| This fairly incomprehensible historical kung-fu romance comedy manages to capture everything that is both endearing and stupid about the kung fu movies of the period. The humor is broadly slapstick and pretty silly and overindulgent; the kung fu is phony and obligatory; the story has something to do with a gal joining the 18 bronze-painted girls (who have been admitted to the famous Shaolin Temple to learn a unique style of kung fu) in order to gain revenge on the evil monk who killed off her family. Or something. Characters come and go so fast it's hard to keep track of who's who or what's what and how they connect to each other--but the ride can be fun.
It's not a bad film, although it's not well made, and the humor is a bit too cartoony (emphasized by a pervasive cartoony musical score relishing in all manner of oddball sounds and noises) for audiences not familiar with this style of Cantonese humor. The 18 Bronze Girls have some fun fighting moments (especially when they stack themselves one on top of the other to become gleaning golden girl bludgeons!). |
Viewer Comments:
