Shaolin

Benny Chan

The story: The victorious warlord Hou Jie (Andy Lau) loses his power, wealth and his young daughter after being betrayed by someone close to him. He seeks refuge at Shaolin and befriends the cook Wu Dao (Jackie Chan). Hou later enters monkhood and has to help defend the temple against his former sworn brother Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) as well as powerful foreign forces the latter is in cahoots with.

The Shaolin Temple (1982) was a blockbuster hit that turned its young lead, a newcomer named Jet Li, into an action superstar. But while the Mandarin title of this film tags on the word “New” in front, Shaolin is not a remake of the 1982 classic which was set against the backdrop of royal intrigue around the time of the Tang dynasty.

What we get here are two interlinked stories.

The first is the tale of one man’s redemption. There is Hou Jie as an arrogant and insecure man who has a run-in with Shaolin when he chases a rival warlord into the temple sanctuary. In a twist of fate, Hou has to rely on the monks for help and protection when he loses everything.

The second is about Shaolin itself and the humanitarian role it plays in a tumultuous time by offering food and shelter to the downtrodden masses. The temple is in a delicate position as it has to be careful not to antagonise the feuding warlords with their trigger-happy armies.

The story of the well-meaning do-gooders is actually more interesting but the focus of the film is tilted towards Hou since he is played by veteran Hong Kong star Andy Lau.

Lau’s eternally youthful looks ensure that he gets a steady stream of roles.

He was last seen in Tsui Hark’s period thriller Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame (2010) and will star alongside Gong Li in the upcoming romantic comedy What Women Want.

But here, his too-smooth, too-tight skin proves to be a distraction and his face threatens to crack when he has to emote.

The effect is to distance one from the arc of his fall, acceptance of his fate and ultimately, redemption in forgiveness.

It is Jackie Chan instead who offers the more welcome dose of star power. He serves up some light comic relief as a monk who just wants to stay in the kitchen and there is an entertaining scene of him fighting off Shaolin’s attackers using his cookery moves, all the while protesting that he cannot fight.

Look out also for Yu Shaoqun, who memorably played the young Mei Lanfang in Forever Enthralled (2008), as one of the idealistic Shaolin disciples Jing Hai.

Director Benny Chan, who last helmed the clunky fantasy adventure flick City Under Siege (2010), manages to string together some stirring action sequences including a chariot chase scene and the final showdown at Shaolin temple.

After the sound and fury of the attack, the ending is unexpectedly quiet and beautiful.

A pity then that the film however never quite comes together as a whole. As this Shaolin illustrates, new does not always mean improved.

(ST)