"Kung-fu soccer! Pow!" If that single, overenthusiastic, plot-summarizing line of dialogue (delivered with all the air-punching, jumbo gusto that Hong Kong B-movies are known for) doesn't make you smile, then stop reading now--Shaolin Soccer isn't the movie for you. Still smiling? Then you probably already know everything you need to know about this tongue-through-cheek comedy import in which a martial-arts-trained underdog leads a team of misfits into an extreme-soccer showdown, in which CGI-souped-up ancient fighting techniques are used to overpower a corporate squad of scowling steroid supermen. Written and directed by lead actor Stephen Chow (the superstar spoof king of Asia), it's a proudly--and often hysterically--lowbrow goof on come-from-behind sports movies and wirework kung-fu action pictures, not to mention a film that shattered every Hong Kong box office record and scooped up a boatload of awards. Amusingly ludicrous, the movie's one notable hurdle is that Chow clearly values comical lunacy over a good script, so by the third act Shaolin Soccer is threatening to become the kind of Hong Kong movie you laugh at instead of with. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include both the U.S. theatrical English-dubbed version and the original Chinese version subtitled in English. Bottom line: nice to have the choice between subtitled and dubbed for this popular indie film.] (R. Blackwelder)
Shaolin Soccer
Miramax, 111 min., in Cantonese w/English subtitles, PG-13, DVD: $19.99, Aug. 24 Volume 19, Issue 5
Shaolin Soccer
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