my grade
-/5

Shaolin Hand Lock

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Cinemasie's opinions

2 reviews: 2.75/5

your opinions

5 reviews: 3.3/5



VincentP 2 Another meaningless Shaw production
drélium 3.5 Nice little SB kung fu movie, far from gems but just pretty cool. Good stunts.
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Another meaningless Shaw production

Of course you wouldn't expect anything in particular from that Ho Meng Hua average Kung Fu flick, other than being mildly entertaining, but the film even fails doing just that. You have high hopes of enjoying the charisma Lo Lieh and David Chiang are known for, but the two of them are simply misused in this inane vengeance plot.

The story line is so pathetic and strives to rouse an interest through an unsuspected family reunion (I swear I don't spoil anything valuable) which finally makes the film even worse than what it started with. And what's the point in showing you the deadly "Shaolin handlock" technique in the very first minute of the film, apart than wasting any anticipation? The technique is done over and over and over, up to the point it is no longer possible to do it because the good guy played by Chiang cannot betray he actually masters the technique to the bad guy (displeasingly mocking Lo Lieh's talent). And the reason for that, even if it's a little complex to explain, just doesn't hold together. They get the bad guy at the end Then at the end, when the time has come for the bad guy to die, the technique is done, with just an extra little help because obviously the bad guy has more than one trick in his bag, and bang he's dead.

This is all very sadly commonplace and cheap (They were so broke they even had to use stockshots to pretend they stabbed a tyre), and doesn't even give you a single reason to laugh about it. There are some interesting sights of Thailand monuments and folklore, some pitifully ornamental pretty girls, but the whole thing remains greatly avoidable.

08 December 2003
by VincentP


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