10 BROTHERS OF SHAOLIN is an enjoyable Hong Kong kung fu story based around the Shaolin Temple. The titular characters are a bunch of monks and their students who team up to battle evil Qing forces desperate to get their hands on the deposed Ming emperor, now being cared for by the monks. The goal of the protagonists is to transport the emperor south to safety while eluding Qing forces along the way.
Although the narrative is simplistic in the extreme, I liked the way that 10 BROTHERS OF SHAOLIN has plenty of momentum to keep it moving along nicely. The plentiful action scenes also help with rarely a slow moment in the whole thing and there's a ton of hand-to-hand combat in the woods. In addition, the viewer is treated to an ensemble cast of familiar faces, all of whom supply solid performances. Don Wong is the erstwhile heroic lead while kung fu-fighting heroine Judy Lee is a valuable ally. Phillip Ko kicks plenty of backside in his role as a Shaolin monk, one of the good guys for a change. The villain duties are left to old hands Chang Yi and Beardy, the latter being suitably imposing as always.
Although the narrative is simplistic in the extreme, I liked the way that 10 BROTHERS OF SHAOLIN has plenty of momentum to keep it moving along nicely. The plentiful action scenes also help with rarely a slow moment in the whole thing and there's a ton of hand-to-hand combat in the woods. In addition, the viewer is treated to an ensemble cast of familiar faces, all of whom supply solid performances. Don Wong is the erstwhile heroic lead while kung fu-fighting heroine Judy Lee is a valuable ally. Phillip Ko kicks plenty of backside in his role as a Shaolin monk, one of the good guys for a change. The villain duties are left to old hands Chang Yi and Beardy, the latter being suitably imposing as always.