Overall Rating
  Awesome: 56.31%
Worth A Look: 30.1%
Average: 1.94%
Pretty Bad: 1.94%
Total Crap: 9.71%
7 reviews, 61 user ratings
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| Shaolin Soccer |
by Collin Souter
"Hey, Stephen Chow! Get over here and promote this film! IT'S GREAT!!!"
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NOTE: This review refers to the original Hong Kong version. The Miramax version has yet to be screened. Miramax has said that they are postponing the American release of “Shaolin Soccer” indefinitely until director Stephen Chow can make it overseas to help promote it. Miramax has also decided to release it subtitled instead of dubbed, due to protests from fans who, no doubt, saw the trailer.The Sports Movie genre only has so many possibilities in regards to storyline. You have the Underdog-Makes-Good storyline (the original “Rocky), the Misfits-Make-Good storyline (“The Bad News Bears”) and the Misfit-Makes-Good storyline (“Rudy”). All of them “make good” because that’s why you go see a Sports Movie. Sure, you know how it will end, but if the characters have charisma, well-defined conflict and a strong sense of purpose—and if the sport has been depicted so as to maintain your interest—then so be it. The whole thing boils down to not so much that the team/player wins, but HOW they win. How fresh and surprising will it be? With “Shaolin Soccer,” its familiar storyline only enhances the limitless possibilities of its chosen sport.
“Shaolin Soccer” follows all three storylines and if you’re a budding screenwriter and follow the formulas closely enough, you can’t go wrong. First, you start with the down-on-his-luck coach, in this case a would-be soccer great named Fung, a.k.a. Golden Leg. 20 years have passed since he had his “accident” involving his legs getting pummeled with bats by the opposing team on the soccer field. His current boss, Hung, who now owns a soccer team—The Evil Team—treats Fung like the scum at the bottom of his shoe. Hung has no chance of ever returning to the soccer field to achieve greatness.
Next, you move on to the star player looking to make a buck, in this case Shaolin Mighty Steel Leg, a street cleaner who only has one wish: For Shaolin kung-fu, as emulated by his hero Bruce Lee, to be the latest fad. He tries to spread the Shaolin way through singing and dancing about it in a nightclub, but it just doesn’t have the desired effect. He meets up with Fung and presents to him (and us) why Shoalin would be a valuable asset even to the most conservative citizen (i.e., it makes parallel parking a lot easier and slipping on a banana peel more dignified).
Finally, once the Shaolin peanut butter filling has landed in the chocolate soccer cup, you have to assemble your misfit team. In the case of “Shaolin Soccer,” they all come from various backgrounds (Stock broker, grocery clerk, etc) and they all earn their respective titles as First Big Brother, Second Big Brother, Third Big Brother, and so on. All have their unique talents on the playing field and each one gets to shine. Oh, and you should also throw in a potential love interest. In the case of this movie, Fui, a dowdy girl who hides her acne-ridden face behind a thick sheet of hair, works best with her hands, which, as we all know, is the one thing you can’t work with on a soccer field. Or can you?
With “Shaolin Soccer,” you can pretty much do anything. But what is it, you ask? Shaolin Soccer takes the sport of soccer and adds flying, dragons, fire, breakdancing and tornadoes. A ball can be kicked into the air and you might not see it come down for a couple minutes. It takes skill, precision and a profound sense of the absurd. There really wouldn’t be any need for a jumbo-tron in a stadium that houses Shoalin Soccer, because the entire field comes into play. David Beckham wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
The final and most important ingredient you would need for your sports movie is a unique and consistent sense of humor and/or drama. “Shaolin Soccer” is a comedy and a damn funny one. Shaolin Mighty Steel Leg is a goofy character, one whose determination overwhelms his sense of humility. A scrimmage match between two teams has a great visual punchline and the final act of bravery by one of the main characters—the big turning point for the final big match—is wonderfully sweet, silly and altogether awesome.To some American audiences, “Shaolin Soccer” might look a little shoddy in terms of special effects. They don’t look particularly real or polished. Yet, I think the half-finished look of the effects fit the tone of the movie. I like to think of this movie as live action anime. If you watch Japanimation and fire suddenly appears behind a warrior character to emphasize his/her mystique, do you question it? No, and you shouldn’t here, either. This movie laughs with its audience while giving them good reason to stand up and cheer. It has fun with the Sports Movie conventions while also expanding them a bit. If John McTiernan had seen “Shaolin Soccer” before he made “Rollerball,” things might have turned out differently.
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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=7062&reviewer=233
originally posted: 09/04/03 14:23:16
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 San Francisco Asian-American Film Festival. For more in the 2004 San Francisco Asian-American Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Palm Springs Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Palm Springs Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
02-Apr-2004 (PG-13)
DVD: 24-Aug-2004
UK
N/A
Australia
29-Jul-2004 (PG)
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