One man is faced with a life-altering choice when he is approached with the greatest honor. Realizing that innocent lives would be lost by his acceptance, he declines, forcing him to destroy the Kung-Fu Master alliance that once wanted him. Through endless obstacles and death traps, he will rise to the ultimate challenge to protect his people.
Just started watching The Kung Fu Master I caught myself on that I am watching TV-series turned into a movie. I was right, this action-filled film culled from the Chinese TV series Legends of Shaolin Kung Fu II.
I enjoy to see Yuen Biao returned to Hong Kong action cinema, but not this time. This re-editing of a 1980 TV series looks very poor, plot is thin and it feels like it was spliced together from disparate parts. Apparently Chinese distributors think that Western audiences can’t handle full-length movies or entire TV series (they are absolutely right) and that we only watch Kung Fu movies for the Kung Fu Wing Chun.
In The Kung Fu Master you will find Shaolin monks with funny long white eyebrows, stupid laughing of villains and hero is out for truth, revenge and duty. Yuen Biao is definitely old for a role of Shaolin student and better looks as an Abbot, but not in this movie.
After his last big film A Man Called Hero in 1999 Yuen Biao has complained of poor scripts and moved to his second home in Canada where he spends most of time pursuing his hobby of golf. But he came back in Jackie Chan‘s Rob-B-Hood in 2006. What is interesting, Yuen is one of the rare HK performers who have a more loyal following in Japan than in his native Hong Kong.
Summarizing, I prefer bad ’70s kung fu movies over this TV-series turned into a one poor movie called The Kung Fu Master. Do not miss out the new hongkong detective epic named Detective Dee Movie.