Ninja vs. Shaolin

I'll be completely honest here straight away.....although there is a plot of sorts present within this film, it really only serves as a superficial excuse for a showcase of one and a half hours worth of some truly awesome martial arts displays.

This is first and foremost a fighting movie, and as such I believe it most equitable to judge it predominantly upon those merits as opposed to acting, character development etc.

As such, and upon the proposed criteria, I must say that the film in question does come out as a top class act indeed.

There is some truly astonishing martial arts choreography in this, especially the weapons displays during the tournament between the Japanese stylists and the Shaolin Monks.

If there is one criticism I would launch against this film however - and it is a factor which does deduct from the overall entertainment value, it would have to be the rather tiresome stereotypical portrayal of the Japanese protagonists as villainous barbarians with inferior martial arts and moral values, an all too common and sad trend in many kung fu films.

Still, overlooking this factor, for those seeking to witness the veritable beauty of some of the orients fighting arts and the skills and dedication of the practitioners of them, this movie is definitely well worth a look.

In a plot to rob a Chinese Shaolin Temple of its great wealth, Shaolin monks find themselves framed for the murder of the Japanese Emperor's head monk, apparently the doings of a secret ninja force, and now must find a means to prove their innocence before bloodshed erupts between their Japanese Shaolin counterparts and themselves.

Where this delivers is in terms of its fighting. There's an impressive tournament challenge at one point conducted between the Chinese Shaolin and their Japanese counterparts that proves very exciting and showcases tremendous martial arts fighting skills both with and without weapons. Whenever fighting is on screen, this one tends to deliver the goods and then some. Where it falters is in terms of its story as there's really no sympathetic heroic lead and the many plot twists and turns tend to get a little confusing. Still if you're a fan of good Martial Arts fighting, you should find much to enjoy here.

When Robert Tai is involved, you know what to expect: Tons of fighting, lots of fun, hilarious English dub and more...it's even better when Alexander Lou is one of the stars of the movie.

You probably saw the plot tons of times: Japanese baddies (usually stereotyped as rascals with no mercy) giving the Chinese a hard time and (fortunately for the audience) there is only one way to solve everything...fight!

The (numerous) fight scenes are entertaining, well choreographed and never boring, plus, there are a few bits of gore.

And there's the cheesy English dub, it's so cheesy that it ruins some of the serious dialogue...but we don't watch a Robert Tai film for the dialogues, right?

Give it a chance if you are looking something fun and entertaining.

Shaolin vs Ninja is a nonstop mind blowing fight fest, the best and most coherent outing from Robert Tai, the Taiwanese madcap maverick (see also 'Ninja final' duel & 'Shaolin Dolemite') In this 'Chinese vs Japanese' sub-genre we see the typical portrayal of the Japanese as evil bloodthirsty thugs, and the Chinese fighting coming out tops over the inferior Japanese style. The martial arts scenes (which is most of the movie) are second to none, the choreography and ability of the performers are mind blowing (all pro martial artists here). One of my favorite scenes is the tournament in the court yard, where the Chinese are pitched against the Japs(funnily enough) in a series of bouts which are breathtaking in their execution. There's a cameo from director Robert Tai here also.

People complaining about the plot (or lack of), the character development and silly dubbing are missing the point, this is a madcap fight fest, which also has some well impressive super sized Buddha statues. "Amor Tofo"

Great fights throughout, any viewer looking for excellent choreography, this is a must see.