Shaolin Soccer

B+

Directed by Stephen Chow

Although "Kung Fu Hustle" remains my favorite Stephen Chow film, the similar "Shaolin Soccer" is often equally hilarious and visually engaging, showing of Chow's aesthetic panache and flair for a physical, slapstick brand of humour that is mixes well with his subject matter.

Stephen Chow pulls double duty in "Shaolin Soccer," both serving as the director and the star of his film, in this case playing a downtrodden, jobless Kung Fu master named "Mighty Steel Leg" Sing whose skills have been rendered useless by the population's waning interest in his art. As a way to stave of bankruptcy he plots to enter a local soccer tournament and vie for the million dollar prize. To do so, he attempts to enlist the help of his brothers, all of whom are also former martial arts masters now struggling just to get by. After some initial reticence, the brothers finally agree to join Mighty Steel Leg and participate in the tournament. Hilarity obviously ensues.

Chow did well to cast himself as the lead in "Shaolin Soccer." His comedic timing is second to none and he infuses the whole film with a sense of non stop raucousness that is a pleasure to watch. Much like "Kung Fu Hustle," "Shaolin Soccer" is notable for its CG powered stunts, Chow and his buddies flying through the air, sending soccer balls to the moon, and succeeding in pulling off a variety of other totally implausible kung fu/soccer moves. Chow's heavy reliance on CG gives the film a complete lack of believability but anyone who expected something authentic in a film titled "Shaolin Soccer" deserves to be disappointed. As comedy, "Shaolin Soccer" works susprisingly well and is consistently funny despite the fact that many jokes probably didn't translate well from Mandarin to English.

A great little movie. I recommend it to everyone.