A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Heck, I read all the reviews and thought I really needed to see this one.Everyone waiting for a typical Kung Fu movie isn't going to get one. If that's what you want, go home.However, if you think Kung Fu + Fairytale + The Matrix sounds good, this is one for you.In almost each review all I read was whiny, whingey, unimaginative dross. Lighten up folks, indulge in that wonderful whimsy called imagination and you might come to truly love and appreciate superlative brilliance for a change, instead of the usual crap that comes of movie theatres.One thing that even the unimaginative will enjoy is the incredible beauty and the stunning cinematography.Totally captivating. Even ape strike, which I think I actually understood!

While I adore Hong Kong cinema and have enjoyed pretty much every sub-genre of film-making to come from that part of the world in the last half century, mainland China is another story. The only consistently quality genre of films that the mainland seems able to make is the historical epic, full of sprawling battles, horses, and martial arts. Everything else is a letdown and MONK COMES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN follows that trend. The narrative is barely focused and involves a monk who is kicked out of the Shaolin Temple due to his misbehaviour. Said protagonist is played by the guy who was the villain in KUNG FU KILLER, Wang Baoqiang, and he's an entirely unprepossessing chap, lacking the charisma and grace to make a role like this work.The plot just sort of ambles along endlessly, throwing in digressions involving supporting characters (the usual martial arts masters, a doctor, a CGI monkey in one random interlude) and plenty of CGI-enhanced fight scenes. I love martial arts fights and some of it is okay here, but too much of it is wire work assisted with flying and gravity-defying feats which aren't to my taste. The supporting cast is better, but underutilised: Lam Suet as a cop, Jaycee Chan as an underwhelming antagonist. The guy who played the Bruce Lee lookalike goalie in SHAOLIN SOCCER is here too, along with Tiger Hu of MAN OF TAI CHI fame. Best of the bunch is the criminally underrated Yuen Wah, playing another badass late on in his career; don't let the occasional bit of doubling fool you, Wah still has it and is by far the best thing in the entire movie. A shame the rest of the film can't match him.

I couldn't disagree more with the first two reviews. I give it 7/10. I mean I liked it and I watched it 3 times, there is no shame in that and I'm truthful with myself. There is a lot of wisdom in the movie. Of course it's a Chinese movie and there is a lot of beautiful choreography, but if you listen carefully and you practice martial art, you may like it. The movie is about Kung fu, it's an art but it's also about life about philosophy. Of course, I don't agree with all that said in the movie, but most of the time I agree. But again, it'a Chinese movie, if you don't like IPman, Jet li, Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee don't watch it. Nevertheless, if you don't like them but you like philosophy and wisdom, you may love it anyway.

4/10 - Minor spoilers are present that should not ruin anything out of the plot line.This is not a movie I would recommend to anyone who likes movies and want a "proper" movie to watch for a night.What should be added is: This movie is highly suitable for moviebuffs or those who teach in an area related to cinema. Those areas in the movie that are well made are really well made. Those areas that fail are clear and obvious, marking out their presence and their impact on the movie. The highs are high and the lows are really bloody low. The movie still retains a grain of interest. This is a big budget movie.Pro's • Those who scouted for locations earned 1 of those stars. • Prop, costumes and wardrobe earned another one. • Those who made the special effects earned yet another one. • Lastly the classical plot and earned a mentioning. • Chen Chang & Aaron Kwok (Yin and Yang) as well as Wah Yuen also deserves a mentioning as they made solid performances despite what I'll share next. Also note that the budget wasn't small, that much is clear.Con's • The (far, very far) over the top martial arts (wirework a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) simply was not good and did a HUGE disservice to the movie. Same with the magical (or energetic if you prefer) additions. It detracted one star - so bad and big was the impact of it (i very rarely detract stars).• The dialogue was out of place a lot of the time, but it felt construed (allmost as if someone had rewritten it completely, tampered with it from the beginning to the end).• Like in Hollywoods older days, explosions were put in for the sake of explosions, actually making some parts as when Chang & Kwok met more of a showpiece for the studio and what they can do rather than a needed addition to the movie.• The time of events (mixing modern warfare with classical martial arts did not work with the over the top effects).• Some of the moments did simply not line up and the rationality of the characters were out of place.• There were also jumps in time which were not smoothly done.• There was really badly done symbolism in it, forcing and as far as i know partly misinforming the viewer. Do not get me wrong, i like when these kinds of movies use symbolism (like recently Mr. Six) and the cinematography can be really effective and complimentary to the story - but it isn't here, due to how it was implemented. *To give one example; when Zhou bring a pillar of water up and knocks out Pengs effort. -Just having the courtyard contain water and some open plated fires (for one reason or another) could have allowed the same fight to take place without wireworks and over the top cgi effects.• The clear moviereferences baked in were out of place, if you do not even recognise the Matrix references please do not comment in this thread. - Drawing connotations to modern sci-fi in a classical martial arts film is just wrong. If the point is to say that Matrix lent from martial arts movies I do not think anyone in the world previously missed that.• And not to forget, an out of the blue circumcision near the start. Genital mutilation of men (or women) should be done by individuals when they are old enough to rule themselves, or give informed consent and take the action to visit a doctor by themselves (excluding when deformities are present etc).• So if you are someone who is interested in movies this is a must see, you will take a lot from it - both good and bad. This would be a perfect movie to use if you teach in a related subject as it has extremely well done areas mixed with extremely badly matched and done areas, but not much within the middle. It is rare in that way (yes there are similar movies but they are usually not this well done in other aspects and it's not as clear how bad impact some elements have).• Some moments could easily have been movie magic (to give two examples); The fight at the start (easily could have been something else with the exact same setting) but without the forced effects. The sweeping with the broom.