When the Republicans- sorry: the Manchus- take over a factory and promptly strip the workers of EVERYTHING but their undies, Jen Chieh (Gordon Liu) attempts to do good by standing up to the oppressors. He's a con man and he pretends to be a kung fu master come to set things right. The workers aid in his deception, but he's found out and has his *** handed to him. Determined to make good on his promise to DO good, he sneaks into a Shaolin temple in the hopes of learning a useful trade (i.e.; kung fu). There, too, he is quickly discovered (so much for being a good con man) and is promptly charged with building a scaffold. This he does for a full year. Unlike in THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, where he literally walked on water after some strenuous training, Liu here learns the less demanding "scaffolding kung fu." Among the techniques he masters is the use of bamboo cords (which comes in handy during the final showdown). More comedic than its predecessor, RETURN TO THE 36th CHAMBER is nonetheless worth a look.
Review of Return to the 36th Chamber
