This is a hard film to review as I suspect it may appear differently to a Chinese viewer who understands its folklore elements and odd humour. Firstly it is not about brothers except in the sense the two main stars, Carter Wong and ? (not named) had supposedly trained together. There is no mention of Shaolin apart from the title and their Master certainly doesn't look like a Monk. Then the co stars are not named anywhere, except for Ti Lung who is a General with two sons. Another actor stars at the beginning, has several good fights (one for apparently no reason at all and another against four very strange characters) then disappears until the end fight against Carter Wong (who plays a baddie) where he dies nobly taking Carter with him. His sister, who is pretty but can't really act or fight and is also not named anywhere, appears throughout the film often using wires or as a sort of deus ex machina in some of the main fights. Then there are the hopping corpses (which aren't what they seem) and the Taoist Priests who seem to be a sort of comic relief element but actually really slow the film down along with a long hunt / fight sequence in the woods at night that seems to go on for ever. The plot is getting so complicated by the last third of the film that you just want them to start the final fight which is long but wire assisted and uses a trick to defeat Carter that is not fully clear, at least to me. It is not clear whether this was meant to be a historical drama or a supernatural drama or even a comedy. As a fusion it doesn't seem to work. Joseph Kuo has a good eye for a shot and the scenery but with lines like "You're hit by my soul-broken needle." has his work cut out. Worth renting but watch before you buy.
Review of The Shaolin Brothers
