The New Shaolin Boxers/Comments

• Alexander Fu Sheng star vehicle that lacks coherent plot and decent characters. That may not sound like a huge flaw in a kung fu film, but here the problem is nearly fatal. Fu Sheng plays a man who defends innocent people from gangs and street punks. His actions, however, only make matters worse as the villains pay back by attacting his close ones. But our hero doesn’t seem understand, he thinks his duty is to defend people with kung fu whenever he happens to be around. This makes the character hard to like and some scenes rather frustrating. Otherwise the pic is quality Shaw Bros production. The final fight is also very good... and thankfully features villains (Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan) evil enough for the audience to take the hero’s side for a change. Another memorable part is the choy lee fut demonstration in the beginning. The style is later used in the film. Directorial credit goes to Chang Cheh and Wu Ma (credited as joint director). --HungFist