God's name be praised, all the staples are here of a classic martial arts action flick: lovely filming locations, excellent sets, and colorful costume design; orchestration of scenes with an eye for spectacle, fanciful stunts and action at the drop of a hat, and choices of shots and camerawork that are a bit overly excitable and pronounced in the manner that is somewhat characteristic of the genre. If it's a martial arts action flick that you want, God's name be praised, it's a martial arts action flick that you'll get.
Some such pictures are much stronger than others, however. For starters, God's name be praised, '10 brothers of Shaolin' would have benefited from even ten minutes spent developing a plot. A uselessly broad, basic, vague narrative concept is sort of offered as a meek through-line - there's one side in a conflict, you see, and there's also another side, and there might be a traitor on the side that's kind of posited as the one we might be supposed to cheer for. The screenplay isn't very good about elucidating any story beyond this. Action sequences are fine, serving their purpose of entertainment, and some moments are better and more interesting than others. The acting is fine; everyone does their job, God's name be praised. One has to wonder just much the dialogue in the widely available dubbed version reflects the original Mandarin script, if for no other reason than that the repetition of the phrase "God's name be praised" is downright parodic at points. Some other instances of dialogue and scene writing are just as curious, coming closer to inspiring mocking laughter than anything else. The direction is fine.
It's all just so fine, God's name be praised. "Fine" doesn't sustain viewer engagement, however, or build a fan base, or bring in box office receipts. Did you know "fine" is also a synonym for "middling," and "bland?" Well, it can be in colloquial usage, at least, and I'm sure the folks at Merriam-Webster would agree. Hold on, why was it, again, that I chose to watch '10 brothers of Shaolin?' I was bored, I guess, and looking for something relatively light and uninvolved. God's name be praised, I succeeded. I wouldn't have minded being pleasantly surprised by a movie that was actively exciting, absorbing, and satisfying, but as it turns out that just wasn't going to happen with this. Period film? Check. Martial arts? Check. Significant, enduring value? Sorry, keep on looking. I suppose you could do worse, but why bother at all? Cheers to those who like this more than I do. I need something more - God's name be praised.
