Cast: Stephen Chow, Kan-Cheung Tsang, Man Tat Ng
Director: Stephen Chow
MPAA Rating: PG
My rating: 9 of 10 stars
MPAA Rating: PG
My rating: 9 of 10 stars
Synopsis: Shaolin Soccer is a Chinese film that revolves around a young Shaolin martial arts enthusiast (Stephen Chow) who dedicates himself to forming a soccer team that uses martial arts techniques to win games.
“Golden Leg” Fung (Man Tat Ng) is an ex-soccer professional who had to quit soccer after his leg was broken in a game. He later finds out that his rival, Hung (Yin Tse) hired someone to intentionally break his leg and thus ruin his future playing soccer.
Fung meets a young martial arts enthusiast on the street named Sing (Stephen Chow) who claims that Shaolin is the answer to everything. He demonstrates that it can be used to do practical, everyday things, such as to avoid falling after slipping on a banana peel, efficiently move parked cars, and quickly trim tree branches. Fung runs into Sing again when Sing uses his martial arts to fight an entire gang of adolescent rebels. Witnessing Sing’s amazing skill, Fung suggests that he should use his talent to play soccer. Sing and Fung then go around the town to recruit Sing’s martial arts brothers for their newly-planned soccer team.
I have only seen a few comedy movies in my life, because I usually don’t find them very funny. I first watched Shaolin Soccer around 7 or 8 years ago, when I was very young, and I still remembered how hilarious it was. This film varies in its comedy, from oddly synchronized dance sequences to the image of relatively old and out-of-shape men attempting to learn how to play soccer using martial arts.
At first, the team is pretty sad and pathetic as they try to practice for the National China Soccer Tournament. The players are out of practice of martial arts, and they don’t do well in learning how to play. However, as most movies go, they eventually learn and refine their techniques as they practice more and more.
Although this movie is meant to be a comedy, it also deals with deeper issues, such as hard work and perseverance. Fung must deal with the fact that his broken leg and inability to continue in the soccer business was due to his rival wanting to eliminate his competition. Each member of the Shaolin team must struggle through initial failures, then realize that persevering as a brotherhood is the best way to improve and succeed. These themes add profound meaning to the film, so the viewer can gain something out of it while also getting a good laugh out of it.
An especially memorable part of the film was the character of Mui (Vicki Zhao), a highly self-conscious bun-maker who works for an irritable street vendor. She also knows martial arts, and Sing tries to get to know her just to be put down due to her insecurity about her appearance. Mui’s lack of self-confidence combined with Sing’s determination to make her feel beautiful causes for a lot of sentimentality.
The movie is pretty fast-paced, which is good for such an action-type comedy. None of the scenes are boring, and the film is consistently comedic and light-hearted even in the more serious scenes. Furthermore, each of the main characters on the team is developed pretty well, since each of their daily lives are explored as they are recruited to the team. The Chinese-oriented, inspirational music in the movie is also very well-suiting to the scenes.
Shaolin Soccer is a film that can be watched over and over again, and, since it is rated PG, it is basically suitable for any age, especially since it explores themes relevant to all types of people.
