Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Well I had a day off today, and just like I do every day off I felt a trip to the cinema was in order. Sadly The Incredibles doesn't officially open here until tomorrow and so I was forced to watch something a little different. The movie I chose to watch was Shaolin Soccer, an action packed kung fu comedy that plays around with the wire fu conventions of films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

The story follows the same basic conventions as any underdog sports film. It sees a young Shaolin follower named Sing who has made it a personal quest to reintroduce martial arts to the world. This is not an easy task due to the fact that people no longer appreciate the benefits of martial arts. Even his Shaolin brothers, Iron Head, Empty Hand, Weight Vest, Hooking Leg and Iron Vest are all living pretty mundane lives and each have long forgotten their Shaolin super powers. He sees his chance to fulfill his dream when he meets a retired football player who agrees to coach him and his brothers as the worlds first Shaolin soccer team. Once the brothers are all reunited and their powers restored the coach enters them into a competition with the help of a former rival who is now coaching the current champions Team Evil. (gee I wonder who the bad guys are)

However Shaolin Soccer is not a film to watch for it's story. I'm sure you already know how the story will end, but what you are not prepared for is the sheer amount of surreal insanity you will encounter along the way. In the early stages Sing is observed going about his daily routine when a worker asks for his help in lifting a heavy crate. Sing responds by kicking the crate and sending it flying to where it should be, before he tries to popularize kung fu through lounge singing. Then in the teams practice match they are up against a team hiding wrenches, hammers and other weapons in their shorts, and about halfway through Sing drops to the floor and the scene morphs into something out of Apocalypse Now.

Of course its once the tournament kicks off that the madness really begins and the film gets to have some fun with the old wire-fu. During the football matches; particularly the final against a souped up Team Evil, our Shaolin brothers get to make use of all sorts of super powers. They fly across the pitch, catch the ball and run with it embedded into their stomachs, and send huge great balls of fire flying at the terrified goalies.

Though it's the sound and visual crew that really go to town in heightening the hilarity. Seeing a person who can kick a ball is one thing, but seeing him kick a ball that turns into a huge fiery dragon, or using a bullet time kick so that the ball knocks the goalie clean into the crossbar with a cartoony clang is just plain hysterical. I'm telling you these matches were a blast.

However I was a little disappointed to find the film was only available dubbed. It meant that I could no longer gauge the quality of the performers. 2 stood out. Stephen Chow plays Sing, and on the strength of his facial expressions alone manages to be the best martial arts comedian since Jackie Chan kicked off the whole trend. The other was Kai Man Tin who played the teams goalie, and is officially histories greatest Bruce Lee homage with his Game Of Death jump suit and constant use of familiar poses.

It's a shame because with the original language I firmly believe this film would have been a 5 star hit. It's an example to people like the Wayans Brothers how self referential film making should be, and a thoroughly enjoyable blast to boot.




This has been another entry into Tom's Lean-N-Mean III Writeoff.

Recommended: Yes