Shaolin Temple 3 | aka Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986) Review

“Martial Arts of Shaolin” Chinese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Shaolin North & South
Director: Lau Kar-leung
Cast: Jet Li, Wong Chau Yin, Hu Jian Qiang, Yu Cheng Hui, Yu Hai, Sun Jian Kui, Ji Chun Hua, Mak Wai Cheung, Wong Kwong-Kuen, Hu Mei-Jie
Running Time: 89 min.

By HKFanatic

Released in 1986, “Martial Arts of Shaolin” is the latest era Shaw Brothers film I’ve yet to see. I’m not an expert on the Shaw Brothers like many City on Fire staff members and readers are, but I believe it was at this point that the studio was making their eventual transition into television work. “Martial Arts of Shaolin” trades their usual studio-bound filmmaking style for location shooting. The production values take something of a hit as a result but instead of Shaw Brothers’ surreal-looking sets we get to marvel at the natural beauty of Hong Kong, so I’d say it’s a fair trade off. Interestingly enough, the first two “Shaolin Temple” movies were funded and made in Mainland China. For this film, part three in the series, Jet Li returns but the production moves to Hong Kong. Behind the camera is Lau Kar-leung, the legendary director of “36th Chamber of Shaolin” and “Drunken Master II” (he butted heads with Jackie Chan while making the latter). This would be his only collaboration with Jet.

“Martial Arts of Shaolin” is very nearly a classic Hong Kong movie of its decade but is undone by a few elements. The soundtrack is extremely corny and unfitting of the film; it plays the same exact same melody throughout the entire movie, just in different arrangements. Imagine schmaltzy, synth-y 80’s Cantopop played over intense Shaolin training exercises and you’ll get an idea of why the music doesn’t fit the film at all. It’s a shame.

The plot is your typical quest for revenge, only we don’t know the motivation behind the revenge until the movie is almost over. Characters keep trying to take the life of Lord He Suo and yet the audience doesn’t really know why. We figure he must be evil and deserving of death since he keeps stroking his beard and laughing maniacally like your typical Shaw Brothers baddie, but that’s about as far as the viewer’s immersion in the plot goes. I’m all for a classic revenge story well-told but you have to at least make me want to the bad guy to get his just deserts. In “Martial Arts of Shaolin,” you’re left to wonder why you should care until it’s nearly over.

Fortunately, this movie has a secret weapon: a 23 year-old Jet Li, at the the peak of his athletic prowess. Jet gives an earnest, wide-eyed performance and shows off his incredible martial arts skills. Even during dialogue scenes, Jet Li and his costar Hu Jianqiang are constantly moving. These guys are practically leaping off the screen with energy and enthusiasm! Whenever the two of them spar, it’s a joy to watch because as good as Jet Li is, Hu Jianqiang appears to be his equal. The way their Southern (Jet Li) and Northern (Hu Jianqiang) Shaolin styles clash is one of the highlights of the film.

The action scenes in “Martial Arts of Shaolin” are plentiful and extend far past the point where you’d think everyone involved would be exhausted (I know I was worn out just watching them). The finale on the evil Lord’s boat is a showstopper but the battle in and around a military checkpoint is great too. Bonus points for the scene where the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple shows up to smack a bad guy off a cliff and declares, “I’ll send you to Heaven!”

Jet Li utilizes several weapons throughout the film, like swords and bos, but also you do have to endure an extended scene of him in drag pretending to be a woman. Yeah, “Martial Arts of Shaolin” features a few forced attempts at comedy like that. And a lot of screentime is eaten up by a traditional Chinese dance celebration in the Lord’s court. Now I’m all for a classic Chinese lion dance, especially when Jet Li is playing part of the lion, but he’s barely the focus here. Instead it’s some lady performer who has nothing to do with the plot and is never seen again. It’s hard to tell if this whole segment is a tribute to Chinese dance or just a way to pad out the film’s runtime.

Overall, “Martial Arts of Shaolin” is worth a watch for Jet Li fans since you get to see the actor when he was first emerging as a star, fresh-faced and lightning fast. After about 30 minutes of training sequences, the excellently-choreographed battles kick in and rarely let up. Just be prepared to cringe whenever you hear that familiar music cue. Na na na na naaa…

HKFanatic’s Rating: 7.5/10

By Kenneth T.

I think this movie goes hand and hand with “Odd Couple,” “Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu,” and any other ‘weapons’ titles. I don’t think it was originally intended for it to be one, but Jet Li uses a ton of weapons in this film: Spears, double broadswords, tai chi swords, staffs (mainly), three sectional staffs and a little bit of rope darts.

The first 2 minutes of the movie makes you think it’ll be shit because Li starts off by punching the hell out of this tree; he had to have punched it like 300 times in a minute. Then it goes into a couple of really good training scenes where Li shows of his staff skills and how acrobatic he really is. From then on it’s non-stop action.

The big scene at the ruler’s party has a lot of acrobatics and a phenomenal fight were all, except Li, show off their skills. The final fight scene is the best fight in the whole movie. Bottom line: This is the best “Shaolin Temple” movie of all three and I suggest you watch the others first.

Kenneth T’s Rating: 9/10 (only reason for the 9 instead of 10 is because of the really annoying music that it plays throughout the whole movie.)