Shaolin Soccer DVD > Reviews > Martial arts monks playing soccer!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Hilarious total entertainment
Disadvantages:	CGI a bit overused

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Shaolin Soccer has finally reached these shores after becoming a massive success all throughout Asia back in 2001. Quite why it has taken so long to get here I don’t know but with the recent release of Hero, and the upcoming House of Flying Daggers, maybe the time is right for something other than horror and heroic fantasy to arrive from Asia. As far as I know this is the first out and out comedy to come from the major Asian film making countries (Though Thailand’s ‘Iron Ladies’, another sporting comedy did make it to cinemas around three years ago). This is surprising considering the success of Jackie Chan and his comedic style but maybe the distributors think Asian comedy just doesn’t travel overseas.

Shaolin Soccer is a blend of comedy, martial arts and the standard underdog rooting sports film (i.e. Dodgeball and Major League among many others). It stirs together these genres and makes a magical mix, producing a superb take on how the modern generation views gentle martial arts and how to interest them in the arts rather than the martial side.

The story follows Sing, known as Shaolin Steel Mighty Leg, a young man who works as a cleaner, collecting rubbish to exchange for money. He is trying to find some way of promoting his Shaolin arts. As he explains to an old bum, one time soccer legend Golden Leg, the Shaolin arts would help people in their everyday lives if only they would study it. He points out how a woman could have kept her feet rather than falling over and how someone else could have parked their car for example.

Golden Leg is less than impressed, his own life has gone downhill due to the machinations of his ex-team-mate and now owner of the Evil Team (yes that is their name according to the subtitles!), the current champion team, the equivalent of Arsenal. He cannot see how Shaolin arts could help him in his life.
Sing gives him a card but Golden Leg stuffs it in his can of drink and throws it at him. Sing intercepts the can with his foot and boots it. Much to Golden Leg’s shock the can vanishes into the sky, glinting in the sun as it disappears.

Not believing what he saw Golden Leg stumbles off, later discovering the can embedded in a wall a long way away from where it started. The card inside it verifies it is the same can. When he sees Sing beat off a bunch of thugs using a football, and his ball skills, a plan comes together in his head.
He wants revenge on the owner of the Evil Team and Sing wants to promote Shaolin. By teaming up they could both get what they want. The upcoming major football tournament could benefit them both.
The two join up to recruit a team, starting with Sing’s old Shaolin brothers, and then train them so they can compete against the best.

You know where the film is going from here and while it is pretty much the same as all the sporting loser films it manages to eclipse these by the involvement of martial arts skills. The actual football match highlights are very funny because of this, see it and you'll know what I mean.

Of course what would this sort of film be without some sort of romance in the mix? There is a subplot involving Mui, a hot bread maker that Sing befriends, that folds a touch of romantic comedy into the story. Though even that is more off kilter than typical Hollywood romcoms.

The dance number that Sing and the people around Mui’s stall start up is a great rip off of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and is one of a small number of musical interruptions. Not too many to be annoying and just weird enough to enjoy.

Shaolin Soccer, although being 4 years old now, is a very modern Asian film. There are a number of jokes based on Hollywood films (Jurassic Park and Matrix) and even an amusing horror/slasher spoof. Of course the film specific jokes that were funny then are rather dated now, even more so when Hollywood themselves has spoofed the main ones themselves many times now.

CGI is used for some of the football & martial skills and they are not done as well as major American films do them. On second viewing a lot of the CGI is glaringly obvious, which can detract form further viewings. First time around though I have to say I didn’t realise how bad they were, I was enjoying the movie so much that I guess I just didn’t notice.

Above all Shaolin Soccer is fun, fun, fun! It cannot fail to bring a smile to your face and should be enjoyed for exactly what it is…… sheer outright entertainment of a kind normally only found in kids movies these days. Even if you don’t like football, probably even if you hate it, you should still enjoy this. The actual matches are heavy on effects and comedy, not actual football.

I’ve seen this film a number of times now (bought a version from CD-Wow a couple of years ago having been told how good it was by a friend) and still enjoy it. Everyone I’ve badgered into borrowing my copy has been instantly converted and I will watch it again.

The version that has been released theatrically in the UK has been dubbed, so those awful (but funny) subtitles have been lost, and Stephen Chow (Sing) has revoiced his own character. If you can find somewhere that is actually showing this then it is worth seeing. If not then I’m sure it will not be long before someone releases it over here for you to rent. If you cannot wait then CD-Wow do still have it for sale.

CD-Wow sell it for £6.99 in a directors cut. Though the actual directors cut version has no English subtitles the original version on the discs does. It also included NG footage (which I guess stands for No good as it is a bunch of outtakes!)

It is a subtitled film with the cast speaking either Mandarin or Cantonese (how do you tell?)

Certificate: 12A
Running Time: 87 minutes

Director: Stephen Chow
Writers: Stephen Chow & Tsang Kan-Cheung

Cast:

Stephen Chow – Sing
Vicki Zhao – Mui
Ng Man Tat – ‘Golden Leg’ Fung
Patrick Tse Yin - Hung
 

Pictures for the review

Display pictures

Sing meets the thugs