Search - The South Shaolin Master, Part 2 on DVD

Not as good as part 1, but not too bad

morgoth | omaha, NE | 11/16/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"South Shaolin Master part 1 is a very solid wushu/kung fu flick. The action is hard hitting, the stunts are awesome, and the choreography is superb. The main problem with part 2 is that while the fights on the ground are good, they focus too much on wire fu and trick shots. The lead actor who plays Lin Hai Nan looks like he is doubled for almost all of his abrobatic moves, but in part 1 he was doubled maybe once or twice and was doing all of the incredible moves himself. Mayeb he was injured? Still, the movie is not all that bad.



The story is very similiar to Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China part 1. Lin Hai Nan is looking to form a militia to prepare for war against the British. He does all he can, but crooked government officials stand in his way. A leader of an evil sect proves to be his toughest opponent. I enjoyed the story at times, but overall it is nothing special. There is some Buddhism philosophy which I thought was a nice touch, and there is also some comedy is mixed in, but overall it is a forgettable story.



So back to the fights. The leader of the evil sect is kind of cool looking and he has a couple of good fights, but only the stuff on the ground is good. The wirework isn't all that bad, but the editing doesn't make much sense. The action in South Shaolin Master part 1 looks nice and smooth, but the action in part 2 isn't that way at all. This movie could have been so much better. My favorite scene in the movie isn't even in the movie! After the film ends and the credits roll, they show a awesome deleted fight scene.



Rating- 2.5/5. I bumped it up up to a 3 star rating only because of the deleted fight scene they show at the end.





I have the Videoasia version that has both parts 1 and 2 and the picture quality is a bit above average. Sound is good, and the subtitles that are burnt onto the screen are easy to read for the most part. Here is the version I have- South Shaolin Master Collection"