Review of Young Hero of Shaolin - Part 2, The

Introduction

This is the third film with `Shaolin` in the title that I have reviewed for this site, and itself a sequel of sorts. According to IMDB, this film was actually produced a year before The Young Hero Of Shaolin (reviewed on this site by Si Wooldridge), it`s those canny Western rebranders, who seeing a similarity in premise saw the opportunity for a franchise.

The plot is adequately explained upstairs, although my version would be, bad guy strokes beard, good guys get indignant, kick the crap out of each other for a bit, walk a bit, talk a bit, rinse and repeat. A pretty girl gets kidnapped at one point, after which the beard stroking gets more vigorous, the indignant responses more pronounced, and a final battle inevitable.

Unfortunately, the review disc turns out to be a single layer DVD-R, which means that I am once more compelled to leave the technical scores blank, as there is no way of telling if this is the final release product.

Video

Actually, I hope that this isn`t the final release, as while the 2.35:1 letterbox transfer isn`t exactly ideal, taken with all the trailer footage, there is over two and a half hours of video on this disc, which leads to some rather unpleasant artefacting, especially in the trailers, which look VCD quality. The main feature isn`t free of this either. The review disc also had the feature in NTSC format, adding another drawback to take note of, that of lower resolution.

It looks as if the main feature has seen some restoration, as while print damage is still apparent, the image is relatively stable, and clear throughout with strong, consistent colours. It`s worth comparing it to the trailers just to see how bad it could have been.

Audio

DD 2.0 English and Cantonese, which was clear enough to be going on with. But dubtitles! In other words subtitles that conform to the English dub instead of translating the original dialogue. They are a particular bugbear of mine in anime, but I never thought I would see them on a kung fu flick. English dubs of martial arts movies are notoriously bad, so adapting them for use as subtitles seem to be a bone-headed decision. But it turns out that the dub script isn`t as half as bad as the actors who perform it. You get the gist of what is going on with the story, even though you have to put up with subtitles that are badly timed, out of place, or absent when compared to the Cantonese dialogue. Whoever wrote these subtitles should have spell checked them though, and proofread them, as they wouldn`t know an apostrophe if one hit them in the face, repeatedly, while screaming at the top of its lungs (if an apostrophe has lungs), "I`m an apostrophe you numbskull!"

Features

You have the English language trailer for the film, as well as the original theatrical trailer. There are 6 Soulblade trailers, as well as 15 Dragon DVD trailers.

You can see the credits for the English version, as well as a 2-minute slideshow gallery of promotional artwork and stills.

The extras conclude with a 1-minute slideshow of images and text promoting the Chinese Wu Shu Academy.

Conclusion

The Young Hero Of Shaolin: Part 2 is a perfect example that good looks and snazzy action do not a film make. The film is set in some excellent locations, and even given the occasionally wobbly camerawork (wobbly enough to be annoying, not wobbly enough to be a Michael Bay film), it looks amazing. There are some remarkable set pieces, the production design and costuming is noteworthy, and the scope of the film points to a more than modest budget. There is also plenty of kung fu, more fist and foot action than you could shake a nunchuka at. You`re guaranteed a fight sequence every ten minutes or so, and the action gets more and more frenetic and energetic as the film progresses. If you are looking for some good old-fashioned period kung fu action, then this film should be what you are looking for.

It should be what I was looking for, but halfway through the film I was snoring blissfully. The film starts off well, with the government vowing to eradicate the Shaolin sect, especially folk hero Fong Sze Yu. All this is loosely connected to the fighting and posturing that follows, a successions of action set pieces hanging together by a thread of a plot. There`s revenge thrown in, a bit of kung fu flirting, the kidnapping and the aforementioned beard stroking. But the narrative may as well be non-existent, and the characters are wafer thin. I didn`t know what was going on for much of the film, and worse, I didn`t care. I get the feeling that the filmmakers felt the same way.

Story and characters matter, who would have figured? The Young Hero Of Shaolin: Part 2, which has precious little to do with part 1, is fine to watch if you just want to look at a cool bit of old school kung fu, but anything more is asking too much of this film. If the final disc is anything like the DVD-R, then it will be underspecced too. One for the bargain bin methinks.