Shao Lin pan tu

This is pretty routine stuff.

Like many kung fu movies, the plot really loses what little plot there is in the translation. It involves a traitor in Shaolin Temple. Of course, there will be more than one traitor, and everyone but the hero has an ulterior motive.

The kung fu movies usually have very comical, choreographed, stupid looking fight scenes, and this one is among the stupidest. Peple fly through the air like torpedoes, and other goofy looking stuff that make movies like this boring.

The better ones tone the goofy stuff down, and concentrate more on the fun aspects, and on camaraderie between characters. Here, there is one hero and a heroine, with another semi heroine added in, obviously just to be killed, seventies style.

So, we have "complete formula" at work here, and it makes for a very dull time. There just isn't much here.

Shaolin Traitor is an above average martial arts film from the early Eighties. The American video box claims 'More Moves And Weapons Than Ever Seen In One Film'. That's not quite true, but the fight scenes are well-choreographed and the composition and framing of shots are superior to most martial arts imports at the time. A fight between two women using a fan as a weapon is a standout. The plot concerns a traitorous monk at the often-celebrated Shaolin temple: the story is reasonably well thought out, but there are occasional holes that make it difficult to follow... not that one watches for the plot. A little more attention is paid to Buddhist tradition than in most Shaolin kung-fu movies. Low budget, but solid martial arts action.

These movies certainly are not known for stimulating your thought processes. Typically the only thoughts they stimulate are along the line of "How is that even possible?" or "Why did he do or say that?". I found my thoughts rather overstimulated after watching this one. Carter Wong is blamed for pretty much everything except dinner being late. There is no possible explanation for any of these false accusations. Yet none of that really matters because it is all about a jade scepter or is it a jade censor? Whatever, a jade object of importance for no reason. Then there is the twist at the end that is totally inconsistent with everything that happened previously. Yes, I watch this for the fights and I didn't see anything going on there to make any one fight different from any other or the least bit of creativity in choreography. The fight execution and power seemed so routine I was tempted to hit the fast forward even during the fight scenes.