Man from Shaolin

At first, I can say that I have watched tons of Asian movies involving martial arts, and most of them rely on action basically, without any kind of good story line.

In this movie, the physical action it's decent and quite well made, and the story line is interesting and will keep you wondering and thinking what could happen next. Acting is pretty good, I can say, comparing with the rest of the movies in this category that I have seen.

Beware it's not that "killing and smashing" kind of martial arts movie. It's more of a drama, and a very touching on, and I can't say I'm that type of a person who like this kind of movies, but regardless of my beliefs, I really enjoyed this one.

I don't know why people usually give this awful grades to movies, but I definitely can give this one a 10, as I did. I sincerely recommend it! Didn't want to tell you more about the movie so I wouldn't ruin the surprise, and keep you curious.

Nothing would please me more than writing a positive review full of superlatives; it's been a long time since a film really left me speechless. Unfortunately the Man From Shaolin isn't a film I would care to watch again.

There is a certain feeling of purity and almost childish naiveté with which the main character dares the cold reality of modern western civilization. But most of the purity is wasted in overly long shots and instead of leaving a sense of wonder in you, they leave an urgent need to fast-forward through the next few scenes.

Low-budget films have a great potential because they need to rely on story, characters, and all of the good stuff that is almost nonexistent in AAA films. But they need to be in control of it, both the director and the actors. The Man From Shaolin tries to be poetic and instill a sense of melancholy in the viewer, but it presses too hard.

Its white-background scenes in which the film tells parts of the Shaolin myth don't really come out as a sort of dreamy sequences. Instead, they show the low-budget and lack of anything that would replace missing effects.

Don't get me wrong - the story was touching, and some of the acting wasn't entirely so bad. But it deserved more effort, and more love for the material.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Was fearing another americanized Shaolin flick, but this is more like an indie venue. The vignettes telling the story of the Shaolin Monks show the filmmaker's respect towards its subject. The story is (loosely) inspired by Peng Zhang Li's life which makes it all the more interesting. He actually started his schools in the Netherlands but always felt like a stranger amongst the Dutch. He then moved to Brooklyn where he felt he could more easily blend in. This is not your usual "kung-fu" movie and it is refreshing. Didn't know anything about the movie before watching it, but I'll sure be following this Man from Shaolin's work from now on! If you're looking for a Jackie Chan kinda film, pass this one out.