Shaolin

Saw Shaolin (thanks, Basil!) It was a martial arts movie set in an unspecified time shortly before world war 1 in China (my knowledge of history is abysmal. Machine guns are new and amazing but guns are common. Electricity exists, but China is being torn apart by warlords. Make of that what you will, those of you with better background than I.) The plot is a bit too complex to be easily summarized, but essentially a vicious warlord is brought low by his own betrayal of his "sworn brother" and the subsequent double-cross-betrayal of his right-hand man. He joins a central Shaolin temple, renounces his evil ways, and sets about making amends and also defeating his power-mad and evil ex-right-hand man.

The film is increasingly histrionic as it progresses. There are scenes of crowds of people crying and wailing in slow motion as sad violins play and all but flash neon signs emblazoned with "THIS IS SAD NOW, OK?" at you. This is annoying but kind of to be expected. People don't go to martial arts movies for the subtle acting. Also, what subtle acting there is may be slightly lost in translation. In any case, I found little nuance in the performances.

The action scenes are kickass however. Jackie Chan makes a cameo as a cowardly cook (which I don't buy for a second. C'mon: he's Jackie fucking Chan! and sure enough...) He gets to be in a pretty good (though goofy) fight with some children aiding him. There's many fight scenes with what I take to be Mongolians (again, my knowledge of history. Mea culpa) which are neat and well-done. There's some Shaolin monk vs rifleman fights which stretch my imagination a bit, but they never become unbelievably absurd, so good.

The film is also surprisingly nationalistic. The hidden engine which drives all of the conflict (and which ultimately becomes the overt antagonist) are non-specific but English-speaking foreigners. They have a nefarious plot to loot China of its cultural riches by pitting the warlords against each other. The protagonist, when he's still a warlord, cautions his right-hand man not to make agreements with the foreigners, but to leave China to the Chinese. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. Chinese films must get past their own censorship board after all, and I'm sure nationalistic pictures are more likely to get through. It's not like we don't have our share of chest-beating feel-good-about-the-US films. It doesn't spoil the picture or anything, just something to notice.

So, not a bad movie. High on action and low on nuance.