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SHAOLIN SOCCER Send This Review to a Friend
Imagine a soccer game played with a combination of kicking the ball and overwhelming opponents with martial arts. Such is the formula for this Hong Kong onslaught by Stephen Chow, who has earned a reputation as a funny guy and has written, produced, directed an edited "Shaolin Soccer," and as if that were not enough, also plays the physically demanding lead.
The result is slapstick raised to the nth degree, with plot buttons pushed so that the story is a typical one of an underdog team fighting uphill. Just how much you can get into watching games in which kung fu is added to soccer skills is a matter to ponder. It is not my idea of sports or laughs, but that's beside the point here.
This is the sort of film that might appeal to those who like martial arts movies in general and have the broadest tolerance for combining the genre with low comedy. "Shaolin Soccer" apparently was a huge hit in Hong Kong, and it is full of visual effects for those who worship at that shrine. As for the field action, it may set you wondering about what would happen if rules were abandoned in hockey. A Miramax Films release.
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