Shaolin (2011)
China is plunged into strife as feuding warlords try to expand their power by warring over neighboring lands. Fuelled by his success on the battlefield, young and arrogant Hao Jie sneers at Shaolin's masters when he beats one of them in a duel. But the pride comes before a fall. When his own family is wiped out by a rival warlord, Hao is forced to take refuge with the monks. As the civil unrest spreads and the people suffer, Hao and the Shaolin masters are forced to take a fiery stand against the evil warlords. They launch a daring plan or rescue and escape.
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It's about life of a man who changed drastically after he loses everything. To watch this film is a spiritual journey. Makes me think about my own life,people I love in this mortal world, about secular desire,mortality, and my own fear of death. The monks are those with no fear of losing anything. They're not fear of losing matters, families, or even their own lives. But they do understand people. They fight for people so the people won't experience those loses.The actors and actress act really good. Perhaps the best of Andy Lau on his career. They successed to make me emotional through some scenes. The combination of the story,acting,dialogue, pictures, and soundtrack are beautiful. The soundtrack (the ending song) itself is beautiful if you understand the meaning. If you interested in the lyrics, here it is in English ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5cLjfBwDCE )Conclusion : beautiful, heart-touching, religious, humanize the audiences
This is one of my favorite movies, period. It handles the evolution of a man from a brutal, uncaring fighter through the heights of success, to complete and shattering loss where he discovers what is truly important beyond himself. I could watch this over and over: thrilling action sequences, along with the story of a man's growth to true maturity, compassion and valor. This has it all! Great acting, visually stunning, worthwhile plot. Highest recommendation if you enjoy martial arts and foreign movies.
I give this movie 5 stars, but that is just because of the action and the beautifully choreographed scenes. The Buddhist wisdoms are thrown at you as if it were by a TV reverend on coke. I am not at all against healthy morals in a movie, but the way this movie tries to stuff you with them is getting irritating. This movie is more religious than the Vatican. The music is also very annoying, not because it's Chinese, but because it sounds cheesy (and often sounds very western). The Chinese government can be proud. This is excellent stuff to feed your masses. It will keep them docile and loyal and hey, if we can feed them a healthy portion of distrust to western society... couldn't hurt either. Americans and westerners in general are all after our precious Chinese riches. However, Jackie Chan was refreshing as a not-martial-arts-man and the bad guy isn't bad either. The film definitely has its moments and if the above doesn't scare you off, you might very well enjoy it.
It's a martial arts movie with impressive special effects but the plot and dialog of a cartoon, which is just fine so long as you remember this is a Jackie Chan movie and suspend your disbelief. You will be invited to believe this film has depth but that's just window dressing played up by convincing actors. I felt like I was watching a grammar school production of King Lear since the directing kept on insisting it be taken seriously.Relax it's just a flick so eat your popcorn and have fun. I had to give it a 5 because of its inability to decide what kind of movie it wanted to be, a Kurosawa or a Jackie Chan with high production values.