The Buddha Assassinator (1980)

The Buddha Assassinator (1980)
Aka: Shogun Massacre; Buddha Killer
Chinese Title: 佛掌皇爺
Translation: Buddha Palm Emperor

Starring: Meng Hoi, Hwang Jang Lee, Lung Fei, Chin Yuet-Sang, Yu Chung-Chiu, Fang Fang, Hou Po-Wei, Chang Yi-Kuai
Director: Tung Kang Wu
Choreographer: Corey Yuen, Chien Yuet San

Comments: Just as Drunken Master was released following the success of Snake in Eagle's Shadow, Buddha Assassinator was released following following the success of Hell's Wind Staff, which has already been reviewed here. These movies all follow what one book referred to as the "Seasonal formula," which I explained briefly in another review. Basically, the story involves some shmo who either knows martial arts and is arrogant about it or something, is humbled by an encounter with the main villain, and then has to learn a new style or improve his skills to beat the main guy. Snake in Eagle's Shadow started it (or at least popularized it) and then any other movie using the formula basically re-worked it with varying results.

Where Hell's Wind Staff was a reworking in a lot of ways of Drunken Master, this movie goes in reverse and in a lot of ways is more of a direct remake of Snake in Eagle's Shadow. The problem is that it commits a few of the same mistakes that it's inspiration made, makes some of its own, and unfortunately, is like the sixth or seventh movie that I've seen with this plotline, so now it's getting pretty old.

The movie begins with narrated explanation of the conflict between two specific styles: the Buddha fist and the Lo Han (not to be confused with Lindsey Lohan) fist. The Lo Han stylists are an arrogant lot and basically want power and prestige, therefore turning to the Chings/Manchus for just that. We're treated to a credits-sequence duel between two of the rivals before the story itself actually begins.

We begin with some guy going around in the dark stabbing a few Ching soldiers. He makes it to an inn where the innkeeper lets him into a special room. There we find (what else?) some Ming patriots plotting the assassination of a Ching prince who's due to visit the local temple.

We soon meet our protagonist, Shao Hai (Mang Hoi), a layman who does cleaning chores for the monks at the aforementioned temple (does this remind you of any certain movie?). Well, he's a pretty picked-on little guy and the monks seem to derive a lot of pleasure from pestering the poor sap. I must say, I've seen a few mean monks in kung fu films, but I've never seen so many jerk monks in one movie. This lot, in spite of following Buddha and learning kung fu in order to help others, are a bunch of pricks I tell you.

Well, eventually the Prince (Legendary Superkicker Hwang Jang Lee) arrives to present his newborn son and pay his respects to Buddha. During this time, the Mings have placed a few assassins in various places, ready to kill at the right moment. Unfortunately, Shao Hai, being unaware of the plot, reveals that one of the monks has a knife and soon the plot is foiled and the assassins flee. Shao Hai is rewarded by the grateful Prince and is given a blank check on what he can do.

So Shao Hai, with his new power, basically goes back to the Temple and starts acting like a jerk in much the same way they were a jerk to him. After a while, the monks say "forget you!" and start beating him up. The Prince gets mad at Shao Hai's military escort for letting him get beat up and soon the escort is plotting Shao Hai's demise.

Meanwhile, those Ming patriots are at it again, plotting another assassination and killing traitors and stuff.

After almost getting beaten to death in a gambling den, Shao Hai, at his uncle's request, starts learning kung fu from the Prince, who's a proponent of the Lo Han style. He learns quickly, even though his uncle, a scruffy, dog-eating monk, is still able to whoop him in a fight. Shao Hai soon progresses to a point in which he's truly able to fend for himself, and ends up killing some intended assassins with the Lo Han fist. Unfortunately, one of the assassins is Shao Hai's sister.

Let's see: Ming patriots, Ching prince, sister who gets killed...you can imagine in which direction the story is going, right? I mean all of it is practically screaming, "overthrow the corrupt Chings and restore the Mings," isn't it? Doesn't it seem like a great recipe for a revenge story? Well, you're wrong.

The story actually goes back to ripping off Snake in Eagle's Shadow as the Prince finds out that Shao Hai's uncle is proponent of the Buddha fist and much like the other movie, the Lo Han stylists are completely dedicated to wiping out all of the practitioners of the Buddha fist. Soon enough, Shao Hai is learning the Buddha fist in order to use to save himself and his uncle from the Prince and his men.

Well, anyone who watches this movie will readily see the similarities between it and Snake in Eagle's Shadow. Heck, the movies are so similar that Hwang Jang Lee practically looks the same that he did in the other movie. Setting aside the whole Ming rebel subplot, the storylines are basically identical. Actually, that subplot is pretty superfluous, since it really doesn't do anything for the story in the last third of the movie. Why bother then? The movie basically jumps from one clichéd storyline to another without adding anything new to either one.

Two other downfalls to the movie is the humor and characters. The movie isn't all that funny, nor does it have any of the great dubbed dialogue that made Drunken Master and others so classic. The other major fault are the characters, who are rip-offs of their inspirations but lack the charisma that their predecessors had. Mang Hoi is a talented martial artist, but his character lacks the charisma and good-natured side which made Jackie Chan's Chin Fu so likeable and sympathetic. Shao Hai's uncle is a cheap version of Simon Yuen's Pai Chang-tian, once again lacking in his predecessor's charisma.

Well, in spite of all those flaws, the movie does have the action going for it. Like it's inspiration, there isn't a lot of action in the first half of Buddha Assassinator, but the film picks up in the second half when Shao Hai begins his training. The last 15 minutes or so is pure fighting, as Shao Hai gets to fight some soldiers, the Prince's two commanding officers, and then the Prince himself. The last battle goes for some eight minutes or so with Shao Hai using the five substyles of the Buddha Fist and the Prince using the three substyles of the Lo Han Fist, which is all pretty cool.

The choreography is furnished by Corey Yuen, who had participated in choreography of Hell's Wind Staff. He does a great job here, in both creating fictional styles and then realistically choreographing them. Once again, he gets the best out of Mang Hoi like he did in the previous movie. Mang Hoi is very acrobatic and performs to about the same calibre as Jackie Chan did back in those days. This is more proof that when Corey Yuen isn't using special FX, his work is among the best of the best.

Hwang Jang Lee basically replays the same character that he played before, but is less overtly evil than he was in the other movie. He's actually not THAT evil, until he finds out that Mang Hoi's uncle knows Buddha Fist and then he gets mean and violent. Hwang's fighting is excellent as usual and here we see a pretty good showcase for his kicking ability. He doesn't do a lot of fancy jump kicks, but we can see that the man could use his legs with more flexibility than normal people can use their arms. His Lo Han style is also pretty interesting, as it has three substyles: Mad Lo Han, Sleeping Lo Han, and Laughing Lo Han. It sounds similar to the "Emotional Kung Fu" that I'm told Jackie uses in The Fearless Hyena, though I haven't seen that movie.

The bottom line is this: fans of old school kung fu, Hwang Jang Lee, or of Drunken Master should enjoy Buddha Assassinator. It's an inferior reworking of a much-used formula, but the fight scenes are top notch. It's just that there's a lot to wade through to get to them. However, if you want to see someone using the Lotus position to kill two people simutaneously, well, this may be the move you've been looking for.