32nd generation Chinese Shaolin Fighting Monk Li Bao Xin must immigrate to New York City to look after young Janie, his six-year-old niece. Struggling to make a new life, Li Bao will face ...
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Title: Man from Shaolin (2012)
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Cast
| Credited cast: | |||
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Peng Zhang Li | ... | Li Bao |
| Brian Ames | ... | Carl | |
| Elena Tovar | ... | Alexa (as Linda Johnson) | |
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Jasmine Galante | ... | Janie |
| Stass Klassen | ... | Andrey | |
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Szu Ting Moy | ... | Shen |
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Dominic Schiraldi | ... | Stanley |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Hilmy Achraf | ... | Fighter |
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Josh Ashville | ... | Foster home kid |
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Omar Carrion | ... | Fighter |
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Lorrez Dave | ... | Russian bodyguard |
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Andrew Har | ... | Student |
| Drew Henriksen | ... | Tim | |
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Andrew Lip Tak Lee | ... | Gambler / Fight Spectator |
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Jim Lee | ... | Student |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
32nd generation Chinese Shaolin Fighting Monk Li Bao Xin must immigrate to New York City to look after young Janie, his six-year-old niece. Struggling to make a new life, Li Bao will face challenges that test his character more than his physical strength. Through it all, his mind remains filled with the heroic stories of the Shaolin Temple, a great tradition that defines him, but also makes his assimilation to western culture more difficult. While in China he was a venerated master, in America he is nobody. To make a life for him and Janie, Li Bao must contend with a modern society, where his great fighting skills and heroic lineage have little meaning. He will have to decide which is more important, his dreams or his family. Written by Richard T. Wong
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for violence and martial arts action | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
1 July 2012 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Shaolin Nanzi See more »Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Nothing would please me more than writing a positive review full of superlatives; it's been a long time since a film really left me speechless. Unfortunately the Man From Shaolin isn't a film I would care to watch again.
There is a certain feeling of purity and almost childish naiveté with which the main character dares the cold reality of modern western civilization. But most of the purity is wasted in overly long shots and instead of leaving a sense of wonder in you, they leave an urgent need to fast-forward through the next few scenes.
Low-budget films have a great potential because they need to rely on story, characters, and all of the good stuff that is almost nonexistent in AAA films. But they need to be in control of it, both the director and the actors. The Man From Shaolin tries to be poetic and instill a sense of melancholy in the viewer, but it presses too hard.
Its white-background scenes in which the film tells parts of the Shaolin myth don't really come out as a sort of dreamy sequences. Instead, they show the low-budget and lack of anything that would replace missing effects.
Don't get me wrong - the story was touching, and some of the acting wasn't entirely so bad. But it deserved more effort, and more love for the material.