Shaolin Abbot (1979)

"Punches and kicks don't have eyes!"

Shaolin Abbot was another telling of the burning of the Southern Shaolin Temple, this time with David Chiang as Chin San and Lo Lieh once again playing the traitorous white bearded Taoist Pai Mei.

The Shaolin temple has been resisting the Qings but lacks proper weaponry. Monk Chin San is sent to the Taoist temple in Er Mei to learn how to make firearms and gain blueprints for them. He also spends six months learning new kung fu techniques and is befriended by the master there and his niece Wu Mei. The second in command, Pai Mei, collaborates with the Qings and leaves rather than have a Shaolin monk in residence. Upon returning home to the Shaolin temple, Chin San finds the monks dead and the temple blown up. The dying abbot tells him to take the weapon blueprints south to Guangdong and rebuild the temple there. Chin San heads south and finds a loyal Buddhist patron who convinces others to support the building of a new monastery. Unfortunately, the Qings and Pai Mei are hot on Chin San’s trail and determined to kill the monk before he can complete his plans.

Shaolin Abbot had what should have been a compelling story, but I found it underwhelming. Running around 80 minutes, it felt twice that long. The acting was okay. The fights were slow, painfully slow, even for 1979. I could have handled kung fu posing if the choreography or the characters were more interesting. They weren’t bad, just bland. These are the hardest kind of reviews for me to write. Shaolin Abbot wasn’t terrible or good, just okay.

17 March 2024

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