The problem of this action flick is not the absence of money. Did you watch "Xtro" (a cheap "home-made" horror from the UK)? "Xtro" was amazing because it was imaginative to the core and had a very freaky atmosphere. "Spiritual Kung Fu" lacks such charm. I think that the problem lies in some sort of laziness of the filmmakers. What could have been done better? OK, here we go...
No.1 The opening scene is an example of frustration. Some sparkle falls from the skies and there is an earthquake causing a few funny ghosts to emerge from the monastery's vaults. The execution of this scene is awful. I would kick a football set on fire into the building, apply a set of metal sticks for some strange sound, and make the "ghosts" come out from the earth and fight each other for "warming up". Would it cost more money? I don't think so. But the final product would have been much more entertaining.
No.2 The scene where Jackie Chan's character is being tricked by the ghosts is slow and unimpressive. What would I do? I would set up a tougher scene with the ghosts making Chan's character suffer a few bad falls and a few hurtful kicks and punches. The ghosts would scare away all the monks beating some of them to unconsciousness and only our "clown" would not retreat. After beating him up the ghosts would teach him their type of "spiritual" kung fu as a reward for his masculine behaviour.
I don't have much time for all this kind of typing work but I can easily go on, while even the famous scene of Jackie Chan vs. the monks is far from being fantastic.
Watch "Dragon Lord" or "City Hunter" instead. Those ones were made correctly, in my humble opinion. As to this "Spiritual Kung Fu", I have a feeling that Mr Jackie Chan was not very interested in the whole production, was drowsy all through the movie, and did not want to fight. There is no fire in his eyes and no fire in his movements here. And the jokes suck. And camera-work too (the focus is constantly roaming and the right scenes are shot badly as a result).
2 out of 10 (well, it is not ultimately bad). Thanks for attention.
No.1 The opening scene is an example of frustration. Some sparkle falls from the skies and there is an earthquake causing a few funny ghosts to emerge from the monastery's vaults. The execution of this scene is awful. I would kick a football set on fire into the building, apply a set of metal sticks for some strange sound, and make the "ghosts" come out from the earth and fight each other for "warming up". Would it cost more money? I don't think so. But the final product would have been much more entertaining.
No.2 The scene where Jackie Chan's character is being tricked by the ghosts is slow and unimpressive. What would I do? I would set up a tougher scene with the ghosts making Chan's character suffer a few bad falls and a few hurtful kicks and punches. The ghosts would scare away all the monks beating some of them to unconsciousness and only our "clown" would not retreat. After beating him up the ghosts would teach him their type of "spiritual" kung fu as a reward for his masculine behaviour.
I don't have much time for all this kind of typing work but I can easily go on, while even the famous scene of Jackie Chan vs. the monks is far from being fantastic.
Watch "Dragon Lord" or "City Hunter" instead. Those ones were made correctly, in my humble opinion. As to this "Spiritual Kung Fu", I have a feeling that Mr Jackie Chan was not very interested in the whole production, was drowsy all through the movie, and did not want to fight. There is no fire in his eyes and no fire in his movements here. And the jokes suck. And camera-work too (the focus is constantly roaming and the right scenes are shot badly as a result).
2 out of 10 (well, it is not ultimately bad). Thanks for attention.