Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986) has the distinction of being one of the first Jet Li movies - his third, the last of a trilogy of Shaolin films. Other than that, it has very little to distinguish it.
Jet Li is a Shaolin monk who runs away to assassinate an evil warlord, mainly by posing as a lion dancer. He meets three other monks with the same aim, one who is secretly a woman, and his soulmate. That's about it for plot, and about all you need. So, how are the fights?
The fights are great - very Shaolin. They are pretty tightly choreographed, so there is a stylized, sparring feel. Not exactly realistic, but done with great skill. The movie in general is silly fun, plus there's cute young Jet Li.
As I've said, sometimes I just want to watch some kung fu. This was that. It featured very good kung fu with few distractions. It didn't break new ground, send an artistic message, or thrill me to the core. But it was very good at what it did.
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