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In honor of the Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , Gene Ching wrote a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China.  In this fifth and final installment, Gene looks at the 2011 film Shaolin and the involvement of Payhuan Shiao, Founder, Creator, CEO of Immortal Studios. Please find the previous reviews in the series below: Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple: Shaolin Temple (1982) https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-shaolin-temple-1982 Films from Fa Sheng's Temple: The Shaolin Temple Trilogy (Part 2 & 3) https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-the-shaolin-temple-trilogy-part-2-3 Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple: Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-holy-robe-of-shaolin-temple   Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple: Master of Zen https://www.immortal-studios.com/post/films-from-fa-sheng-s-temple-master-of-zen Shaolin (2011) The movie Shaolin  breaks from the form of our Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple series because it wasn’t filmed at Shaolin Temple. However, it is worthy of inclusion because it was the first film to be officially endorsed by the Abbot, venerable Shi Yongxin. He is credited as “Chief producer.”  When the project was initially announced in 2009, it was initially promoted as a redux of the original Shaolin Temple  (1982) and Jet Li was attached. The Chinese title is Xin Shaolinsi  (New Shaolin Temple). However, Li later denied knowing anything about the project so that announcement was likely an early promotional grab. Ultimately, Shaolin  has a completely different story than the 1982 film: it set in the early 20th century during China’s warlord period, while the original is based on a legend of how the Shaolin monks helped the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shinmin (598-649 CE). That event was hailed in a stele set within Shaolin Temple, which still stands there today.  When the actual cast was announced, it included Chinese A-listers Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and Nicholas Tse. Zhou Xun was also in early discussions, but she demurred and was replaced by Fan Bingbing. Benny Chan was directing with Corey Yuen serving as the action director.  Beyond Jackie Chan, the film had three notable martial arts stars. First was Yu Hai, the wushu champion who played the head monk in the 1982 original. He was cast appropriately as the abbot. Also added was Wu Jing, another wushu champion, who has since risen to become one of China’s top A-listers and leading action stars.   Author Gene Ching with Yu Hai Last but not least, the cast included Xing Yu, who was an actual former warrior monk from Shaolin Temple. Xing Yu brought the traditional Shaolin Kung Fu form of Qixingquan (seven star fist) into the film. It is shown in most of the training sequences and some of the combat applications appear in the fight choreography within the film. Like with Immortal Studios projects, Shaolin  endeavored to include authentic Shaolin Kung Fu, and what better way than to bring a genuine Shaolin monk into the cast? Author Gene Ching with Shaolin Monk Shi Deren, American Shaolin  author Matthew Polly, and Xing Yu The author of this review, Gene Ching, had the honor of training with Xing Yu back in the mid-nineties at the Shaolin Temple Wushuguan. After leaving the Shaolin order, Xing Yu has gone on to appear in over sixty films such as Kung Fu Hustle , Ip Man , Kung Fu Jungle , Ride On , Striking Rescue  and others. Qixingquan became widely popular as a demonstration form for schools within Shaolin diaspora and for tournament competitors for several years in the wake of Shaolin . When film production began, a blessing ceremony was held at Shaolin Temple, overseen by Abbot Shi Yongxin. However, as mentioned earlier,  Shaolin  wasn’t shot at Shaolin. Instead, it was filmed in life-sized replica built in Zhejiang province. Within the film, the temple is burned, and that was not possible to stage at the real location.  Shaolin premiered during the Chinese New Year film rush. The story was well written, leaning heavily into the dramatic chops of Andy Lau. Lau gives his role plenty of gravitas, but it detracts somewhat from the final fight, as he isn't known for his martial skills. Fortunately, there's lots of other fights in the film, however the choreography relies heavily on wire work and CGI. Many of the wire work jumps look hokey. The wire work falls are good, however. There are some spectacular falling stunts.  Jackie Chan is very Jackie Chan. He injects some much-needed humor in what is a generally depressing film about war ravaged peasants and brutal warlords. Jackie's scenes really stick out. Yu Hai, Wu Jing and Xing Yu all turn in some decent fights, once you get past the wire work. Their acting performances outshine their choreography, however.  The sets and costumes are spectacular. The costumes ranged from opulent for the warlords and ragtag for the monks. The monks were depicted very compassionately - a bit of an over-romanticized view of Shaolin monks but it worked for the film. Shaolin also has cartoonish Caucasian villains, common in films set in this period of China’s history. Foreign powers were carving up China for themselves. This is the time of the Boxer Uprising, and the same era when Fa Sheng’s story is set. Immortal Studios Founder, Creator, CEO, Payhuan Shiao had a hand in  Shaolin . At that time, he was working with the Shaolin Cultural Communication Company which was set up by the Shaolin Temple to oversee Shaolin representation in media collaborations such as this. Through this cooperation, Shiao worked on developing several Shaolin movie projects under that banner especially for the global market. Beyond Shaolin , he worked on a Shaolin-based TV show and a reality show. For the reality show, K-Star, Shiao worked with the temple and the producers of The Biggest Loser .  For Shaolin , Shiao was mostly making sure that the historical elements were accurate. “Benny Chan, the director, was very seasoned,” reflects Shiao, “He had a huge amount of adoration and respect for the temple, as did Andy Lau. So there wasn’t too much to be done, to be truthful. All of those things were resolved at the concept level.”  Shiao was also at the premiere of Shaolin  with all the stars, which was held at the Hong Kong Film Festival. “We walked the red carpet together,” remembers Shiao fondly, “But I wouldn‘t say that I was a mover and shaker in that movie by any stretch.” Nevertheless, today Payhuan Shiao is the ultimate mover and shaker when it comes to Shaolin-based comic books. Remember to support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter !  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer

In honor of the Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , Gene Ching is writing a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China. When it comes to films shot on location at Shaolin Temple, Master of Zen  is by far the quirkiest. Also known by the title Bodhidharma , this Hong Kong production is a Kung Fu take on the life of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu. There’s a lot to unpack here for the uninitiated. Bodhidharma was the Indian monk in the direct transmission lineage of the Buddha, who travelled to China to spread the dharma during the 6th century. In Chinese, he is known by the phonetic translation Putitamo, or Tamo for short. As a significant historical and religious figure, there are many tales about him. One of the most notable is that he faced a faced a stone wall in a cave on Shaoshih peak above Shaolin Temple for nine years in meditation. According to legend, he fell asleep once during this period and became so upset with himself that he cut off his eyelids. His eyelids fell to the ground and sprouted the first tea plants to aid monks in prolonged meditation. He faced the stone wall for so long that a rock from that wall bears his image. When he emerged from the cave, he brought Zen Buddhism to the world, or Chan as it was originally called in Chinese. What’s more, he developed a series of qigong exercises, Yijinjing (muscle tendon sutra) and Xisuijing (marrow washing sutra), which became the foundation of Shaolin Kung Fu.  While most scholars find Tamo’s connection to Kung Fu apocryphal, the cave still exists and is open to tourists who wish to make the climb up Shaoshih peak. And the image stone is now kept within Shaolin Temple as a holy relic. As fanciful as it may be, Tamo is the legendary source point of Kung Fu. A Kung Fu take on Tamo is a natural for the Kung Fu wuxia genre. And it surely amuses pious Zen practitioners for its absurdity. Master of Zen (1994) Master of Zen  stars Derek Yee in the titular role. He plays Tamo in Indian brown-face, complete with a bald cap and a semi-TNG-Klingon forehead, made up to look like he’s concentrating hard all the time. Some Hong Kong films of the nineties were absurdly racist and sexist. Under all the makeup, Yee looks more Filipino than Indian. The early part of the film is set in India, so the cast is mostly comprised of Chinese actors playing Indians by adding big mustaches and turbans. Somewhat redeeming is that the locations where this was shot are spectacular. Yee’s Tamo got serious Kung Fu chops and busts out in some major fights throughout the film. Then there's a lot of reenactments of famous Tamo moments, like crossing the Yangtze on a bamboo reed. That's done with crazy somersaulting wirework, not at all as any classical artist imagined it. There are also several funny demonstrations of Tamo's divine power: catching arrows with his fingertips, ejecting needles piercing his body, holding back horses with his bare hand – all good fun. Yee is a veteran actor with well over fifty films to his credit, ranging from action to drama. He now sits in the director’s chair with twenty films to his credit; his most recent In Search of Lost Time  came out in 2022. His characterization of Tamo is as a Kung Fu superhero.  Master of Zen  follows Tamo’s journey from his life as an Indian prince, all the way to Shaolin Temple. It's shot there and in the surrounding area. There's a spectacular swordfight at the base of the big Guanyin at Longmen Grottoes. The Longmen Grottoes have some of the finest Buddhist carvings and statues in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Master of Zen  catches Shaolin Temple a year before the 1500th Anniversary, when it was just starting to open to the global community. Back then, Shaolin Temple was a little wilder and a lot less polished.  What’s more, Tamo’s first disciple, Huike, is played by Louis Fan Siu-Wong. Fan also played Riki Oh. If you don’t know Riki Oh: Story of Ricky , (1991) that is most sanguineous movie for Kung Fu gore fans – a cult classic but not for the faint of heart.   However, above all that, this movie drops some major Zen, or Chan as it is called in Mandarin. Respect. Passages from The Transmissions of the Lamp  and some koans ( gungan  in Mandarin) are recited as part of the reenactments. It hits a lot of mythic points, such as Tamo talking about his robe being passed to the 6th Patriarch. The 6th Patriarch was Huineng, and his Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a highly influential text in Chan. Master of Zen  should not be confused with Shaolin Monk , which is also a Kung Fu take on Bodhidharma made eighteen years earlier in 1976. Shaolin Monk  is also known as Fighting of Shaolin Monks or my favorite,  Killer Priest. Starring as Tamo is Sing Chen, a Thai martial arts action star who began in with a supporting role in Return of the One-Armed Swordsman  (1969) and has over 140 films to his credit.  Shaolin Monk  was not shot at Shaolin Temple. There is a beautiful waterfall which doubles for the Yangtze where Tamo does his crossing the river on a bamboo reed thing, although more conventionally in this film. Tamo propounds his 18 Styles (another myth states that on top of the two qigong forms, Bodhidharma also created the 18 basic movements of Kung Fu) but Chen underdelivers. He was a practitioner of Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate and served as a Royal Hong Kong Prison Cop in real life. But in this film, Tamo’s 18 Styles looks like a woefully weak version of Hung Gar Tiger Crane. This is the kind of film where a villainous mantis master is painted green.  In our next installment of Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple , we’ll examine more recent film about Shaolin Temple that involved our founder, creator, and CEO, Payhuan Shiao. Until then, tune in, turn on, and support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter !  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer

In honor of the Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , Gene Ching is writing a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China. Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  (1985) Squeezed in between the last two installments of the previously mentioned Shaolin Trilogy was another film shot on location at Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin came out in 1984 followed by Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shaolin in 1986. Nestled neatly in between was Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple  in 1985, another attempt to capitalize on the success of the original Shaolin Temple  film in 1982 . Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple  was shot at Shaolin Temple AND at the temples of Wudang. It starred another cast of top Wushu champions, and an opera-trained star who went on to become one of Asia’s leading action stars. The main villain was played Yu Rongguang. Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  was his first film. Yu is the son of Peking Opera performer Yu Ming Kui. Like Bruce Lee, whose parents were Chinese opera stars, and Jackie Chan, who was trained in classical opera skills from childhood, Yu’s foundation is in opera-style Kung Fu. It’s perfect training for action films because it’s so theatrical.  Since Holy Robe of Shaolin Temple , Yu, who sometimes goes by Ringo, has starred in over a hundred films. He is most remembered for playing Dr. Yang in Iron Monkey  (1993), a wild wuxia film from action director virtuoso Yuen Woo-Ping. Also starring Donnie Yen as Wong Kei-Ting, the father of Wong Fei Hung. In this film, Wong Fei Hung is a child, so he was played by Tsang Sze-Man (or Angie Tsang) back when she was a child Wushu champion. After making the film, she continued to win international Wushu championships. She joined the Hong Kong Police Force in 2003 and retired from competing in 2006. To this day, she still works for the Hong Kong Police.  But back to Ringo Yu, he is also remembered as the Imperial Guard chasing Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon  (2000) or more recently, the Kreese Sensei role of Master Li in the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid  with Chan and Jaden Smith. Yu is still very active in filmmaking. The most recent of his films that got international distribution was Ride On  (2023), again with Chan. He released two more films in China, the last one was last year, and he’s got three more films on the way for 2025, two of which are in the can.  In Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple , Yu plays the villainous Qi Tianyuan, betrayer of Shaolin Temple who attacks its abbot attempting to seize abbacy. He demands the holy robe, the cassock of the founder of Shaolin Temple’s Zen sect, Bodhidharma, or Tamo in Chinese. In Buddhism, the transition of the previous abbot’s robe symbolizes lineage transmission. The current abbot of the real Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin, says he has the robe of his predecessor, Shi Xingzheng, who passed away in 1987. But back to the movie, the Shaolin monks set out to hide the holy robe from Qi, so he cannot be ordained as the new abbot of Shaolin Temple.  The monk leader of this renegade Shaolin squad is Hui Neng (Xu Xiangdong). Hui Neng (638-713 CE) is known as the Sixth Patriarch of Chan, in the lineage of direct transmission recipients from the First Patriarch, Bodhidharma (Chan is the original Chinese word for what the Japanese call Zen). Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch  preserves Hui Neng’s teachings and stories, and is a significant Buddhist sutra from his period to this day.  Hui Neng is played by Xu Xiangdong. Xu was the main force of the Hebei Wushu team and known for his mastery of Yingzhaoquan (Eagle Claw fist). He continues to serve the Wushu community as a judge and made over two dozen films since Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple . His most recent movie came out this year. He had a role as Elder Liang in Tsui Hark’s 2025 Lunar New Year blockbuster Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants .  Accompanying Xu in Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  was the fellow Wushu champion, Wu Qiuhua playing Second Sister Lin Yi. After racking up some major championships in the National Games of the PRC, she immigrated to California and took the name Xena. Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  was her only film.  The fight choreography of Holy Robe of Shaolin   Temple  is top notch. There are plenty of long complex acrobatic scenes, the sort of which both opera Kung Fu and wushu excel in filming. It’s very derivative of the original Shaolin Temple .  There’s a scene at the beginning that echoes the iconic training scene in Shaolin Temple ; it’s a clip with some fine wushu demonstrations, but it’s a scene we’ve seen before. There’s also a scene that makes absolutely no sense. SPOILER ALERT Hui Neng is on the run, accompanied by a Shaolin brother and some Shaolin kid novices (a.k.a. Shami). After being chased through the streets by the Royal Guard, and they get pinned between their pursuers and some archers. The archers release a volley of arrows, only sticking the eldest monk. Then suddenly, the kids are watching him die by the riverside, far from where they were, with no pursuers in sight. It’s a jarring, confusing cut, as if the filmmakers just bailed and went to the next scene without rhyme or reason. I wondered if there was a scene in between that was omitted but I can’t imagine anything that could resolve the plot flaw.  END SPOILER Beyond the historic locations, the marvelous martial arts fights, and the martial twist on one of Chan’s earliest legendary monks, there’s some outstanding horsemanship demonstrated in this film. And stealing the spotlight is an absolutely death-defying fire stunt that will literally burn into the back of your retinas forever. Back in 1985, there weren’t any kind of special effects like we have today, so the horsemanship showcased, and that intense fire stunt, have so much more impact for being 100% real.  It's ironic to see a founding monk like Hui Neng depicted as a Kung Fu hero, but that’s just the way Chinese pop culture goes sometimes. While it appears irreverent, paradoxically, it is respectful in its own peculiar way. And when it comes to quirky Kung Fu movies about Buddhist founders, you ain’t seen nothing yet. In our next installment of Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple , we’ll examine another film shot at Shaolin Temple about Bodhidharma – Tamo himself as a Kung Fu master. Until then, tune in, turn on, and support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter !  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer

" There was a time I believed in nothing but my fists. I buried my past beneath sweat, silence, and stone floors. But grief… it has a way of seeping through the cracks. And the path I thought I’d abandoned now calls me again. This is not a story about vengeance. It is a story about standing back up. Fa Sheng: Origins 3 arrives on Kickstarter, June 4 — the next chapter in my long walk through fire. If you've ever questioned your purpose, doubted the heavens, or stood at the edge of belief… …I walk with you." ~Fa Sheng Dear Immortals, As political tensions between the U.S. and China rise to some of the highest in recent history, it can feel like we’re caught in the crossfire of narratives we didn’t write. But stories have always had the power to reshape what politics distorts — to show us the human soul beneath the headline. This is where Fa Sheng begins. Set during the Boxer Uprising — a time when foreign powers ransacked China under the guise of progress — Fa Sheng: Origins isn’t just a martial arts epic. It’s a window into the raw pain and complex resistance of a people whose bodies, beliefs, and sovereignty were stripped away. The Boxers weren’t mythical. They were real warriors who trained in kung fu to resist invaders armed with guns. They wore amulets. Practiced hard qigong. Believed their spirit could turn aside bullets. And while history remembers them as tragic, we remember them as all too human. Fa Sheng, our protagonist, is born from this fire. Grieving. Angry. Hollowed out. He enters the Shaolin Temple not as a seeker of enlightenment, but as someone too broken to believe in anything beyond survival. What unfolds is not just a battle of fists, but a reckoning with spirit — a realization that true power isn’t in how hard you hit… it’s in what you stand for. In a world tearing itself apart with distrust, Fa Sheng asks a question: Can we build something new from the ruins of pain? Can we turn story into a bridge — not a weapon? We believe yes. But not without you. 👉 Click “Notify Me on Launch” on our Kickstarter to stand with us. Not just as a reader — but as someone helping us bridge cultures through courage, through memory, and through mythos. Because the fight isn’t just on the battlefield.It ’s in the stories we choose to tell — and the ones we choose to lift up. Let’s make this one count. With fire and gratitude, Team Immortal

LOS ANGELES, CA NeueHouse Hollywood Third Floor Terrace At a time of geopolitical tension, superhero fatigue, and an escalating mental health crisis, Immortal Studios—a next-generation, AAPI-led entertainment company—is inviting audiences to reconnect with stories that awaken the hero within. On Wednesday, May 8 from 7:00–9:00 PM at NeueHouse Hollywood , Immortal will host “The Hero Re-Awakens”—a live multimedia celebration of Wuxia, the iconic Chinese martial arts fantasy genre centered on justice, transformation, and inner power. The event honors both AAPI Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, and spotlights Immortal’s five-year journey from indie comics to cinematic universe. Presented in partnership with NeueHouse, Digital LA, Asian Hustle Network, and Kung Fu Magazine, the evening will feature top creators, performers, and thought leaders celebrating Immortal’s mission—and its growing role as a cultural and commercial force. Event Highlights Include: Fireside Chat: Immortal VP of Content Kelly Sue Milano and renowned Kung Fu/pop culture journalist Gene Ching in conversation with Immortal Founder & CEO Payhuan Peter Shiao to discuss Wuxia’s global rise, Immortal’s mission and cross-cultural impact, and the company’s evolution from comics to a multimedia entertainment studio. Storyverse Showcase: A cinematic reel unveiling the evolving Immortal IP universe, including Fa Sheng: Origins and Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsmen. Live Performances: Lion dancing and martial arts by East Wind Foundation. Immortal Experience Zone: Step & repeat, exclusive merch tables, collectibles, and exhibits from the Immortal collection. Wuxia: The Genre of Now With traditional superhero franchises losing cultural momentum, Wuxia—long a cornerstone of Eastern storytelling—is now emerging as the next global super-genre. Rooted in personal mastery, purpose, and justice, Wuxia offers a refreshing antidote to nihilism and disconnection. At a time when cultural forms are often borrowed without full understanding, Immortal is bringing deep cultural authenticity to the forefront—honoring the origins of Wuxia while evolving it for today’s world. Immortal Studios is leading this resurgence, developing an interconnected, cross-platform Wuxia Storyverse rooted in the legendary works of Shiao Yi, one of the most influential modern masters of the genre. About Immortal Studios Immortal Studios is a creator-led, AI-powered, and fan-driven entertainment company reimagining the ancient Chinese genre of Wuxia for the global stage. With exclusive rights to the literary works of Shiao Yi—widely regarded as one of the top creators in modern Wuxia—and a slate of original, interconnected IPs, Immortal is building the first true Wuxia Storyverse for today’s audiences. The company has assembled a world-class team from both East and West—including veterans of Marvel, Riot Games, DC, 20th Century Fox, and Quibi—and has forged key partnerships with the Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Kung Fu, and UCLA, where the Shiao Yi Wuxia Library was recently established. Together, these efforts position Immortal as the unparalleled platform for authentic Wuxia storytelling, blending mythology, technology, and meaning across comics, film, games, and immersive fan engagement. Press RSVPs, interview requests, and early access to Immortal’s IP slate available.📩  caseygatescreative@gmail.com

In honor of the upcoming Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , I’m writing a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China. Shaolin Temple   was truly groundbreaking film on every level so not surprisingly, many emulators followed in its wake. Two subsequent films have been included with the original Shaolin Temple  film in what is dubbed ‘The Shaolin Temple Trilogy,’ even though the successive two films were completely new storylines that had nothing to do with the original and the third was from a different production company altogether. Aside from reuniting the powerful cast of martial artists, the only aspect that all three films share is that Jet Li cross dresses in every installment. Nevertheless, in hopes of coat tailing on singular success of Shaolin Temple , these films were marketed as Shaolin Temple 2  and Shaolin Temple 3 . Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin  (1984) Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin  is from the same production company as Shaolin Temple , Chung Yuen Motion Picture, with the same director, Chang Hsin-Yen. It reunites the cast, but they are playing entirely different roles in a story completely unrelated to the original. And contrary to the theme of this special Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple  series, it was not filmed at Shaolin Temple. Instead, Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin  was shot in the gorgeous mountains and lakes of Guilin.  It’s a story about two Shaolin disciples, Tin Lung (Yu Hai) and Yee Lung (Hu Jianqiang), who rescue and raise a group of boys orphaned by bandits, the eldest of which is San Lung (Jet Li). Across the river is Pao Sheng Fung (Yu Chenghui), a Wudang master, who much to his dismay, has only sired girls. Ji Chunhua and Sun Jiankui also return from the original film, both playing villains. The story capitalizes on the age-old rivalry between Shaolin and Wudang, with a battle of the sexes added in for good measure. Shaolin Temple  only had one female character, the daughter of Sifu (Yu Hai), Bai Wu Xia (Ding Lan). To fortify the Wudang women, Shaolin Temple 2  added Huang Quiyan as San Feng, San Lung’s love interest. In real life, Huang was also a Wushu champion and trained alongside Li from childhood. The two married and had two daughters, however they divorced after only three years. Li broke up with Huang by phone, but they have allegedly remained friends.  The story focuses on kids, some rather annoying kids at that. The Shaolin boys are constantly teasing the Wudang girls, and despite their extraordinary Kung Fu skills, a lot of the humor falls flat today. There’s a running joke about split trousers and a lot of gratuitous shots of the naked butts of the young boys. Like the first film, there’s a musical interlude, but here, Jet Li sings (it’s dubbed – unlike Jackie Chan who is a trained traditional Chinese opera singer and has several pop music albums, Jet can’t sing). SPOILER ALERT The most challenging scene is when Master Pao finally fathers a son, he plays with the infant’s penis and even kisses it. This scene is edited out of most on the internationally distributed versions.  END SPOILER. Throughout the film, there are some fine choreographed fights, par for the cast of Wushu champions. The kids are good too and deliver some deft displays of Wushu skills. There is also a traditional Northern style lion dance segment that stands as an excellent exhibition of the art – no wire work, just pure talent. Lion dancing is rooted in Kung Fu. What appears to be a charming Chinese version of a pantomime horse is built upon extreme Kung Fu skills.  Ultimately, Shaolin Temple 2  redeems its shortcomings with the final fight, which is an all-out battle between a gang of villainous bandits and the united Shaolin and Wudang families. The bandits are armed with some weird weapons, most notably Ji Chunhua as the one-eyed bandit leader. Ji bears the nickname ‘Bald Eagle’ because in real life, he suffers from alopecia, so he has no hair or eyebrows. Consequently, his entire career has been playing villains. Nevertheless, his martial arts mastery is profound. Here, he is armed with a crazy bladed shield and a short pole with an eagle talon top. Ji’s battle with Yu Hai is fantastic, as is a thrilling sword fight between Yu Chenghui versus Sun Jiankui. To top it off, Li has an incredible 3-section staff battle with two opponents also wielding 3-section staffs. It’s an awesome finale, worth suffering through the rest of the film. Or you can just fast forward to the fight scenes. Despite its shortcomings, Shaolin Temple 2  did well at the Chinese box office. It was China’s highest-grossing film title for 1984. Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shaolin  (1986) The third film was produced by the legendary Kung Fu grindhouse, Shaw Brothers Studio, the source point of countless classics of the genre. Lau Kar-leung, the unparalleled Kung Fu actor and fight choreography, took over the director’s chair. And it was filmed at Shaolin Temple, or at least parts of it were shot there.  The Chinese title of this film is Nanbei Shaolin (North South Shaolin) which refers to the southern Shaolin Temple in Putian. Lin Zhiming (Jet Li) and Shi Ren (Yu Hai) represent Shaolin monks from the original temple. Sima Yan (Huang Qiuyan) and Chao Wei (Hu Jianqiang) are from the Southern Putian Shaolin Temple. This gives Hu the opportunity to showcase his expertise in nanquan (southern fist), a form of Wushu that is based on southern Kung Fu methods. Also returning are Ji ‘Bald Eagle’ Chunhua, Sun Jiankui, and Yu Chenghui, once again as villains.  The film is another revenge tale, borrowing elements from the first two films. Along with the scenes shot at Shaolin Temple, there are scenes from Guilin, which doesn’t make much sense. There is no reason to pass through Guilin when going between the original Shaolin Temple at Songshan and Putian because Putian, Songshan Shaolin, and Guilin form a triangle. But it’s scenic, and this is far from the first film to distort geography for scenery. There’s another epic Northern style lion dance, but this one levels up with a mind boggling tightrope stunt. Like the original film, there’s more animal cruelty and Buddhists cheating their vegetarian vows as Lin Zhiming skins a snake and cooks it up (in Shaolin Temple’s sacred Pagoda Forest, same place he smuggled the dog head in the first film). He then covertly shares the meat with his monastic brothers in a scene meant to be comic relief. And once again, Jet Li disguises himself in drag to get past guards at a checkpoint.  The fight choreography is still excellent, but not quite up to the first two films. Lau Kar-leung is unquestionably one of the best fight choreographers ever, but he wasn’t as familiar with Wushu as he was with traditional southern Kung Fu and it shows. There is a contest between two teams of Shaolin monks competing to paint a large character for Buddha, which is very much in line with the imaginative Kung Fu contests seen in many other Shaw Brothers productions. The beats of this fight, along with the others, are akin to Shaw Brothers films of that era, which is excellent but somewhat restrictive for what Wushu can deliver. The fight scenes are still ridiculously precise, acrobatic, and complex, but Wushu doesn’t shine as much as it did in the first two films. The first two films were groundbreaking with their Wushu showcases, setting the bar so high that they are hard acts to follow, even to this day.  Nevertheless, there’s some fantastic fight choreography here, including one distinctive homage to Bruce Lee. When Jet Li tears some of Yu Chenghui’s beard away, and then blows it out of his hand, it’s a nod to Lee’s The Way of the Dragon  (1972) fight. Lee does the same thing after ripping out a patch of Chuck Norris’ chest hair.  For anyone who has been to Shaolin Temple recently, the first and third installments of the Shaolin Trilogy are postcards of what the monastery looked like in the early eighties. The tourist invasion has yet to affect the temple’s restoration, so it appears simpler and a bit wilder. It’s a treasure to see that era of Shaolin Temple preserved in these films. There was another film shot at Shaolin Temple in between Shaolin Temple 2  and Shaolin Temple 3 . We’ll explore that in our next installment of Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple . Until then, tune in, turn on, and support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter , launching soon! By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

In honor of the upcoming Kickstarter for Fa Sheng: Origins #3 , I’m writing a short series of reviews for Immortal Studios on films shot on location at the original Shaolin Temple of China. Despite Shaolin Temple’s historical significance, very few films have been shot on location.  The Shaolin Temple of legend is the setting of Fa Sheng’s training. The Shaolin Temple is also a very real place. Nestled in the heart of China, atop the central holy mountain of Songshan, Shaolin Temple is included as part of ‘the Center of Heaven and Earth,’ one of 11 ancient locations in Dengfeng declared as a World Heritage site in 2010. Dengfeng is in China’s Henan province, a culturally rich region that served as a center for Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. According to legend, Shaolin Temple is where Bodhidharma founded Zen and Kung Fu.  The original Shaolin Temple fell into neglect during the Cultural Revolution of the 60s. And when the Cultural Revolution was over, only a few monks and folk masters survived to carry on the legacy. But one movie changed everything. In a cinematic example of karma, the real Shaolin Temple, which inspired countless Kung Fu films, was brought back to life by a Kung Fu film. That first one was immeasurably impactful.   When Shaolin Temple  debuted in 1982, it was a blockbuster on the level of Star Wars in China. Shaolin Temple  was the first martial arts movie to be made in the People's Republic of China. Previously martial arts films were mostly made in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Shaolin Temple  was among the very first films co-produced by Hong Kong and China. It allegedly sold a half billion tickets in China; when adjusted for inflation, Shaolin Temple  would be China’s highest grossing film ever. Shaolin Temple  was the first film shot at the Shaolin Temple. Through the film, audiences realized that the Temple had survived the Cultural Revolution, and flocked there to bear witness, pay homage, study, and train. Countless fans of the film were inspired and grew up to become modern masters of Chinese martial arts. Ask any master from mainland China’s present generation, and they will say just how influential Shaolin Temple  was to their journey. The growth of local martial arts schools and the influx of tourists brought economic power to Shaolin Temple. Consequently, it has grown to its well-deserved world stature, again thriving as a place of worship and a fiery forge for devoted kung fu practitioners.  Beyond the novelty of the location, Shaolin Temple  was the first cinematic showcase of the leading Wushu champions of the 80s, the first generation of Wushu champions. Although Wushu literally means ‘martial art,’ the term typically refers to a modern sport version of Chinese martial arts. Modelled after gymnastics, Wushu is scored on flamboyant and acrobatic skills, techniques developed for spectacle in hopes to capture a worldwide audience. China hoped to get Wushu accepted as an Olympic game. However, despite staging a special demonstration event at the 2008 Beijing Games, Wushu failed to get any global exposure, much less Olympic acceptance. While skills like 720 degree flying kicks aren’t practical for self-defense, they are perfect for the movies. Consequently, since the release of Shaolin Temple , the influence of Wushu-based fight choreography has penetrated everything from Star Wars to The Matrix. Although Wushu has yet to achieve the Olympic status it craves, it has conquered the world through action cinema.  Shaolin Temple was Jet Li’s first film. He plays Jue Yuan, a cliché wronged hero taking refuge at Shaolin Temple and training for revenge. Li, or Li Lianjie as he is known in China, is the greatest champion that the sport of Wushu has ever produced. He won the All-Around National Championship five times in a row from 1975 to 1979, competing against adults as a teenager. He was chosen to represent China in a historic cultural exchange with the USA where a delegation of 43 Wushu champions toured the nation and met with President Nixon. Unfortunately, that historic meeting was overshadowed by Watergate.  Alongside Li were some of Wushu’s other leading champions and masters: Hu Jianqiang, Ji Chunhua, Pan Qingfu, Sun Jiankui, Yu Chenghui, and Yu Hai. Each of them went on to have successful movie careers too, but none achieved the international recognition that Jet Li did. Few of them have been in movies that were distributed theatrically outside of Asia. Pan Qingfu garnered some attention from Hollywood with Iron & Silk  (1990), which was based on Mark Salzman’s autobiographic bestseller of the same name, but his part is very small in Shaolin Temple . The others have had lead roles in many successive martial arts films, as well as noteworthy achievements in the martial world. Yu Chenghui (Wang Renze) invented the two-handed sword method he demonstrates in the film and his teachings have spread all over the globe. Yu Hai (Sifu) created the unique fusion of Mantis Kung Fu also seen in the movie. Today, his form is still practiced by monks and students worldwide.  Shaolin Temple  retells a legend out of Shaolin’s 1500+ years of history when thirteen Shaolin monks rescued Li Shinmin, who would become the second emperor of the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE). This event is documented in a prized mural inside White Garment Hall inside Shaolin Temple allegedly painted in 1820 CE, as well as on a commemorative stele gifted by Emperor Taizong, which was the imperial name that Li Shimin took upon his ascending the dragon throne.  Beyond the scenic locations, the fight choreography absolutely shines throughout the film. The sport of Wushu has a category called duilian (opposed practice) where two or more athletes face each other in choreographed combat routines. No martial art has produced anything as spectacular as duilian. And it’s a perfect fit for the silver screen. The fight scenes in Shaolin Temple remain some of the most brilliant ever shot. The speed, precision, and complexity of the fights are absolutely amazing.  However, be warned. There are scenes in Shaolin Temple  that don’t hold up well anymore. This was long before ‘no animals were harmed in the making of this film’ was a thing. SPOILER ALERT: There’s a scene where Li’s character accidentally kills a dog, cooks it, and shares it with the monks. In one scene, the dog’s decapitated head can be seen in a bucket, and it’s clearly not a prop. Even more disturbing is that the scene is played for comedy. There’s also a frog chopping scene, again for food, but that doesn’t hit as hard as the dog. END SPOILER.  Two thematic ‘sequels’ followed, one from the same production company, and another from Shaw Brothers studio, both reassembling the cast. We’ll explore those in our next installment of Films from Fa Sheng’s Temple. Until then, tune in, turn on, and support our Fa Sheng: Origins #3 Kickstarter , launching soon!  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

Two of the biggest 2025 Chinese New Year releases were sequels. The global blockbuster Ne Zha 2 was covered in our previous review. Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  is literally cut from the same cloth, or book to be specific. Both Ne Zha and Creation of the Gods are based upon stories from Fengshen Yanyi , a 16th-century Chinese novel by Xu Zhonglin, translated as The Investiture of the Gods.  Nezha even appears in both Creation of the Gods  films, along with few other characters like Shen Gongbao and the Immortals. Nezha appears on the Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  poster in the upper lefthand corner, easily recognized by his magic red scarf.   Both Ne Zha 2  and Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  enjoyed a North American theatrical release, but the latter was very short. At China’s box office, Creation of the Gods II  placed third behind Ne Zha 2  and Detective Chinatown 1900  (the 4th installment in that franchise).  Both films take tremendous liberties with the original story The Investiture of the Gods ; such is the nature of book-to-filmmaking. While Ne Zha 2  fits neatly into the Xianxia (immortal heroes) genre, Creation of the Gods II leans more towards Wuxia (warrior heroes), despite both movies emerging from the same epic. Creation of the Gods II is more wuxia because it is told more so from the human perspective. A major plot point focuses on Jiang Ziya (Huang Bo), an immortal who forsakes his magic and returns to being human. He is flanked by loyal immortal protectors and nephew disciples: Yang Jian (Ci Sha) and Nezha (Wu Ya Fan).  The Creation of the Gods films are part of a trilogy, written and directed by maverick filmmaker Wuershan. All three movies were filmed together from 2018 through 2019, an 18 month shoot that employed some 10,000 crew members. Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms was originally slated for 2020, but the world got sick, so its premiere was delayed until 2023. Originally, Creation of the Gods II was to follow in 2024, but with thousands of special effects shots to be made, post-production took an additional year.  But before we dig into the sequel, let’s look back at the first film. Trying to watch Creation of the Gods II to start would be like jumping in on Avengers: Endgame  (2019) or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2  (2011) first. If you know The Investiture of the Gods , every character is introduced with a supertitle in that classic Chinese film way. But if you don’t who’s who, it can be very confusing. For example, in Demon Force , Nezha just buzzes in and out through the battles without any further explanation. Any noob to the story would be like WTH is up with that kid? Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms  begins with an epic siege. It's massive, actualized with lot of CGI as well as a lot of huge mob scenes with hordes of extras. Its magnitude deserves to be seen on the big silver screen. The opening battlefield scenes are humongous, on the level of the finale for most films like this. And the movie marches onward to bigger and more grandiose from there.  Set during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE), the overall design is ornate and geometric, echoing the aesthetics of the heavy bronze artifacts that have survived from that period. The costuming and armor are excessively opulent, befitting the grandeur of the timeless saga. And the story is twisty. The opening battle is led by Yin Shou (Fei Xiang), second prince of the Shang, suppressing a rebel uprising. Yin Shou’s top soldiers are his ‘adopted’ sons, actually the sons of other leaders, held as hostages to assure loyalty. Su Daji (Narana Erdyneeva), the daughter of the rebel leader, is caught by some of the hostage sons when she is trying to escape. But rather than fall into their hands, she commits suicide. But then there’s the first major twist. Her dying body is possessed by a nine-tailed fox demon.  The nine-tailed fox is classic demon of Asian mythology. Called huli jing in Chinese, it also appears in Japanese legend as a kitsune and Korean tales as a kumiho. The natural form of a nine-tailed fox is a magical beast usually with white fur, but it can assume the form of a beautiful seductive woman (or sometimes a man) to lure humans of the opposite sex to their doom. The metaphor is reminiscent of a Celtic selkie or a Greek siren (precursor to the mermaid), but nine-tailed foxes are creatures of the land. They just drain the life force – or qi – from their victims, like vampires drain blood. Nine-tailed foxes have magic powers, and often seek immortality through centuries of ascetic practices and qi poaching. Erdyneeva delivers an utterly hypnotizing performance as the fox demoness. Wuershan has a knack for directing femme fatale roles and his films have casted some of China’s most gorgeous actresses to play them. But back to the story, Jiang Ziya forsakes his immortality to deliver the Fengshen Bang, a scroll of ultimate power, to Yin Shou, who is under the nine-tailed fox’s spell. In a demonstration of magic, Jiang Ziya’s rival, Shen Gongbao (Xia Yu) exposes Yin Shou’s ruthlessness, so Jiang changes his mind, takes the Fengshen Bang and runs. Buoyed with a strong cast of heroes, complicated tangled story arcs and eye-popping special effects, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms  is a lot of film. It's 2 1/2 hours long, and a wild non-stop ride all the way through.  Even the end credits were an eyeful. Remember those 10,000 crew members? The credits are like looking at the Great Wall of China where every brick is a name. And just when you think they're done, there's an awesome post-credit scene that teases the sequel, then even more credits – the credits weren’t even halfway through.  The mid-credit scene introduces the villains for Demon Force : Shang Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong (Wu Hsing Kuo) who has opened his third eye, General Deng Chanyu (Nashi) and the Four Heavenly Kings. Part of that mid-credit scene comprises much of the main trailer for Demon Force .  Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  has even more magic and more huge battles, starting with an ambush and escalating to another full-blown city siege with flying magic eye discs that emit knock out rays to anyone who didn’t drink the Kool-Aid (actually it looked more like watered down soy milk). It launches from the cinematic high bar that the previous film set, and levels up from there. Again, a female antihero takes the lead. Erdyneeva reprises her role as Su Daji, but her powers are depleted. Stepping up to fill that femme fatale role is a human. Nashi dominates as General Deng, a fierce female warrior who throws down better than the men. She steals every scene she’s in. When Yin Shou, now the king and resurrected from the dead in the end credit scene of the previous film, tasks Wen Zhong to capture Jiang Ziya, he declines because he has retirement plans. Of course, once you’re as powerful as Wen Zhong, you can never escape being involved in the battles of heaven and earth, so he comes back into play later. Meanwhile, Deng steps up in his place and becomes a primary antagonist, pursuing the heroes across ancient China.  And the Heavenly Kings are magnificently actualized; Mo Li Qing (Seng Ge Ren Qin), Mo Li Hong (Na Yin Tai), Mo Li Hai (Zhang Yilong), and Mo Li Shou (Ai Li Ku) are giant Buddhist devas that wield magical weapons, a sword, a parasol, a pipa (Chinese lute) and a red cord respectively. Within Chinese Buddhist temples, there is typically front gate where effigies of these guardian devas are housed. Demon Force  captures their imposing awesomeness like never before.  The sequel is overwhelmingly spectacular, and even if the story of Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force  gets too complex to follow for the uninitiated, it still works on its sheer audacity of vision. Here, the epic fantasies of ancient China are showcased gloriously. Consider the fantasy franchise titans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the MCU. All of those are modern, created within the last century. The Investiture of the Gods  is a chronicle of that magnitude that has been around since the 16th century. It has been retold countless times in theater, opera, comics, books, and movies. What’s more, there are so many versions and variations of the stories. Now these classic legends are getting their deserved global spotlight in the movies.  Wuershan claims the Creation of the Gods trilogy is conclusive. It will finish with Creation of the Gods III: Creation Under Heaven , which was originally slated to be released in 2025, but following the delay of Demon Force , it may be pushed back to 2026.  He has also hinted that he might explore other tales based on The Investiture of the Gods  over the next quarter century, and in so doing, would create his own take on the Fengshen universe.  Which leads us (ever so slightly) back in time to Painted Skin: The Resurrection  (2012). If you didn’t get enough nine-tailed fox femme fatale action, check out Painted Skin: The Resurrection . Wuershan took over the director’s chair for this sequel to Painted Skin  (2008), reuniting some of the cast of the original, Zhou Xun, Zhao Wei, Chen Kun, but takes place 500 years later so only Zhou Xun reprises her role. Zhou is Xiao Wei, a nine-tailed fox demon, and another captivating female antihero subject for Wuershan. This film is firmly within the Xianxia genre, very loosely derived from Liaozhai Zhiyi  ( Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio ), compiled by Pu Songling in the early 18th century.  Wuershan demonstrates his signature panache for the big screen spectacle with outrageous color schemes, cascades of flowing silk, glittering golden armor and ghostly white hair tentacles foxtails. His captivating vision of fox demonesses is sultry and seductive, abetted by the two lead actresses. Zhou Xun and ‘Vicky’ Zhao Wei have some of the most soulful eyes in cinema and their chemistry is electric. Zhou’s fox demoness has become tragic, struggling to escape a curse laid upon her for loving a human. Zhao plays the scarred general princess Jing, who dons an ornate golden mask to hide her ugliness like the Phantom of the Opera. And adding to the mix is Yang Mi, playing Que’er, a perfectly chirpy bird demoness.  Painted Skin: The Resurrection  is sappily romantic in that Chinese sacrifice-love-for-station-and-circumstance way, and some of those scenes get a little long, but the musical interlude is a poignant traditional melancholy ballad, and all three actresses are just stunning in their roles. It's funny, sexy, tragic, campy, and stylish, and apart from a few longwinded romantic scenes, moves at a consistently engaging pace. The romantic scenes are redeemed by the literal giving of hearts, as demons have no hearts so they must eat them regularly or in the case of breaking a curse, have one given willingly to become human.  While Painted Skin: The Resurrection  is not as cinematically overwhelming as Wuershan’s Creation of the Gods movies, it has moments of sheer artistry worth the watch. Clearly, when it comes to fantasy cinema, Wuershan is a filmmaker to watch. By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

It’s the biggest film of 2025 so far, but many don’t even know about it. Ne Zha 2  is now the highest-grossing animated film in the world ever, dethroning the previous title holder, another sequel, Inside Out 2 (2024). It is also the highest-grossing film in a single territory (China) in the world, unseating Star Wars: The Force Awakens  (2015) for North America. Since its release for the Lunar New Year, Ne Zha 2 has grossed over $2 billion, the first animated film to do so, and with those earnings, it has become the highest grossing non-English film ever.  And at this writing, it’s currently placed 6th in the worldwide highest-grossing films ever, just below Star Wars: The Force Awakens  and above Avengers: Infinity War  (2018).  After emerging as a significant world cinema,  Ne Zha 2  is the global success that China’s film industry has yearned for, and it’s matter of patriotic duty for Chinese nationals to see it. You must see just to keep up with the global film conversation.  Ne Zha 2 (pronounced Nuh-Jah) is the direct sequel of Ne Zha  (2019), and both are written and directed by Jiaozi; these are his first two feature length films. Ne Zha  was also a success, but it didn’t go global. When it came out, it rose to become the highest-grossing animated film in China, the highest-grossing non-U.S. animated film, and the highest-grossing non-English film of all time. It was also the first Chinese animated feature to be presented in IMAX. Ne Zha 2  is the third film in the animated Fengshen Universe from Enlight Pictures. The second was Jiang Ziya  (2020) although that story takes a slightly different path, particularly how the Twelve Golden Immortals are depicted. Fengshen refers to Fengshen Yanyi , a 16th-century Chinese novel by Xu Zhonglin, translated as The Investiture of the Gods. It’s an epic tale that lies at the root of Chinese fantasy, the genre of Xianxia (Immortal heroes) . The story of Ne Zha, or Nezha as it usually spelled, is one of the many stories from this epic of classic Chinese literature.  Nezha is mischievous demon out of Chinese myth like the Monkey King. In fact, he battles the Monkey King early on in  Journey to the West .  Nezha has several manifestations ranging from a three-headed six-armed demon to his more common appearance as a cheeky boy. He wields a magic spear, a magic scarf that is semi-sentient as Doctor Strange’s cloak, and celestial roller skates of fire known as the Wind Fire Wheels.  In Bagua, an internal form of Kung Fu like Tai Chi, the Wind Fire Wheels are weapons that pay homage to Nezha’s flaming skates. These are wide flat metal rings with flame-shaped blades jutting from the edges. The wheels are always practiced in pairs.  I had the honor of testing a modern-made pair of Wind Fire Wheels for the El Rey TV show Man at Arms: Art of War . The show brought together expert craftsmen to reproduce weapons and armor from scratch for history and fantasy, then to test them in real-world applications. If you look quickly, you can see me in the trailer with the Wind Fire Wheels on the show’s trailer. I’m at the 5 second mark.  But I digress. Back to Ne Zha 2 , wow. What a spectacle. The film is next level, relentless in its over-the-top imagery, like the wildest video game ever. It’s eye-poppingly visual, with startlingly fresh visions universes getting ripped open, invading demon hordes, armies of immortal mystics, cosmic battles, and some incredibly detailed and lush settings. The story moves from puerile pee humor to heart-wrenching mother and son feels, with great fights and massive battles all along the way. Ne Zha 2  is a lot of movie. And it might not make a lick of sense if you don’t know who Nezha is, but it’s so visual that you just need to know he’s a demon brat with a good heart. And he’s one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos.  Ne Zha 2  is such a huge level up from the first film, so much so that you should see this first, then go back for Ne Zha  and treat it like a prequel, lest the first film dissuade you from seeing the sequel.  However, the original film,  Ne Zha,  is his origin story, a deep dive into Chinese myth. At first, the film might feel like it poached the backgrounds from  Kung Fu Panda , but it takes off when the magic battles begin. It’s hampered by the trappings of PRC animation, including pee and fart jokes (including a fart trap escape), lots of cartoonish comic relief like dopey Monty Pythonesque guards, a burly effeminate villager, a drunk fool, a flying pig that sneezes visions, a sea demon that blows petrifying bubbles and antidote snot.   But it’s all about the fight scenes.  There are sword fights, magic chi blasts, weird spiky weapons, magic spears, a magic flywhisk, that magic brush and shuttlecock action. It’s total superhero choreography that’s very satisfying and somewhat fresh in its vision. However, the magnitude of Ne Zha  hardly approaches Ne Zha 2 . Where most sequels fail, a few sequels double down to birth a franchise like The Empire Strikes Back  (1980) and Aliens  (1986). Ne Zha 2  improves exponentially. If you want to do a deep dive into Nezha animation, watch Nezha Conquers the Dragon King  (1979). It's astonishingly good, a stylish postcard from the era of hand-drawn cartoons long before CGI came into play. The film is full of vibrant color schemes, surreal animation, magic swordfights (between shellfish no less), and unique backgrounds based on classic Chinese landscape painting. The story is the same as what is told in Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2 , but a completely different interpretation of many of the characters, especially Nezha.  Where Ne Zha 2025 is a brat punk, Nezha 1979 is a beautiful prepubescent boy that's all powerful, mischievous and dances about a lot. He is also bare assed for most of the film. After he emerges from an egg that his mom carried for 3 years, he rises on a lotus blossom and throws a lotus petal up in the air and it transforms into one of those red bandanas Chinese babies wear over the front of their bodies. But there's no back but strings. Through most of the film, Nezha remains unabashedly bare assed.  The music vacillates between sort of a classical orchestral sound akin to the soundtracks of old Disney animated films of the period and classic Chinese opera for the battle scenes, plus a few more. There's this distinctive battle music in traditional Chinese opera - tinny clanging cymbals and big drums with a stringed pipa. What’s more, there are also long gratuitous scenes of Nezha dancing to classical opera, also practicing his magic weapons or riding his deer mount. There's an oddly long gratuitous shot of Nezha's dad Li Jing playing guzheng - that's a beautiful segment musically but the animation doesn’t justify its inclusion.  Overall, Nezha Conquers the Dragon King  has a lovely vintage style. It was the first feature length animated film for China, and premiered as part of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the PRC celebrations. It was screened out of competition at Cannes in 1980 and was a Google Doodle in 2014 (35th anniversary). With the triumph of Ne Zha 2 , Enlight Pictures is sure to expand its animated Fengshen Universe for more installments. And there are plenty more tales from The Investiture of the Gods that could make fine movies. Since Lunar New Year 2025, Jiaozi has conquered the world with soft power to become China’s highest-grossing director of all time, and we can hardly wait to see what he might do next.  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

Three Lady White Snakes: L-R: Joey Wang from Green Snake, Eva Huang from The Sorcerer and the White Snake, Zhang Zhe (Mandarin voice actor) White Snake. This year, 2025, marks the Year of the Snake. Accordingly, the most popular tale (tail?) for this cycle is one of Lady Bai, Bai Suzhen a.k.a. Madame White Snake. The Legend of White Snake (Bai She Zhuan) is considered one of the Four Great Folktales of China. Some trace the story to the 9th century, but it solidifies in the 16th century, and over time, it grew into many variations. Lady Bai is a snake spirit seeking immortality who disguises herself as a human but then falls in love with a mortal. Beyond the star-crossed lovers, Lady Bai has a sister, Xiaoqing (‘Little Green’), who is also a snake spirit. There’s also often a Buddhist priest pursuing Lady Bai, like Van Helsing chased Dracula. The monk is Fahui from Jin Shan temple and seeks to exorcise Lady Bai as a demon. Beyond the romance, Lady Bai and Xiaoqing aspire to ascend to human incarnations and consequently achieve enlightenment and immortality.  The Legend of White Snake is a magical fantasy, part of the Chinese Xianxia genre, which is parallel to Wuxia. Wu means ‘martial.’ Xian means ‘immortal’ as in Immortal Studios. Xia, the same suffix for both terms, means ‘knight errant’ or ‘hero.’ It connotates chivalry and honor. Wuxia is about martial arts-oriented stories, although there are sometimes elements of magic and sorcery. Xianxia is about demigods and demons and there’s always martial arts although swords tend to be wielded more like magic wands. When applied to Hollywood, Xianxia is akin to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings whereas Wuxia is like John Wick. Something like The Matrix could fall right in between. These genres often overlap. This notion of magical beasts spending thousands of years cultivating their spirits to become human or immortal runs through a lot of Chinese mythology. With the influence of Buddhist reincarnation and Daoist spiritual cultivation, the journey of incarnations levelling up is interwoven in many myths. It’s a compelling metaphor for how we all strive to reach mastery within our disciplines and the inconvenient obstacles that impede our progress, obstacles like distracting lovers and interfering adversaries.  The Legend of White Snake can also be seen as a critique of Buddhist asceticism; Lady Bai is not necessarily evil. In fact, she aspires to enter the mundane human world, often sacrificing centuries of cultivated qi to help her human husband. Nevertheless, Fahui is psychotically bent on capturing and imprisoning her beneath some holy pagoda, akin to the Ghostbusters trapped ghosts in their industrial containment units. In Fahui’s view, humans and snakes (or any other type of demon) cannot intermingle. The Legend of White Snake has been retold in Chinese opera, television serials, manhua (Chinese manga, a transliteration of characters), and of course, movies. One of the guiltiest Kung Fu movie pleasures is Green Snake (1993).  Green Snake (1993) Green Snake was directed by Tsui Hark, a master of Wuxia and Xianxia cinema. The ever-mysterious Joey Wong plays Lady Bai (Bai means white, just in case you didn’t know). Her sister Green Snake is played by the always demure Maggie Cheung. And the exorcist monk is martial arts star and real-life wushu champion Vincent Zhao. It’s wonderfully campy with pre-CGI effects but nevertheless, achieves some eye-popping visuals. And all three actors totally sell the fantasy, replete with romance, humor, tragedy, and serpentine sensuality.  Vincent Zhou is brilliant as the obsessive Buddhist exorcist Fahui. And in the 90s, Joey Wang and Maggie Cheung are at the top of their divadom. From their slinky titillation, the film moves into some big questions of sibling rivalry, good vs evil, delusion vs reality, emotion vs detachment, and what it means to be human.   Underlying the fable are some hard challenges for Buddhism, all wrapped in the slithery coils of Joey and Maggie as they sashay in their silken dresses, training for a glimpse of enlightenment. The opening imagery of deformed humans wallowing in carnal crudeness, then with a ring of a Buddhist bell, Fahui escapes into meditation symbolized by a drop of water sending out ripples. It’s a deeply resonant scene for any Buddhist.  Maggie delivers a commanding performance that evolves from campy to vampy, to her perfect portrayal of trying to cry when you don't have emotions, to when she finally achieves tears. She's still mesmerizing. The special effects hold up fairly well, even the snake puppets and prosthetics, all things considered. It's amazing how Tsui Hark achieved his visions without CGI. Best of all, there’s a swordfight between Joey and Maggie.  The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011) In 2011, Jet Li took over the role of the exorcising monk Fahui in It's Love a.k.a. The Sorcerer and the White Snake. It’s ironic because Zhao took over the role of Wong Fei Hung in the Once Upon a Time in China series after Jet left due to a break with the director, who was none other than Tsui Hark. The Sorcerer and the White Snake is CGI designed for 3D. 3D films can be cheesy, and in this, the snake sisters have conspicuous boobs. That’s so cheesy because snakes don’t have boobs. That would make them mammals, not reptiles. Nevertheless, 3D CGI snake sisters with prominent boobs is strangely entertaining. The fights are all magical - lots of flying about and projecting qi blasts. There are sword fights, but they are magical qi-projection swords. They are more like Harry Potter wands than swords. Nothing wrong with that. Totally counts for sword fights. Unfortunately, the film feels dated now. It was a nascent merging of wire work and CGI, which comes off crude by today’s standards. Beyond that, the film is uneven, vacillating between a love story and an effects-laden actioner.  Light Chaser's White Snake Trilogy More recently, a trilogy of wonderful, animated feature film versions slithered out of Light Chaser Animation Studios, White Snake (2019), Green Snake a.k.a. White Snake 2 (2021) and White Snake 3: Afloat (2024). If you haven’t tuned into Light Chaser, White Snake is a good starting point. The studio has created a ‘New Gods’ universe that retells classic Chinese myths with a modern flair. White Snake introduces the ancient Xianxia world. Green Snake takes a sharp turn into a steampunk Xianxia world that Light Chaser created for its groundbreaking film Nezha Reborn (2021). It almost stands outside of the trilogy because White Snake 3: Afloat picks up right where the original film left off. It tells a more conventional version of the legend, parallel to the 1993 and 2011 films with Fahui in hot pursuit of Lady Bai. It transforms the original to a sort of prequel to the well-known legend.  There are dozens of other interpretations of the Legend of White Snake in cinema. There’s a lost two-part Shaw Brothers film that dates all the way back to 1926, and dozens of other movies made for the small screen throughout Asia. However, the ones listed here stand out, so much so they received international distribution when they debuted. With the Year of the Snake, the Legend of White Snake teaches us about shedding skins, self-cultivation, heroic ambiguity, the challenges of remaining honorable, the quest for immortality, and most of all, forbidden love. And this year, understanding forbidden love and the sacrifices needed to nurture that intimacy seem more relevant than ever.  By Gene Ching Immortal Squad, Martial Arts Editor & Action Choreographer If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter  and join our community on socials! Facebook Instagram Twitter TikTok YouTube

Acclaimed Indie Comics Visionary to Spearhead Immortal Studios’ Next Phase of Transmedia Storytelling, Bridging Martial Fantasy with Modern Audiences LOS ANGELES, CA – February 13, 2025 Immortal Studios, the pioneering multi-platform entertainment company modernizing Martial Fantasy (Wuxia) storytelling, has appointed Kelly Sue Milano as Vice President of Content and Executive Editor of its interconnected Immortal Storyverse. The HEX11 co-creator and indie comics visionary will lead the expansion of Immortal’s transmedia universe, overseeing adaptations of the legendary Shiao Yi wuxia library and crafting new narratives that awaken the hero in everyone. “As a storyteller, I believe in the power of transformation. That’s exactly what Immortal Studios stands for,” said Kelly Sue Milano. “To bring the wisdom, action, and deep storytelling of Wuxia to modern audiences through a truly immersive, multi-platform experience is an incredible opportunity. This is storytelling with purpose, and I’m honored to help shape the next evolution of the Immortal Storyverse.” Milano is the co-founder of HexComix, the all-female creative team behind HEX11, the critically acclaimed indie sci-fi/fantasy comic in development for television. Beyond comics, she has crafted spiritually driven narratives as a staff writer for the Kabbalah Centre and mentors emerging writers as a Comic Writing & Scripting Mentor at OTIS College of Art + Design. “Kelly Sue’s ability to craft immersive, boundary-pushing stories aligns perfectly with Immortal’s vision,” said Payhuan Peter Shiao, Founder and CEO of Immortal Studios. “She understands both global pop culture and deep storytelling traditions, making her the ideal leader to shepherd our Wuxia-driven Storyverse into the next chapter of global pop culture.” As VP of Content, Milano will work closely with writers, artists, and production teams to develop Immortal’s interconnected comics, films, television, and gaming projects. A core focus will be expanding Immortal’s adaptations of the Shiao Yi library, a collection of over 60 legendary wuxia novels that have inspired more than 30 film and TV adaptations worldwide. This appointment marks another major step in Immortal Studios’ mission to revolutionize pop culture storytelling, blending the ancient with the modern to create a new wave of action-packed, transformational narratives across multiple platforms.

The Immortal Storyverse is built on transformation—both in the stories we tell and the people who bring them to life. Last week, we proudly shared that Kelly Sue Milano has stepped into the role of VP of Content & Executive Editor, a position that will shape the future of our Wuxia-inspired transmedia storytelling universe. But beyond the title, beyond the strategy, there’s something deeper at play: heart, purpose, and an unwavering passion for storytelling that awakens the hero in all of us. In this moment of transition and expansion, Payhuan Shiao and Kelly Sue Milano want to speak directly to you—our community. 🗣️ From Payhuan: "Kelly Sue is a gifted storyteller-creator who has an implicit understanding of the intricacies and powers of Wuxia, given her great background both as a creator as well as a researcher and articulator of esoteric and metaphysical truths, which makes her a perfect fit for our aims at the Immortal Storyverse." 🗣️ From Kelly Sue: "I am so excited to be bringing my background at indie comics and my lifelong experiences to this incredible team, and to be storytelling at this level. Immortal's vision for their storytelling and for their characters is expansive, it's impactful, it's transformative, and to be a part of creating these beautiful worlds based on the collective works of Shiao Yi—one of the greatest Wuxia novelists—I cant even tell you how tremendous it is." With Kelly Sue leading the way, we’re stepping into an exciting new chapter—one that we can’t wait to share with you. 💬 What does storytelling mean to you? How have stories shaped your journey? Let us know in the comments!