Shaolin Soccer | Review

Chow’s physical comedy is a highly imaginative mix of visual gags and goofy humor.

North American fans of Jackie Chan type films will surely dig Miramax’s edited down version of Hong Kong’s top comedy, a box office success so big that it broke all kinds of records; unfortunately, I don’t see how U.S mainstream audiences will actually pay to go see a film with subtitles and where the plot revolves around a sport in which very few people are aware exists. (Bend it like Beckham) this is not, Stephen Chow writes, directs and headlines this goofy slapstick affair tacked with cheesy special effects reminiscent of an episode of the “Power Rangers”. The Rangers was, for those who are unfamiliar with the two-summer phenomena in children’s programming, a show that featured crappy good-versus-evil contests and plenty of un-“blood sport” type of fighting.

In a kung-fu kick world meets a settlement of accounts on a soccer field, Shaolin Soccer begins with the back-story of a plotted, missed penalty kick by the infamous soccer legend Golden Leg. This former star becomes a Bad News Bears type of coach after a chance encounter with a sharp-kicking, street beggar (Chow) who then comes up with the scheme of forming a new team to defeat his current foe. Mighty Iron Leg drafts from his special pool of Shaolin monks to form the team of all teams- insert a love story with a pimple-faced Vicky Zhao (So Close) and the novel idea of CGI idiocy and minimal violence gives this Cantonese export a full green light for a family feature.

At one point it looked as if this one was going to be shelved in the North American market, but thanks to another mismanaged release strategy, Chow’s film will create little stirs among local audiences especially since most have already have watched it imported and full length on the net. Digitalized for sensitive U.S audiences, Miramax sliced off more than 20 minutes and perhaps even re-shots one stomach shot scene, but ultimately it’s hard to figure out what was excluded in the trimmed version. What remain are “gravity defying positions”, Matrix-like freeze frames and choreographed numbers that make one wonder what other sports could benefit from the novel idea.

Shaolin Soccer boosts a heavy amount of special effects, some audiences should be amused by the infantile, yet inoffensive tale, but for some reason the cheesy effects don’t cut it, neither do simple narrative and outlandish use of “Benny-Hill” type of editing. A couple of good kicks are Chow’s homage to his legend Bruce Lee-witnessed in one of the main characters and the untraditional nature of the film’s idea gives a whole definition to the material arts genre.

Rating 2.5 stars