Shaolin Avengers (1976)
aka:
The Invincible Kung Fu Brothers
Chinese Title: 方世玉與胡惠乾
Translation: Fang Shiyu and Hui Huiqian[1]
Starring: Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-Chun, Bruce
Tong, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Shan Mao, Lung Fei, Leung Kar-Yan, Jamie Luk
Kim-Ming, Tsai Hung, Ma Chi-Chun
Director: Chang Cheh, Wu Ma
Action Director: Hsieh Hsing, Chen Hsin-I
Given the wealth of characters and historical personages to draw from, it’s surprising just how quickly Chang Cheh ran out of ideas for his Shaolin Cycle. Case in point: Shaolin Avengers. The film is little more than a remake of The Men from the Monastery, with the sole differentiating factor being that this film actually gives us a little bit of background relating to folk hero Fang Shiyu, which was missing in that movie[2]. That said, the film does work as a companion piece to Chang Cheh’s epic Shaolin Temple, filling the viewer in on why the main characters entered the temple and what happened following its purging by the Manchurians.
Shaolin Avengers also serves as Exhibit A in the argument that it is possible to have too many fight scenes in a single movie. We open literally at the climax. Fang Shiyu (once again played by Alexander Fu Sheng), Hu Huiqian (played by Chi Kuan-Chun) and Fang Xiaoyu (played by Bruce Tong) are meeting with Pai Mei for a duel. They are ambushed by a contingent of Wudan fighters, led by Feng Daode (Tsai Hung, who played one of the villains in Five Shaolin Masters), master of the Iron Palm Technique. A huge fight breaks out, and we are treated to a series of flashbacks as the battle rages on.
In Fang Shiyu’s story, we learn that his father was murdered by Tiger Lu (Taiwanese heavy Lung Fei), a Wudan student and master of the Eagle’s Claw. Tiger Lu and his men show up at the Fang estate to murder the rest of family, but Fang Shiyu, his brother Fang Xiaoyu, and their mother, Miao Cuiha (Ma Chi-Chun, of The Snake Woman’s Marriage), manage to flee into the countryside. Realizing that Fang isn’t strong enough to get revenge, Miao convinces him to undergo a procedure in which his body is bathed in boiling herbs for a period of time until his skin becomes impermeable to weapons (and Eagle Claw strikes). When his conditioning is finished, Fang Shiyu and his brother challenge Tiger Lu’s two assistants (played by Leung Kar-Yan and Jamie Luk). It’s implied that after this encounter, Fang Shiyu goes to Shaolin to improve his kung fu.
Hu Huiqian’s backstory, on the other hand, is an exact carbon copy of The Men from the Monastery. Hu’s father works at a casino frequented by two Wudan teachers, Master Lu (Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, of Invincible Shaolin and The Martial Club) and Master Niu (Shan Mao, of One-Armed Boxer and Ma Su Chen). Both Lu and Niu are sore losers, which ultimately leads to a fight that ends the life of Mr. Hu Yaoting. Since the Wudan teachers are in league with the Manchurians, the local magistrate dismisses the death as an accident and that is that. Hu Huiqian vows to avenge his father, but gets his ass handed to him no fewer than three times in three failed assassination attempts. Fang Shiyu finally steps in and convinces Hu Huiqian to go to Shaolin and learn how to fight.
It is a shame that the Shaolin Cycle was largely Chang Cheh’s playground. Chang Cheh’s undeniable sexism means that none of the women associated with the legends and stories of that time, like Abbess Ng Mui or Yim Wing Chun would get the appropriate Shaw treatment. Nor did we get any film about Abbot Gee Sim or Tong Chin-Gun, one of Fang Shiyu’s contemporaries. Thankfully Lau Kar-Leung was able to give us the classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, which tells the story of San Te and how the temple started accepting layman disciples; and Executioners of Shaolin, which gave us more of Hong Xiguan’s background than Men from the Monastery did. If you’ve seen Men from the Monastery, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to watch Shaolin Avengers and not experience déja-vú.
Between this film, Shaolin Rescuers, and Executioners from Shaolin¸ the biggest question posed is “If Pai Mei was a Shaolin Elder, why did he turn against them and join Wudan?” None of these movies attempt to answer that question. At least Executioners of Shaolin places Pai Mei as the main villain throughout the entire film. Shaolin Avengers and Shaolin Rescuers—which features a reenactment of a scene from the former, but with different actors--never explain who exactly he is or why we should care about him. In fact, both of these films can’t even manage to answer the most basic question: “Who is Pai Mei?” There’s a certain expectation that viewers will have some understanding of basic Shaolin legends before watching this. Neophyte Hong Kong cinephiles who watch this prior to, say, Executioners from Shaolin, will no doubt wonder who the old guy with the white hair is and why he’s important.
The film does generally get it right on the action front. Choreographers Hsieh Hsing and Chen Hsin-I don’t give us much that we haven’t seen in Chang’s previous collaborations with Lau Kar-Leung—or even Marco Polo—but the action satisfies for the most part. The film is essentially 90 minutes of non-stop hung gar, with Alexander Fu Sheng focusing on the tiger-crane form while Chi Kuan-Chun fights with the pole and the five-animals form. Like Men from the Monastery, the film fails to establish how the heroes can fight off armed men for so long without ever getting the idea to disarm one of the attackers and use his weapon. Moreover, there’s a moment where one of the good guys die (in the present) and Alexander Fu Sheng goes into killing mode. If he’d been fighting with that same intensity from the outset, maybe the other guy wouldn’t have died. I did appreciate that Alexander Fu Sheng gets to show off his bootwork more than he did in the other Shaolin films, while Chi Kuan-Chun does some nice escrima-esque fighting with the double sticks in some of the fights. A powerful supporting cast of Shaw veterans (Leung Kar-Yan, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei, Bruce Tong, Jamie Luk) and Taiwanese regulars (Mao Shan, Lung Fei, Tsai Hung) guarantee that your action quota will be filled—probably for an entire week, considering how many fights the film has.
No comments:
Post a Comment