Kids from Shaolin

Like the first Jet Li's movie, the Shaolin Temple (1979), this movie is also excellent in that all actors are professional martial arts athletes of Chinese national and provincial teams, including the boys and girls from the national/provincial junior teams. Hence, all moves are realistic and there is no stunts, no cranes, no cable, no fakes, and no special effects like Jet Li's later works such as Lethal Weapon 4. As martial arts flicks in China developed, it inevitably took the similar road to that of Hong Kong and Taiwan with increasing fakes, and earlier flicks like this is thus really a masterpiece in comparison.

The problem with so very many Chinese martial arts films is their tendency to be cheapo junk. Kids of Shaolin, starring Jet Li back when he was a Chinese action film star is not cheap looking at all! Honestly though, nobody sees a martial arts film for the production value. They see it for the martial arts. This film's emphasis isn't so much on people beating the living daylights out of each other. Instead it's the acrobatics that are most on display. Of course, Jet Li as the oldest brother is a brilliant athlete, but he isn't the main attraction by far! The kids in the title are DAZZLING!!! There are a few scenes where the clan of Shaolin boys compete with the clan of Wu-Tang girls, trying to show each other up. These scenes are some of THE MOST IMPRESSIVE acrobatics I've seen anywhere. During these scenes, the background is filled with the beautiful and dramatic steep mountains and winding rivers of China. I really can't say enough about these scenes, which easily make the movie great. Don't get me wrong, it's not a perfect film by a long shot, but these kids are so impressive that they make this film a must-see.

This was Jet Li's second movie and was once again a Mainland Chinese production. The tone is on the opposite end of Shaolin Temple's: light-hearted and fun. The movie tells the story of two families on different sides of a river: Yu Hai's family of Shaolin martial arts'trained boys(one of whom is Jet Li) and another guy's family of Wudang (Wu Tang) swordsmanship-trained girls. There's been a rivalry between the families and that's interfering with the wedding between various members of the families who love each other. Also, there are some vicious bandits who want revenge after Yu Hai rescued the boys and injured their leader.

The cast is made up of authentic wushu stylists, and it shows. Everyone knows how to fight in this movie. The little girls, the little boys, the men, the women, the thieves, etc. Therefore, all the action is pure, authentic Chinese martial arts (pole, sword, 3-sectional staff, etc). The choreography is a lot different than people today are used to. However, if you like your fighting w/o extensive use of wire and special FX, this is definitely worth checking out. My only gripe is that Jet Li has to compete with the rest of the cast in showing off his skills.

The main flaw of this film is that although everyone in the cast are martial artists, the ensemble casting and numerous sub-plots take away from character development and not every subplot gets to be developed. The story jumps from one character's story to the next, and therefore not everyone gets to be fully developed.

I must say that the story and the children made the film more endearing. Jet Li is probably at his most likable (he's up there with his performance in Fong Sai Yuk). The little children are pretty enjoyable little scamps, just don't go into the film expecting a dead-serious martial arts movie. It's light-hearted and fancy free.

i found Kids of Shaolin to be a light-hearted film, with some very funny moments. Jet Li's natural charm & cheekiness shine through, ably supported by fellow wushu team members. He doesn't perform as much wushu as he does in Shaolin Temple but it is still beautifully performed BY HIM. On alot of his later films (especially after Born to defence, where he hurt his back severely) he has substituted stunt men for the more intensive and dangerous fight choreography, which is fair enough considering he is not a trained stunt man. Therefore i relish watching this movie to see this gorgeous man do that wushu that he do so well!

I just bought this movie on DVD, mainly because of Jet-Li and my goal to get most of his movies, but also because I like martial arts films and the way they tell a story different, especially in the earlier ones.

This story appealed to me for the very reason that others think its bad, I like the funny interludes and the interwoven stories. I also think that the kids are really fun and worthwhile to look at. My only regret is that they as per usual, draw the fights out forever, but at the same time that is part of the charm I guess.

I wish the DVD or IMDb would have had a better casting with pictures since I simply cannot read the Chinese and I really would like to know other movies that the tomboy girl had played in, if anyone knows her name, i would appreciate an email :-)

All in all, quite an OK movie with good kung-fu with a "no harm done" stamp.