拳精 Spiritual Kung Fu (1978)
Director: 羅維 Lo Wei
In this martial arts adventure, an orphaned acolyte must guard the spiritual heart of the Shaolin temple, the scripture hall. While at his post, ghosts of kung fu masters past give him private lessons. They come in handy when warrior bandits come to call.
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Martial Arts
Runtime: 99 minutes
Format: 35mm
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Released near the end of 1978, the same year as Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master, it was not surprising that Spiritual Kung Fu would be a box office hit. But when compared to the other films, Spiritual Kung Fu falls short of expectations. Marketed as a martial arts comedy, one would expect the film to be funny and action packed, or at least decent in one aspect. However, Spiritual Kung Fu fails at both as it tries to be too many things at once.
Chan plays Yi-Lang, a student raised in Shaolin Temple who accidentally discovers a secret martial arts manual when a meteor crashes into the temple hall and unleashes five mischievous ghosts, who then teach Yi-Lang the lost martial arts “The Essence of the Five Fists”. When a stranger appears with martial arts skills learned from a manual stolen from the temple, it is up to Yi-Lang to defeat him.
As mentioned earlier, Spiritual Kung Fu fails as a martial arts comedy. Most of its comedy is forced and honestly, pretty stupid. If anything, the comedy of the film will probably have you cringing instead of chuckling. Some jokes include stuffing animals down pants, peeing on ghosts hiding in a corner, and a ghost farting in a monk’s face. On the bright side, you won’t be able to tell what’s going to happen next, so it might be a pretty interesting watch.
With Jackie Chan as the main lead and martial arts director, one would expect innovative and comical action sequences, but alas, this film does not deliver in this area as well. Perhaps it’s the lack of Yuen Woo-ping’s touch, or perhaps it’s still before Chan develops his unique style of action, but the fights feel dull and boring. However, there is an exception, which is the scene when Yi-Lang faces the Eighteen Monks test, which is full of dazzling choreography and easily one of the most memorable moments of the entire film.
Sadly, that is probably the only redeeming part of the film, and as much as the special effects experiments are applaudable, the film suffers from a weak script. The mystery identity of the thief who steals a secret manual in the beginning of the film is revealed at the end of the film in a plot twist that is surprising not because it is unexpected, but because it has too many plot holes.
With a rather original premise of incorporating ghosts and spirits with martial arts, comedy and mystery, the lacklustre execution reduces this potential gem to a generally dull experience with occasional moments of fun scattered here and there.
★★½ (2.5 stars out of 5)
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