Hey folks, Harry here with a review of a film that I very much want to see right now thank you very much. SHAOLIN SOCCER sounds fun as hell and would be great to go check out this weekend.... sigh... though that is not to be. Boo hooo.... boo hoooo.... Read on...
Dear Harry,
Aquagreen here, with a in-depth review of SHAOLIN SOCCER.
Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a "private copy" of the much talked about Stephen Chow's latest flick SHAOLIN SOCCER. For those who have seen it and raved about it, and for those who haven't seen it but heard about it, I must say this film totally lived up to 100% of its hype!!! Judging from both the action and the comedy perspectives, there is no BS anywhere throughout the film, SHAOLIN SOCCER means business, and Stephen Chow has delivered a real gem to movie fans. I just wish this film could have come out this summer, not only because it would put RUSH HOUR to shame, more so because the US audiences deserve a sooner release.
The story line is simple. Chow plays an old-fashioned but out-dated Shaolin martial artist who tries to reintroduce the ancient art to modern day China. Through an accidental encounter, he was discovered by a former professional soccer player nicknamed "Golden Right Leg", played by his usual sidekick Ng Man Tat, who persuades him to convert his Shaolin kung fu into soccer techniques. Chow's one major attribute is his Powerful Buddha Leg that can kick any object miles up in the air.
Ng plans to lure Chow to the upcoming Soccer Championship Tournament in China, where the grand prize is a whopping one million dollars. A lot of money considering Chow's other profession is also a street beggar. But before they can proceed, Chow has to find his five other Shaolin Classmates (Brothers in Chinese saying) to assemble the soccer team. However, as he revisits his Brothers, he soon finds out that all of them have become lost souls of society.
Brother #1, also known as the "Man with the Steel Head", who works at a nightclub to pay off debt with a boss that practices kung fu on him by smashing beer bottles against his "Steel Head", he eventually gets demoted to a toilet cleaner.
Brother #2, Stephen Chow, who is the only remaining Shaolin protege ambitious enough to pass on the ancient martial art to the public.
Brother #3, a man once was able to block and absorb any object with his invincible body armor, but now has turned into stockbroker whose life evolves around his cell phone 24 hours a day.
Brother #4, a spinning/break dancing kick specialist who became a dishwasher, even got bitter at Chow with remark of "Look at me, I am so handsome, but why did God make me bald? And look at you, you are so ugly, but why do you still have a full set of hair?"
Brother #5, a Bruce Lee like imitator known to have the quickest hands and feet, an isolated loner who locks himself inside a steel tent.
Brother #6 (Brother Junior), an overweight big man working at a supermarket who was once a skinny kid with light feathering hops that could climb 20 feet up in the air.
The first part of the story centers around how Chow motivates his five Brother to join him for the soccer mission. The second half of the story becomes more labored as Ng begins to train the Shaolin Brothers as they march into the different rounds of the tournament. Of course in the middle of all these chaos Chow manages to sneak in a little love story with a Tai Chi girl (played by the adorable Vicky Zhao) who works at a steamed dumplings food stand. Overall the plot is very predictable, but Chow's charisma plus tons of scattered original funny scenes keeps the story in tact. One memorable scene shows Chow beating up a bunch of local street punks than asking one of them for a few loose changes afterwards. The punk asked him, "is this considered as robbery?", Chow simply replied, "of course!"
The film as a whole reminds me a combination of "The Magnificent Seven" vs. "Rocky" vs. "The Matrix" vs "A Better Tomorrow", except the trench coats are replaced by kitchen aprons. This is easily the funniest film I've seen in a long time!!! I won't give away the ending, but I will give a hint. For those who are Japanimation fans, remember the lethal weapon used by Bio-Boosted Armour "Guyver"? You will see some similarities in the final scene.
I agree with the earlier review from Wong Fei Hong, I thought I've seen the best of Stephen Chow directing in the GOD OF COOKERY, but SHOALIN SOCCER takes it to another level. It is very obvious that Chow must have spent at least two years preparing for this film. From a technical standpoint, the film used tons of 360 degree motion capture effects we saw in THE MATRIX, except the techniques are more refined. There was one amazing scene in the middle of the film where the camera motion captured all six Shaolin Soccer Players dispensing their kung fu kicking across the entire soccer field in one synchronized shot. The quality of the effects are not up to Hollywood standards quite yet, but they're 80% there in my opinion, which is pretty good for a Hong Kong film.
As for Chow's effort in preparation himself for the role, I can tell he definitely has gone through some intense martial art training. Just to give you a quick example, his entry scene in the film showing him imitating Jean Claude Van Damme doing a perfect leg split. It is also evident that Chow put in hours of professional soccer training. I am no soccer expert, but base on what I saw just on his athleticism alone, I had no problem believing him playing that role. Stephen Chow has proven himself as a premiere all around actor/director in Hong Kong. .
Of course all that could not be accomplished with the help of his action director Ching Siu Tung. I am sure Mr. Ching spent just as much time learning about the effects as Chow did. It is Ching's martial art direction that made all the Shaolin Soccer players come alive in their physical mechanics. By combining the wire works of the old school and the computer effects of the new millennium, Ching has delivered action scenes that are more dynamic than THE MATRIX. Compared to Yuen Woo Ping's wiring techniques, Ching's style is much more rapid and fluid, in addition to some extremely sharp editing that makes his wiring sequence even more perfect. This is without question Ching and Chow's best collaborative effort since THE ROYAL TRAMP, and it is indeed Ching's best work since SWORDSMAN 2. As an action director, Ching proves himself to be at the equal if not superior level than Master Yuen. It will only be a matter of time before Ching gets a shot at directing a major Hollywood film. Any producers listening out there???
Without elaborating further, I'm here to say SHAOLIN SOCCER simply kicks butt!!! A note to Miramax, get this film released ASAP!!!
- Aquagreen
