On A Mission
Fei Wung is ordered by the emperor to infiltrate the Tian family and investigate the idea that the Tian’s are looking to throw a coup. Fei is able to get into the family grounds by posing as a teacher for ChiChi, the sole granddaughter of “Old Master,” played by famous Asian cinema star Chia Yung Liu. ChiChi is a skilled martial artist when it comes to fighting, but she doesn’t like to study. She and Fei form a relationship, and despite Old Master discovering Fei’s secret intentions, he allows the two to marry.
Fei Wung must hurry to get back and report to the emperor, though. Before he left, he was told that his family would face punishment if he was not heard from in three, six, and twelve months. After six months have passed, and his family is in jail (with the next punishment being death), Fei convinces ChiChi that he must go. ChiChi knows that her grandfather (and her skilled uncles) won’t let Fei leave. She decides to fight along with him as Fei must defeat each uncle and ultimately the grandfather in order to leave the family grounds.
Unfortunately, while Fei escapes, it’s not without tragedy. On his journey home, Fei’s anger boils over and he starts ripping apart some vegetation. He stumbles upon a praying mantis and after just one night of studying it, he returns to the Tian family and defeats all of them, avenging the death of his wife and mother-in-law.
I thought the story of Shaolin Mantis was pretty good, and sufficient time was spent on developing the characters (although Fei learns Mantis way too quick). Most of the fighting takes place in the last half hour of the film when Fei and ChiChi are trying to escape and during Fei’s return. As for the fighting, or fight choreography, it’s very good. I was surprised at how much of the action was based on weapons combat, and you’ll see a nice variety of bladed weapons used here. These include the spear, swords, dual swords, knives, and even a three section staff and Old Master’s pipe. It isn’t until the final battles in which we see any of the Mantis style which is fun and interesting to see. In either case, the choreography is very good.
On DVD
As we’ve seen previously with these Dragon Dynasty releases, Shaolin Mantis arrives nicely packaged with a removable cover and standard case. The box art is great and the disc menu is fine. Menu options include subtitle support for English and Spanish, Audio Options for Mandarin and English, and Chapter Selection. There are no extras of any kind unfortunately, but that shouldn’t be surprising. Image and sound quality is just fine, no complaints. Expect a widescreen image with a basic Dolby Digital track.
With that, let’s get to the summary…