‘Two Champions of Shaolin’ (1980)

The Five Venoms reunite with director Chang Cheh for an average Qing vs. Ming story that features above average martial arts action.

The onscreen absence of Venoms favorite, Philip Kwok, who did contribute stunt choreography is a disappointment but giving the starring role to the beefy and underrated Lo Meng is a stroke of genius. Lo is in top form playing the talented yet naive pupil who’s pleasantly enthusiastic acting ranges from confidently smug to innocently bashful.

Early on, it’s clear that Two Champions of Shaolin relies even more on the action than your average Venoms flick. At this point in his career, director and writer Chang Cheh was putting out some of the best work, such as the Kid with the Golden Arm the previous year and the outrageous Five Element Ninjas (1982). With Chang cranking out numerous films each year, its not surprising that a number of them would sink into a comfortable pattern established in The Chinatown Kid where the Venoms stars first came together.

This time, Cheh deals with the destruction of Shaolin by the Manchu and throws in Wu Tang, a Northern clan of martial artists as rivals to Shaolin who ally themselves with the Manchu. This topic had been beaten into the ground by countless kung fu movies and Chang adds nothing new or interesting. Also, the simple plot appears somewhat similar to other Venoms films that rehash their same old shtick. As the story progresses, Lo Meng meets Sun Chien as he escapes Wu Tang members who have caught him off guard with deadly throwing daggers. Shortly thereafter, the ever-youthful Chiang Sheng turns up and the trio happily fights and kills several Wu Tang members, one in a particularly gruesome, groin-wrenching fashion. Of course, as these things go, the baddies get crafty and send a woman to murder Lo Meng’s new bride and catch the whole wedding party unawares. Although Meng is the main hero, he ends up incapacitated twice, while its up to his friends and a Ming loyalist within Wu Tang to save the day. The end is all vintage Chang as the heroes go out in a bloody good bout of final defiance.

While the story may be mundane, the kung fu is downright sublime. Chang sets up a number of fine battles, perhaps the best takes place when the Wu Tang challenge Lo and Chiang to a public one-on-one match. The runner up goes to the final bout that features Chiang Sheng taking on three Wu Tang members who all use monkey style kung fu and wield staves in unison. The fights have been under-cranked to make the movements appear faster, but it’s no detriment to the action which is varied and highly creative thanks to the talents of Philip Kwok and pals. For straight martial arts action, the Venoms players have never looked better with fast and frenzied sparring.

Regardless, Two Champions of Shaolin is a good example of why Shaw Brothers lost their luster. While rival studio Golden Harvest was encouraging more creativity and thus helped along the careers of innovators like Jackie Chan and Tsui Hark, SB seemed content to produce average films that had nothing new to offer. While Chang still had some creative energy left and the Venoms are certainly enjoyable to watch, this film seems like a run through previous collaborations. For most Venoms fans that will be good news.