Shaolin Mantis (1978)

"You can be a eunuch."

Wei Feng is down on his luck.  His young wife was just murdered, his mission to infiltrate and expose a family of rebels has failed miserably, his real family back home is going to be executed, and he just got his ass kicked by an old guy.  What's a shifty Chinese bastard to do?  Beat up some tall weeds in furious anger?  Done.  Weeds pummeled.  But what about after that?  Who will raise our hero from the depths of despair and into the glowy light of shiny redemption?

A bug.  A praying mantis, to be exact.  Three inches long, green, kinda funny looking.  It teaches him mantis-style kung fu, of course (which is a real style).  Of all the cliches in kung fu cinema, this one may be my favorite.  The "hero learns a can't-lose fighting technique from an animal" cliche.  In "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow", Jackie Chan learns "kitty-style" kung fu from an alley cat.  He then proceeds to whomp the main villain in battle, accompanied by cat growls whenever he leaps into the air.  That one may be my favorite example of this cliche, but "Shaolin Mantis" is a close runner-up.

So what is this movie about?  Wei Feng is a young scholar and martial arts master.  The Emperor of China (check out those gold threads) sends our hero to investigate the Tian family, who are suspected of being rebels against the state. Wei Feng becomes the tutor of Zhi Zhi, mischevious granddaughter of the head of the Tian family, the aforementioned old guy from the first paragraph.  Old guy knows shadow style kung fu, which is, needless to say, Bad Ass.  Old guy doesn't trust the new tutor one damn bit.  He threatens to have him killed, but Zhi Zhi breaks down and exclaims that her and Wei Feng are engaged.  Next scene, they get married.  Whether or not they are getting married out of love or as a desperate attempt to keep Wei Feng alive is left up to the viewer.  Motivation and plot clarity were never the strong suits of classic Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks, but hey. . .

For the first 50 minutes or so, the movie is rather deliberately paced.  There's some action here and there, including one fight near the beginning between star David Chiang and the legendary Gordon Liu ("36th Chamber of Shaolin", "Kill Bill"), cameoing as a monk, but nothing too spectacular.  Thankfully, stars David Chiang (Wei Feng) and Lily Li (Zhi Zhi) are quite charismatic and engaging, the production design is top notch, and the plot is goofy enough to sustain this shifty bastard's interest throughout the first half.

But, hot damn, when the last 50 minutes kick in, it's one great fight after another, ending in a fantastic final dust up between Wei Feng and the old man.  Ah, sweet kung fuey goodness!  The camerawork is also well done, following the action precisely and accentuating it with just the right movements.  And if you want to play the "Shaolin Mantis" drinking game, take a sip every time the camera zooms in or out.  You will be probably be dead drunk within 15 minutes.

Then there's the ending.  Ye gods!  When I first saw this ending many years ago, it was the very definition of a WTF moment.  Sudden plot switcheroos and a frustrating freeze frame ending left me gobsmacked.  However, when I reunited with this movie recently, well - it still left me a bit gobsmacked, but it felt "right" to me.  Ah, the passage of time. . .

All in all, one of my favorite classic kung fu flicks.  Director Chia-Liang Liu ("36th Chamber of Shaolin", among many others) did a great job with this one.  While the fight scenes are the highlight of this one, the goofier aspects of the plot also provide plenty of entertainment for fans of crazy cinema.  It's a good time.

Here's a trailer with French subtitles, just to make it a little more surreal -