A local kid at the Buddhist temple has no further ambitions then to pick on his Buddhist brethren, learn kung fu, and live free and broke. He finds himself stuck in the middle when a battle over the book of 36 styles takes place. He must train and take life seriously or someone is going to get hurt. Our free bird
gets exposed when a local villain reveals he possesses knowledge of the book. What ensues is training and chaos in a kung fu sense. ?Don?t die yet, we?re not finished.? Joseph Kuo, director of The Mystery of Chess Boxing, 7 Grandmasters, Born Invincible, and The 18 Bronzemen, directs 36 Deadly Styles. Kuo utilizes fantastic choreography to create an entertaining film for this genre. However, the below average story detracts from the entertainment value. 36 Deadly Styles possesses wonderful characters including Jack Long, Ghost Face Killer, and Silver Fox. The fact these three characters are in the film paired with the excellent choreography makes it worth watching. Too bad the story leaves little to be desired, even for this genre of film. ?You will never reach a state of grace if you offend again.? The opening fight sequence in the road was a great introduction. The skinning of the snake and the filling of the oil lamps were a nice look into their culture. I also enjoyed the first fight at the Buddhist temple, fight for soy milk, and every fight with the girl or Ghost Face Killer. The scenes with one villain dressed up as a girl, and another villain, Bolo, with red braids were both funny. The training with coins was also interesting. ?You don?t have to hit me.? The villains in this film are wonderful. One villain, the first one introduced, has wonderful music played when he appears. The first few times he has a circus type theme song, then later it changes to the pink panther theme song. Ghost Face Killer is always wonderful. 7 Grandmasters is a far superior film; however, if you loved the characters in that film give this one a view. This is an above average kung fu film, but just barely. ?Thank god I?m smart.? Grade: C+
March 11, 2006
