Siu Lam juk kau

Stephen Chow writes, directs and stars in probably his funniest and most accessible (to Western audiences, at least) film to date.

Sing (Chow) is trying to find a way to encourage his countrymen to re-embrace their Shaolin kung fu heritage. When he meets down-at-heel ex-soccer coach Fung (Ng), the pair hatch a plan to form a soccer team with Sing's Shaolin brothers. Unfortunately, these guys have lost their kung fu skills. Sing resolves to help his brothers regain their dignity, then lead them into a championship showdown with the seemingly unstoppable Evil Team. He also finds time to fall in love with Tai-Chi baker Mui (the usually lovely Vicki Zhao), who gets some of the funniest scenes in the movie.

As a non-Chinese speaker, my experience with Chow's previous films is patchy, his wordplay humour rarely making a decent transition to subtitles. The comedy here though is mostly physical, possibly even deliberately geared more towards a Western market. The plot - however clichéd - is a pleasing tale of underdogs made good, and the movie has a definite feelgood feel and uplifting ending. Even the CG is impressive and well used. It's the most entertaining movie I've seen in ages.

I was watching the Universe DVD. Subs are decent enough, without too many typos, and the 'making of' and other extras have English subs also.

This film was seen as something of a surprise. Having only heard of Shaolin Soccer on the net, and seen a teaser for the film, I thought nothing more of it until given the opportunity to go and watch the UK release. My initial disappointment with the dubbing (I am a subtitle die-hard) was soon overcome with admiration of how far HK cinema has come. Imagine the FX expertise of the Matrix with the comedy of Jackie Chan fused into a somewhat generic football film. In a word, a brilliantly scripted and often funny film. Many moments are extremely funny, with the over-the-top storyline made famous by HK, and also the very touching moments with the acne-ridden baker girl/love interest as she is only accepted for what she is. It feels as if there is more to the love story in the original cut of the film, as the story occasionally skipped in places, like a bad DVD. But the overall story is not affected, it moves sedately at first, which is good, as the excessive use of Kung-fu and Football are shown in increasingly ridiculous stages. The final goal reminds me of Hot-Shot Hamish, for those that read the comics. Worth seeing, and I can't wait for the DVD - providing it has the original cut, and subtitles.

I've seen this movie many, many, many, many, many & many times. A friend recommended this to me and unfortunately that's still the only way people in europe know about this movie: from mouth to mouth. Absolutely one of the most brilliant comedies i've ever seen. Must see. Won't tell anything else.

This is a ride, more than a movie. And well, if it is a movie, it could be many more movies also. It has a story about a soccer tournament, like in a sports movie. It has a story about love, a really good one, like in a romantic movie; and it has a story about friendship, like in many kinds of movies. It surely has some other stories which I won't tell. Here, Stephen Chow took the amazing work of creating a story involving real characters in not so real, but agreeable situations. He has given each character a personality of its own; just to create comedy, with a humor that is sometimes honest and others rough. It has some great comedy moments although, coming from the characters, very peculiar ones.

It basically all comes from the characters. You have different persons, united by one thing: Shaolin Kung-Fu. And then you have one man, with one passion: Soccer. This premise helps to create human emotions in the characters. They all have a past that, for some reason, want to forget. Except one of them, who could be living in the past, and still thinks in the goodness of Shaolin Kung-Fu. He believes in it so much, that he gives speeches to people about the qualities of his culture, and the improvement it could do in society. He is right, and sooner or later, she will remind these things to some people, and they will all remember. They will all be prepared to get together again.

What a good-hearted film this is, and how it is filmed, it's beyond imagination. You will find special effects from other world. In occasions, these will seem slow for you, and you will think they are not well managed or handled; but then you will watch. Watching will make you connect all the elements of the story, to make it one. In elements I include special effects, and say again: they couldn't be done better, especially in a movie like this one.

The actors do a great job, the entire cast. They give their characters, the personal development they need. They are not playing the most complex people in the world, but they still know what characters they're playing.

You will probably find something you've seen before, I can't deny that. You will find the ending you expect, the situations you imagine, the resolutions you anticipate, or not. You'll have the old coach, the person with the dreams and the heart, the girl; it's just that you'll have them differently (you'll realize what I mean).

The truth is, that in a world full of clichés, this is another type of cliché. A very different one. So different that I would say it is not a cliché at all.

Throughout the nearly two hour running time of this movie, the room was a glow with merriment, excitement, and remarks of "Holy crap, that is the coolest thing ever!" Indeed, for this movie is filled with amazing visuals, fantastic fun, and all around goodness. Shaolin Soccer is a harmless movie, the type that mentions the normal morals you might find in a children's movie (work in teams, don't let success go to your head, cheating is bad, etc.), without preaching them.

Some Shaolin-trained, but for the most part poor and unhappy men get organized in a soccer team with a coach who was crippled in a soccer riot after losing the big game twenty years ago. You've got a variety of misfits--the spunky young'n with the steel leg, the obese convenience store clerk who can nearly fly, the plutocratic salary man who uses a style reminiscent of Flying Chimpanzee's Cotton Belly in Wing Chun. It's an odd little band, stretching from barely-post adolescent to nearly retirement age. This rag-tag band is quite endearing and it works so well.

Sure, there are a few instances of cheap humor, but you've got to expect this. The visuals are fantastic, the characterization competent (even if you probably have seen the archetypes before), and it's a lot of fun, whether it's the parody of a war movie (which my friend called scant instants before it happened) or the somewhat unusual tribute to Bruce Lee (hint: it's all in the sunglasses).

Should you see this movie? Yes. I'd say this movie deserves 4 1/2 stars out of five based on technical merits, etc. But on fun? That's right, it gets a million billion stars. Now let's see what Miramax cut out--25 minutes? Crap.