Director: Joseph Kuo
Notable Cast: Carter Wong, Polly Shang-Kuan, Tien Peng,
Ko Yu-Min, Mark Long
It’s not that difficult, really. Making a sequel to The
18 Bronzemen is as simple as it gets when it comes to kung fu cinema. All
one would need to do is choose a new character or characters, send them to the
same temple that featured the Bronzemen littered challenges, and voila. Instant
sequel. In its own way, the loose sequel that did eventually come out, The
Return of the 18 Bronzemen, does exactly that. New character, new Bronzemen
challenges, new movie.
Yet, there are so many strange choices buried in this film
that it’s both a film that is superior AND inferior to its predecessor. In its
own way, The Return of the 18 Bronzemen is a film that leans into the
tropes of the kung fu movie, playing on the expectations of the original or
other films of its ilk, and then taking a massive leap by undercutting
expectations as it goes - particularly in its final act. It creates a film that
feels as though it’s at a tug of war with itself. One end pulling towards
mainstream fan appeal. One end pulling towards subverting it.
As a sequel, don’t give The Return of the 18 Bronzemen
too much merit. It happens to use the same gimmick, metallic painted fighters
as a challenge in a temple, and that’s it. Even the repeated cast members, most
notable being Carter Wong who moves from supporting to lead status here, are
not the same characters. It’s also often referenced that The Blazing Temple
is a loose sequel to this one. Maybe, but considering that film had an earlier
theatrical release in Taiwan then it’s one hell of a stretch to call it the
third film, even if it is a possibility.
On its own, this montage-heavy kung fu flick has a loose and
perplexing narrative that feels like the first act of a much larger story. It’s
one of the more intriguing ways that The Return of the 18 Bronzemen is
able to play on expectations. Carter Wong, in a performance that maximizes his
natural onscreen intensity, plays a conniving character that cheats his way
into being the big honcho. The problem is that he is tasked with destroying
Shaolin. To do so, he decides to infiltrate the temple, under a pseudonym and
proceed to learn their ways by going through the Bronzemen challenge before
burning them to the ground.
On the surface, sure, having the villain as your main
character and then going to the Shaolin temple to complete the challenges while
learning how to be a great leader is a great way to present its moral
quandaries. Carter Wong is expertly cast to do just that and the manner that
Joseph Kuo handles the Bronzemen challenges might be some of his best and most
creative work as an action director.
The problem that arises here, and this does include a huge
SPOILER for the film so if you haven’t seen it please feel free to skip to the
next paragraph, is that the final act just never exists. It doesn’t. Wong’s
character, Yong Zhen, never completes the challenges, and the film is left on a
final scene where he has learned nothing and proceeds forward with his plan to
extinguish Shaolin. Roll credits. It’s one of the most perplexing endings since
Sword of Doom. They don’t even bother bringing back Polly Shang-kuan as
the female fighter from the opening act, who is set up in a very particular way
to be a fantastic secondary character. She just, also, never gets an ending.
Granted, there are a ton of stories regarding why the film ends this way - for
more sequels or that it was only a partial script - but the fact remains that
it does and it leaves its audience either blown away at the audacity of pulling
this off or scratching their head in bewilderment. For me, it was a little of
both.
The journey to get to that point is an impressive one. The
fight work is incredible, including a pure smorgasbord of weapons work,
creative use of sets, and visual dynamics. If you loved what The 18
Bronzemen was doing, this one does it even better. The setup with Carter
Wong’s Yong Zhen is expertly done, establishing that even with his underhanded
tactics he does have some sort of moral code - even if it is just an act -
and it hooks its audience incredibly fast to set up its plot. For the first two
acts of a movie, The Return of the 18 Bronzemen might be some of Joseph
Kuo’s best work. And that deserves some credit.
Still, it’s hard not to wonder if The Return of the 18
Bronzemen could have been if it had not left its plot, characters, and
themes hanging out to dry when the execution of those exact things is some
impressively done. Call it artistic merit, undercutting the tropes of the
genre, or whatever you might, this film feels like it’s only 66.66% of a full
movie. That 66.66% is 110% fucking awesome and some of Kuo’s best work, but
keep that in mind when going into this one.
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