Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Martial Arts/Comedy
Director: Wong Jing
Year: 1994
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
How much you enjoy The New Legend of Shaolin
Hung (Jet Li) accepts a bodyguard gig from Mr. Ma (Chan Chung-Yung), but finds his hands full defending Ma’s fortune from Granny (Deannie Yip) and Red Bean (Chingmy Yau), a mother and daughter con artist team.
In the meantime, five boys from the Shaolin temple have had part of a treasure map tatooed on their backs to prevent the government from stealing it. When the government destroys the Shaolin temple, the boys escape. Hung, his pre-teen son (Tze Miu), Granny and Red Bean find themselves defending the boys from the traitor (Ji Chun-Hua) who wiped out Hung’s clan, who is now working for the government.
This being a Wong Jing picture, the villain has a ridiculously anachronistic armored car and really crappy monster makeup (don’t ask), but that doesn’t get in the way of the fun too much.
The humor, such as it is, is rarely painful and I actually found it amusing. It has a tone similar to that of Kung Fu Hustle.
The action sequences (choreography by Corey Yuen) start out okay and steadily get better throughout the picture. By better, I mean the movements are easy to follow and impressive, the strategies are interesting/amusing, the fighting style is reflective of character, and creative and witty use is made of the physical environment. The final confrontation in the clock tower in particular is a good example of these attributes.
As usual, Jet Li is in fine form and his interactions with his screen son Tze Miu, a fine martial artist in his own right, are especially fun to watch.
The overall results are quite entertaining, if a bit silly.
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