As far as Wong Jing's action comedies are concerned, this is arguably his best effort due to Jet Li's fiercely brooding persona and Corey Yuen Kwei's outstanding fight choreography. The savage brutality of the action scenes is matched only by the absurdity of Wong Jing's trademark slapstick humor. Thankfully, he keeps it toned down, and what makes the humor work in this film is the deadly seriousness of the characters. The action scenes are fast, frantic, and completely over-the-top, but Jet Li's grace, skill, and intensity make it all seem credible. Like all of Wong Jing's productions of the time, the cinematography is fabulous and the film looks absolutely gorgeous. The editing is a bit rough in spots, but overall it's a first rate production. Even if you're not a fan of Wong Jing's brand of humor, "New Legend Of Shaolin" is still definitely worth a look.

For seven years, the two journey across ancient China on their quest for revenge, always staying one step ahead of the deadly army. But Kwun is forced to face the past when they come across a wealthy benefactor with five young Shaolin masters in his charge who, unbeknownst to Kwun have the detailed map to a priceless treasure trove tattooed on their backs.

It is not long before Manchu officials find out about the maps, and deadly soldiers came after the masters. Now, in an ancient battle that will pit Kwun against one of the very soldiers who helped to kill his family, he and Ting will unite with the young masters of Shaolin for a fight to the death. Get ready for an ancient martial arts battle with the world's most masterful warriors!

REVIEW:
Oh man, I really should just give up on the Wong Jing thing.... actually I did. I didn't mean to pick up another Wong Jing movie. I rented this not really thinking about it. Funny enough, about two minutes into the film, I didn't need to ask who directed it. If you like your fair share of Wong Jing style, then you may enjoy this film. Otherwise, steer way clear, because only some mildy amusing fight scenes redeem this film.

The premise of this film isn't bad. It doesn't exactly tread new ground for kung fu films, but its got your basic hard-ass hero with a tragic past up against the evil government. Unfortunately, the film just goes all over the map. It starts out somewhat dark and on a down note. Within a short time, it is pure goofiness. Then at other times, it might calm down again. We have our plot regarding Jet Li's past (I didn't bother to remember his character's name, by the way...). We have the plot regarding the map tatooes. Then, we'll throw in a completely goofy subplot with Wong Jing staple Chingmy Yau trying to screw a wealthy man out of his money. While a multi-dimensional plot is nice, this movie goes all over the place, only to its detriment.

Of course, expect truckloads of Wong Jing's craziness. All kinds of gags are thrown in with the Chingmy Yau subplot, which are fitting to said subplot but an annoyance with respect to the main plots. Once again, Wong Jing manages to also be able to make action and violence goofy... and I don't mean Jackie Chan goofy. Maybe ridiculous is a better term. Let us not forget about the ridiculous vehicle the villain drives around in near the end of the film. What the hell is that? This is ancient friggin' China! Maybe I'm getting carried away, but I really do not like this style. I should be fair, though, and say that this is Wong Jing's style and some people go for it. You need to decide if you are one of those people.

Fight scenes have some decent stuff to show, though. I believe it is Corey Yuen (who has worked with Wong Jing on many films) that is responsible for these scenes and it shows. He has a solid reputation for his choreography and it shows through here at moments, though it is certainly not up to the level of some of the more memorable 90's kung fu films. Unfortunately, his time with Wong Jing has influenced his style and so goofiness pervades plenty of times. Nonetheless, it is some solid stuff.

So, this movie reiterates why I am at the point where I just pass on anything by Wong Jing. The ridiculous, over-the-top, all-over-the-map style of his films does not sit well with me. This movie is exactly in line with that style. To be fair, this was entirely more watchable than City Hunter and High Risk. There were at least a few moment of amusement and enough decent fighting to make it bearable. Fans of Wong Jing's stuff should give this a look, especially if they are Jet Li fans. If you don't like Wong Jing's stuff, though, stay miles away.

Normally, Wong Jing's movies are a bit haphazard to say the least. He has no interest in directing action sequences, and so usually just hands the movie completely over to his action director. This can result in movies that seem like two films mashed together, and The New Legend of Shaolin is a prime example of this. The expository scenes are pure Wong Jing all the way, with tons of toilet humor and double entendres. If you usually don't like Wong's brand of shtick, most likely you'll be holding your head and groaning during most of the middle portion of the movie, which concentrates more on comedy than fighting. For the record, I found most of the jokes pretty funny, especially when delivered by the wonderfully expressive Ng Man-Tat...but it does get to be a bit much at times.

However, for how much this film magnifies Wong Jing's shortcomings in the expository scenes, it does probably double that in the opposite direction for Corey Yuen's action work. The fight sequences in here (which begin about two minutes into the movie) are outstanding. They're very heavy with wire work and ninja tricks (and also strange metal objects, including a car-like thing), but Jet also does some great stuff with spears, so fans of both kung fu and wire fu will be satisfied with the action bits in this movie. Of course, since this is ultimately a Wong Jing movie, some of the action "gags" are stolen from other movies, including Lone Wolf and Cub and Dreadnaught.

If you have a high tolerance for or just really like toilet humor and want to see some great Jet Li action, this movie comes highly recommended.

A highly theatrical scene of human carnage opens the film, as Hong Kong action star Jet Li, playing kung fu master Hung Fey Kwun, returns home to find his family butchered. And not just the family, but family friends, servants, old retainers, casual acquaintances and people they said hi to on the street. They're all there, hanging from ropes and meat hooks with quizzical expressions.

The only one remaining is the hero's son, and for a moment Hung considers butchering the kid himself. Why not make a clean break, right? It's hard to be a traveling martial arts wizard with a kid on your back.

That's just the first two minutes of "The New Legend of Shaolin," which opens tomorrow at the Roxie. In the next two minutes a man shows up brandishing long metal claws. Hung comes up with a spear, and it's the metal claws vs. the spear in a painstakingly choreographed battle to the death.

As Hung, Li plays a man who can't stop getting into fights. A dour fellow, he alternates throughout the film between impaling peo ple and polishing his spear. He's a complicated man and no one understands him but his spear.

Hard-core fans of Hong Kong action films will find much to enjoy in "The New Legend of Shaolin." Set in ancient times, the film provides a series of lightning-fast, fantastic martial arts encounters, with Hung and his adversaries flying through the air and shooting darts with their fingers and catching them with their teeth.

One of the biggest stars in Asia, Li is a handsome, compelling screen presence. And the camera also loves co-star Chingmy Yau, best-known in these parts as the heroine of "Naked Killer."

Here she plays a con woman named Red Bean, who, after a rocky first encounter, teams up with Hung to fight . . . everybody.

Fighting everybody is the problem. Hung's son (Tse Miu), who be comes a young master, fights everybody younger than 12. Hung fights the rest of the cast. Two- thirds into the picture about 50 guys in black robes show up to fight 50 guys in white robes. Who are these guys? Don't ask. One fellow, impaled and later dynamited, shows up yet again with a chip on his shoulder, gunning for a fight.

The spectacle comes in endless waves, and although it is well-executed, it gets monotonous. When the film does slow down, it shows things of little interest. The efforts of Red Bean to swindle a lecherous old man are only marginally funny.

Instead of showing us Hung, we get long sequences showing Red Bean's mother, who tells her daughter, "Hung will be a good husband." He'd better be.

After the introduction the story picks up several years later and Hung is still on the run with his son. Hung comes to the aid of five young shaolin students who each have a different part of a treasure map tattooed on their backs. The students manage to escape from a Manchu attack on the Shaolin Temple and it becomes Hung's task to escort them to a monk in Ni village. Constantly chased by Manchu soldiers, evil Shaolin traitors and the 'Poisonous Monk', who travels around in a customised chariot, there are plenty of opportunities for some wonderfully executed action scenes. Thrown into the middle of all this to add some glamour is Chingamy Yau as thief who falls in love with Hung.

The film contains some of the most originally choreographed fight scenes seen in a Jet Li movie and while wire work is prevalent it enhances rather than spoils the action. Neither are the fights ruined through excessive undercranking. There is very little hand to hand fighting in this film as most of the fights feature weaponry of one kind or another. Jet's character's weapon of choice is a spear which he uses to awesome effect. Hui Miao also gets a fair share of the action and looks as impressive as any of his other appearances (My Father is a Hero, Return of the God of Gamblers).

If you enjoyed films like Fong Sai Yuk and Tai Chi Master then this really is a must.

While serving as bodyguard for a wealthy man, Hung gets involved in a plot to recover a cache of gold to fund a rebellion against the corrupt government. He also crosses paths with Red Bean and Notorious Mother, a mother and daughter team who specialize in robbing from rich men, and have come to rob Hung's current master. And then there's Hung's arch-foe, a former enemy who has returned from the dead as an invincible, melting monster who rides around in a silver chariot-like device.

I know there's stuff I'm leaving out, but there's so much going on in this film at any one given time that it's easy to miss some things. At times, it's too crazy. Li is awesome as the stoic Hung, who's about as bad a mofo as you're like to see.

Unfortunately, the film delves into crazy Shaolin kid hijinks (which just get stupid after awhile), and Red Bean and Notorious Mother ham up precious screen time that could've been devoted to Hung's bad mofo-ness. But if you're looking for a kung fu film that will dazzle your senses and blow your mind with it's insane action sequences, wire stunts, and complete lack of coherence (and obedience to the laws of physics), "New Legend Of Shaolin" is for you.