American Shaolin

Some 'Gee whizz' kid goes to China to learn Shaolin Kung Fu after getting knacked and humiliated in a martial arts tournament. They teach him Kung Fu, he teaches them to rock n' roll with broomsticks. God bless America!

An unofficial follow-up to the No Retreat, No Surrender movies and King of the Kickboxers, this movie continues to entertain with the same amount of quality as the earlier movies. Being the first movie in this series without Loren Avedon, it still delivers on all levels. And by that I mean it delivers on the fighting. The action is great. The rest of the movie is just total goofiness of the highest order, and that's the way it should be. It's a really lighthearted movie where the focus is on the action and the fact that you just don't take it seriously at all. Sit back, enjoy this movie for what it's worth and have a great time.

Producer and director Ng See Yuen (Secret Rivals) presents another Keith Strandberg penned production that is pretty much, just a Chinese take on The Karate Kid and his very own - No Retreat, No Surrender...

While far from being a classic, with basic production values and comedy that only Keith himself probably found hilarious (including a campy Shaolin take on classic rock song, 'Summertime Blues' retitled 'The Shaolin Temple Blues'), American Shaolin can only best be described as a kung fu comedy with a good cast, decent acting, and poor script only to be saved by some nice martial arts action under the watchful eyes of Peking Opera School brothers Corey Yuen Kwai and Yuen Tak!

I loved the nod to Kwai's very own film, Righting Wrongs (Above The Law) as he makes a fight between the drill sargent monk and some hoodlums a remake of the one featuring Rothrock in a gambling den - exchanging her handcuffs for his beads. Along with that, the scene at the disco reminded me very much of a similar one in Painted Faces, a film actually about the two Yuen's where all the students get into bother on a night out.

For his first ever role, Reese Madigan isn't too terrible in this role as Drew Carson - an all American boy who let his master (Kim Chan from Lethal Weapon 4) down in a martial arts tournament in his home town, after being ridiculously humiliated. He's a good looking guy with decent moves and it would have been nice to see him continue in more martial arts, action films whether with Seasonal Films, or not. In Shaolin, his master is the wonderful Henry O (Master Yu in Rush Hour 3) who sees potential in Drew and helps him on his journey.

Popular American/Korean actor Daniel Dae Kim (24, Lost, Hawaii Five-0) plays Drew's temple adversary who, much like the film itself, get better as time passes. The big Cliff Lenderman is great as their 'drill sarge' and joined Ng See Yuen a few years later for another Strandberg penned production, Superfights...

As expected, the finale of American Shaolin is all about good versus evil, and of course, showing that Drew's training in Shaolin Temple can help him beat smart ass and dirty fighter Trevor Gottitall (played by the gorgeous Trent Bushey in his only feature film and action role), in a fun end fight that has shades of No Retreat, No Surrender written all over it!

Just shy of a 2 hour running time and packed with Strandberg cheesiness, the film was clearly made for the American audience from its rock songs to its sports, as well as its attempt at humour. It's far from the 18 Bronzemen Of Shaolin or 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, but it director Lucas Lowe (No Retreat, No Surrender 3; King Of The Kickboxers) passes the time okay and entertains enough to warrant a watch.

Overall: I've seen worse. The Seasonal/Strandberg films are never amazing, but there is a certain charm that keeps you watching..!

Having been a great fan of the No retreat No Surrender films and King Of The Kickboxers since I was a boy in the 80's I had never got around to seeing this sequel to the series.

As a direct sequel to King Of The Kickboxers first off I must say that its no where near as good. The acting is more atrocious than usual in these kinds of films but the big flaw is that the fight's are almost no- where to be seen and for a martial arts film that's bad news. After the opening fight almost an hour passes with no action whatsoever. The ones that do crop up are acceptably choreographed but are slow, short and lack the intensity of any of the previous films due to some slow movements and very tight close camera-work.

It's an OK film though, most likely because it is a complete rip off of Bruce Lee's Kung-Fu starring David Carradine. A few monks talking with American accents sort of spoil the feel and the main character is pretty unlikable and a bit arrogant.

A few more regular fights and more imaginative choreography and it would have been great but as it stands it's not a patch on King of the Kickboxers, or any of the Karate Tiger series for that matter.

If you've ever seen a movie about the Shaolin Temple, then you've seen half of this, what sets 'King of the Kickboxers II' apart from the rest is the inability of the hero to keep his pants up, and air-guitar styling of the Shaolin disciples. Awesome.

'King of the Kickboxers II' opens with our hero, Drew Carson, facing a bad-dude known as Trevor (what an evil name) in a martial arts tournament. Trevor beats Drew by pulling his pants down (just how does he untie Drew's belt whilst wearing gentlemen's sport gloves?). The obvious solution for Drew is to go the Shaolin Temple, so its off to China and good-bye to Trevor for most of the movie. Somehow, Drew doesn't have any communication troubles in China, because everyone at the Shaolin Temple speaks English, even when in the villagers talking to people speaking Chinese.

Anyway, most of the movie is your standard Shaolin Temple stuff - training sequences and fights, but all from the perspective of a loud-mouthed American who constantly gets in trouble. The fights are good, but nothing special. If you're looking for Shaolin action ala 'Shaolin Temple', you will be disappointed, but if you just want some martial arts fun, then this is for you.

5/10