Today’s quick review: Return to the 36th Chamber. To protect the workers of a dye mill from the wage-slashing Chief Ma (Jiang Dao), Chou Jen Chieh (Liu Jia Hui) poses as a Shaolin monk and tries to intimidate Ma and his men. But when the disguise backfires, he only ends up making the situation worse. To make up for his mistake, Chou must con his way into a real Shaolin temple and gain the martial arts training he needs to save the mill’s employees.
Return to the 36th Chamber is a martial arts action comedy about a friendly swindler who gets caught up in a labor dispute, following Chou in his journey from cheat to unlikely hero. Return to the 36th Chamber features a simple but functional story that delivers a good mixture of action and humor. Slapstick, character-driven antics, and feats of martial prowess are the film’s bread and butter, making it a modest but satisfying watch.
Tonally, Return to the 36th Chamber goes through a peculiar arc. It opens as a drama as Chief Ma cracks down on his workers, shifts to a comedy as Chou enters the scene, and ends up an action movie as he’s exposed to true Shaolin martial arts. Each segment works well enough, but the movie doesn’t come into its own until its hero begins his training. His unconventional, protracted training regime is one of the film’s most distinctive qualities.
Return to the 36th Chamber never goes far beyond the basics. The jokes mainly revolve around Chou’s attempts to lie his way out of trouble and the tight spots they get him into. The story fits the same template as many others in the genre and, apart from the tangents of Chou’s failed schemes, is a straight shot from start to finish. The martial arts on display is skillful and fairly creative, but not to the degree of the best films in the genre.
As a result, Return to the 36th Chamber is a good pick for fans of the genre looking for something light and a poor one for anyone looking for mind-blowing stunts or innovative storytelling. Return to the 36th Chamber is a cleanly executed action comedy that delivers what it promises. For a martial arts comedy that tries something similar with more sharper execution, try The Legend of Drunken Master.
7.1 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for basic but satisfying action and comedy.