Regarded by some as the last "true" old-school kung fu movie, Lau Kar-Leung's 1985 Shaw Brothers release Disciples of the 36th Chamber does indeed mark a passing of the torch when it comes to populist Hong Kong action cinema. Upon its' premiere, the film only stayed in theatres for a week, showing that local audiences were growing tired of the traditional Shaw Brothers style.

This paved the way for the more modern stylings of Jackie Chan's Police Story, which was a huge hit release later that same year that marked the new direction Hong Kong action directors in the mid-1980's -- especially those who were heavily influenced by films from the west -- were going.

It is kind of a shame, then, that Lau's final official entry in the 36th Chamber trilogy comes off as cookie-cutter. There's little of the inventiveness and vitality that figured so heavily in the previous films. Instead, here, we're given a standard kung fu revenge plot tinged with comedy featuring folk hero Fong Sai-Yuk (Hsiao Ho) teaming up with the Shaolin monks (led by San Te, played by the venerable Gordon Liu) to take on those damn dirty Chings.

Can you guess how everything ends? That generic feeling the plot instills in the viewer carries over to most other aspects of film-making here as well. The movie does nothing at all differently to set itself apart from the results dozens upon dozens (if not hundreds) of entries have produced in the genre for years before and since.

Sometimes, there is nothing at all wrong with sitting down to watch a "standard" kung fu movie. In fact, at certain times in one's cinematic lifespan, those decidedly average pictures are more appealing and fulfilling than other more well-made and well-lauded pictures in marking a way to providing pure entertainment. But here, that feeling wasn't present. Given the lineage of the cast and crew, one would expect more here than just yet another competently made kung fu movie from the Shaw Brothers studio.

RATING: 6