MAN FROM SHAOLIN (eOne, 2012) D: Li Zhang, R.T. Wong, w/ Li, Jasmine Galante. Rating: NN DVD package: N Rating: NN
Since early childhood, Li Bao (Li Zhang) has lived and studied kung fu in the Shaolin Temple, legendary birthplace of Chinese martial arts. He relocates to New York to parent an orphaned niece but finds only poverty, a failing kung fu school and the threat of losing the child. His only way out is to fight for money.
The fight scenes, in both Li Bao’s dreams and his waking life, are handled well, the latter realistically and without CG or wirework, but the movie is more interested in the gulf between his yearning for Shaolin glory and his everyday struggles.
Only a tiny handful of movies approach contemporary martial arts life at all realistically. Check out Ang Lee’s Pushing Hands and David Mamet’s Redbelt.
EXTRAS English audio. English, Spanish subtitles.
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