eight) for Seven Brides. There is singing
(even Jet – though I don’t believe that deep baritone was his) and much comical
interplay between the characters. Though there is some wonderful acrobatics
and wushu performing, there is no real action until towards the end.
There are two families on opposite sides
of a river. One has all daughters and the other has all sons. The girls practice
Wudong swordmanship and the shaolin boys – kung-fu. There is a rivalry between
the two families, but as expected some of the couples find themselves attracted
to one another. Jet Li is the oldest boy. In a flashback, it is shown that
the boy’s parents were killed by some bandits 10 years previously and that
the man who adopted them saved their lives and put out the eye of the main
villain. All these years, the bandit has been planning his revenge on the
shaolin kids. That may seem like a long time to plan revenge but revenge
eaten slowly tastes the best. Or so I have been told. He first plots to have
the two families go against each other and then later attacks both in force.
They are a goofy group of bad guys - definitely in need of a Makeover. Clearly
to be part of this gang you have to pass a test of being ugly. This leads
to a remarkable finale that lasts for the fifteen minutes. It was worth waiting
for. It turns into a series of fights between the many bandits and the two
families with various weapons being utilized.
The choreography, grace, speed and acrobatics
are remarkable. As good as anything you will see and mainly bloodless. All
of these performers are from the best wushu schools in China from the adults
to the children. Jet looks so young and is very charming with a smile plastered
on his face throughout the film. The ladies are also lovely – Ding Lan who
falls for the uncle (Hu Jian-qiang – in all three films) and Huang Qiu-yan
who Jet has a hankering for. So much in fact that in real life he married
her in 1987 but it only lasted till he met Nina Li a few years later. She
and Jet had been on the same National Martial Arts Team. The evil One-Eyed
bandit is played by Ji Chun-Hua who was to appear in a few future Jet Li
films, most memorably as the Poison Juice Monster. And the two Masters from
both sides are great – on the Wudong side of the river there is Yu Cheng-hui
who had been the champion of Qingdao's martial arts Olympics and on the kung-fu
side is the great Yu Hai, the former national "Praying Mantis Boxing" champion
had also been the team captain and coach of the Shandong Sports Academy's
martial arts team. The other main villain in the big fight is Sun Jian-kui
who later was the Evil Eunuch in Tai Chi Master. It is just a remarkable
collection of talent and Jet at his best.
An enjoyable film though once Jet breaks
into song it is a bit difficult to take any of it seriously. Much of it is
silly but the joyful exuberance of the actors is catching. Much of the filming
seemed to have taken place in the magnificent Guilin region and the landscapes
are breathtaking.
