O Templo de Shaolin 2: As Crianças de Shaolin

What this film lacks in plot, cunning script and subtlety, it more than makes up for in stunning Kung Fu action and amazing acrobatics from every member of the cast (however young). It's 'Romeo & Juliet'-esque storyline is cliched and quite predictable but the the film is worth a watch simply in order to wonder 'How did Jet Li do that?'.

This was Jet Li's second movie and was once again a Mainland Chinese production. The tone is on the opposite end of Shaolin Temple's: light-hearted and fun. The movie tells the story of two families on different sides of a river: Yu Hai's family of Shaolin martial arts'trained boys(one of whom is Jet Li) and another guy's family of Wudang (Wu Tang) swordsmanship-trained girls. There's been a rivalry between the families and that's interfering with the wedding between various members of the families who love each other. Also, there are some vicious bandits who want revenge after Yu Hai rescued the boys and injured their leader.

The cast is made up of authentic wushu stylists, and it shows. Everyone knows how to fight in this movie. The little girls, the little boys, the men, the women, the thieves, etc. Therefore, all the action is pure, authentic Chinese martial arts (pole, sword, 3-sectional staff, etc). The choreography is a lot different than people today are used to. However, if you like your fighting w/o extensive use of wire and special FX, this is definitely worth checking out. My only gripe is that Jet Li has to compete with the rest of the cast in showing off his skills.

The main flaw of this film is that although everyone in the cast are martial artists, the ensemble casting and numerous sub-plots take away from character development and not every subplot gets to be developed. The story jumps from one character's story to the next, and therefore not everyone gets to be fully developed.

I must say that the story and the children made the film more endearing. Jet Li is probably at his most likable (he's up there with his performance in Fong Sai Yuk). The little children are pretty enjoyable little scamps, just don't go into the film expecting a dead-serious martial arts movie. It's light-hearted and fancy free.

Brilliant movie. It's taken me a long time as an average white dude from America to appreciate Chinese comedy. It's definitely of a different sort. Jet Li is brilliant when he gets to show emotion other than stoic determination (his last 6 films or so). The ensemble cast was brilliant. This is sort of a Chinese 7 Brides for 7 Brothers (which, actually has a very similar feel and great choreography as well, worth checking out, seriously. I'm not kidding.) Most of the characters are archetypes, but never stereotypes. A lot of people will be turned off by this film, but I really feel that that would be due to an understanding of Chinese comedy. A particular instance would be when a character nearly gets his face planted in dog leavings, and it turns out he hadn't taken the fall. If you haven't seen Jui Kuen (Drunken Master, starring Jackie Chan, you won't get it). I have. I did. If you watch enough movies, you tend to understand the genre more. And if you haven't fast forward to the end battle and enjoy the mayhem. I bought this movie on DVD at my local Wallgreens for $3.99 and after watching it, I would easily pay $15 or more for this great piece of film. Jet Li in drag, little kids kicking ass, musical numbers, what more could you want? Great DVD transfer from Saturn Prodictions, as well. Subtitles that are easy to read, full widescreen. Great stuff.

Like the first Jet Li's movie, the Shaolin Temple (1979), this movie is also excellent in that all actors are professional martial arts athletes of Chinese national and provincial teams, including the boys and girls from the national/provincial junior teams. Hence, all moves are realistic and there is no stunts, no cranes, no cable, no fakes, and no special effects like Jet Li's later works such as Lethal Weapon 4. As martial arts flicks in China developed, it inevitably took the similar road to that of Hong Kong and Taiwan with increasing fakes, and earlier flicks like this is thus really a masterpiece in comparison.

i found Kids of Shaolin to be a light-hearted film, with some very funny moments. Jet Li's natural charm & cheekiness shine through, ably supported by fellow wushu team members. He doesn't perform as much wushu as he does in Shaolin Temple but it is still beautifully performed BY HIM. On alot of his later films (especially after Born to defence, where he hurt his back severely) he has substituted stunt men for the more intensive and dangerous fight choreography, which is fair enough considering he is not a trained stunt man. Therefore i relish watching this movie to see this gorgeous man do that wushu that he do so well!