I have mixed feelings when it comes to Shaolin Mantis. I absolutely adore the martial arts in this one, and the training scene where our hero learns his Mantis style from an actual mantis, is among Lau Kar-leungs best training montages. The acting is great, and David Chiang does some of his best work ever in this very film.

The thing that throws me about Shaolin Mantis, is the plot. Our hero working for the Manchu Emperor against the Ming rebels is just plain weird, and that kind of soured the whole thing from the start. The twist at the end is also odd, and took even more of my enjoyment away.

As I said above, I got mixed feelings. I think I need to listen to the commentary tracks to see if that clears things up for me. I still recommend to check Shaolin Mantis out, though. The martial arts are both fast and exciting throughout, but the final showdown is downright incredible.