A young boy (Jet Li) escaping from a slave camp is taken in by the monks of the Shaolin Temple. There, he learns martial arts in order to take revenge on the traitorous general who killed his father. His quest for vengeance implicates the monks, who come to his defense. In the process of fighting the general's troops, they save the true emperor, who rewards them greatly.
This was Jet's first big film, and the first of three Shao Lin pictures. All three feature incredible no-flying-people (i.e. the Kung Fu is real and performed without the use of wires). This film is from mainland China.
Story: Yuan and his father work in a labor camp, but one day Yuan father is killer by the warlord. Lucky enough to escape the murder scene and barely alive, Yuan is rescued by shaolin monks. He resides at the temple, living the life of a monk. With his natural talent in martial arts, Yuan begins to start arduously training. It doesn't take very long for him to become one of the best in the whole temple. Yuan's real intention to learn martial arts is to cast vengeance on his father's murderer. The Master Monk doesn't really approve, because violence is not the answer to any situation.
Review: Based on the shaolin folklore and the true story of how shaolin monks saved the Tang emperor, 'Li Shi Min', from imperial troops, Shaolin Temple marks the debut of a young and inexperienced Jet Li. None the less, even if you have an inexperienced but talented young actor and a very basic story, the movie has enough great fighting to please those of you who love Kung Fu movies.
The general premise is very typical and the base concept reflects those of old Shaolin stories. I'm not an expert in Chinese history, so I can't tell you how historically accurate the movie is, but it seemed believable to me (of course they probably altered it to make is more entertaining). Basically the movie is very straight forward and there's no real big twist or surprise even, except for a few classic key scenes (like when the master monk is discussing with Yuan his pass eating habits in front or a cooked dog). All in all, the story was a bit of a disappointment but still the whole story is entertaining enough to please most viewers.
Jet Li plays the lead role of Yuan. His early acting skill could not compete against his martial arts skill of course, but since the role was not very emotionally demanding, he made do with what he could. In my opinion, the best performance was played by Yu Hai (who will play later in a couple of kung fu production by Jet Li side. However, since the plot isn't very character driven, the real forte of the film is the fighting.
Being a Jet Li film, this movie is filled with fights. This movie serves as a positive consecrate to a great martial art demonstration. If you know a bit about Chinese martial arts, you probably know that the most popular style in China is called Wushu (a modern martial art descendent of the shaolin style). It is a lot more visually appealing than traditional Kung Fu. This still stands true now because most movies now use Wushu as their primary bases for fights. The general fighting and performances of the athletes were very impressive. They didn't seem to use a lot of wire because the Wushu style demands many air kicking and jumping skills. There's also a nice demonstration of weapon usage such as rope darts, drunken staffs, and chain whips. (I especially enjoyed the sequence where Jet Li's character peeks at the monks when they are training in the temple).
At the time the movie was made, Jet Li only 16 years old and was already super star in China. After winning 4 first place titles at the Chinese National Martial Competition, he decided to switch focus on cinema and his first attempt was this movie. The movie was so well received from the Chinese public that the government re-opened the old shaolin temples for the public. Shaolin Temple is far from being the best Jet Li movie, but it is a must see if you are a fan of Jet Li or Kung Fu movies in general. This is a rare chance to see Jet Li at the top of his shape and share the screen with other great wushu athletes of that time.
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