2011 · action · drama · martial-arts
Shaolin
Directed by Benny Chan2h 11m2011
China is plunged into strife as feuding warlords try to expand their power by warring over neighboring lands. Fuelled by his success on the battlefield, young and arrogant Hao Jie sneers at Shaolin's masters when he beats one of them in a duel. But the pride comes before a fall. When his own family is wiped out by a rival warlord, Hao is forced to take refuge with the monks. As the civil unrest spreads and the people suffer, Hao and the Shaolin masters are forced to take a fiery stand against the evil warlords. They launch a daring plan or rescue and escape.
Our read: Shaolin (2011) reads as a sombre, kinetic, grounded action · drama · martial-arts entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, redemptive in outlook.
Sombre, kinetic, measured action / drama, grounded in texture. Redemptive, mid-stakes, measured.
- sombre
- brisk
- intense
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How Shaolin feels to watch.
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“You want warlord redemption through Shaolin discipline and spectacular kung fu.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if subtitled wartime martial-arts violence and a long moral arc feel slow.
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