There are some things that just go hand in hand – peanut butter and jelly, Axl and Slash and, oddly enough, Kung-fu and soccer.
Kung-Fu and soccer? Maybe this is not the most likely of combinations, but in “Shaolin Soccer,” director Stephen Chow matches the two to sometimes humorous, sometimes strange effect. It is safe to say “Shaolin Soccer” will be the only film of its kind moviegoers will come across in the theater this summer.
In the 1983 Super Cup Final, Golden Leg (Ng Man Tat) misses a penalty shot losing the match for his team and inspiring the crowd to take the field and pummel him, breaking his sweet leg. Fast forward to the present where Golden Leg is a down and out lackey for former teammate and owner of the champion Team Evil. Crippled and drunk, Golden Leg limps through the street where he runs into young Shaolin master Sing (Stephen Chow), who has made it his lifelong goal to bring the people his message of kung-fu’s many virtues. He even sights real life martial arts proponent Bruce Lee as a model.
Shaolin, by the way, is a martial arts style, which, as Sing explains, is the basis for all martial arts. Sing says if people learned the secrets of this form, they would be able to apply martial arts to solve everyday problems, making life easier for all. The two decide to form an alliance combining Sing’s Shaolin mastery and Golden Leg’s soccer skill to win the Super Cup Final. Golden Leg will get revenge against his former teammate, and Sing will get his message out.
It is important to mention there are many conventions in popular Asian cinema, which are completely foreign to a Western audience. They are some of the same things one might find in Asian animation or comic art. For instance, actors might break out into an impromptu line dance. On top of this, there were dozens of jokes and lines which do not really translate to another culture. Cartoon-like violence and strange use of CGI were among the things a newcomer to this type of cinema might find foreign. There was one instance in which the Shaolin soccer team faces off against a team of very attractive females decorated with male facial hair. This was one of the many instances where a cultural translator would have been of great benefit. These were the things, though, which kept the film fun.
Golden Leg and Sing set off to get Sing’s brothers from the Shaolin Temple back together in a series of scenes very reminiscent of the “Blues Brothers.” (“We’re getting the band back together”). The brotherhood has grown old and fat, but after some convincing, Sing is able to reunite with his old friends and enter the tournament.
What ensues is a cross between the American underdog sports film (“Mighty Ducks,” “Bad News Bears”) and Asian kung-fu (“Enter the Dragon”). The result is strange and oddly entertaining.
The acting is a different story. The dialogue is dubbed and extremely distracting – think “Godzilla.” It is difficult to determine the quality of the acting with the dubbed voices. The novelty wore off in no time, and the goofy dubbing quickly became grating. There is virtually nothing of lasting cinematic worth to be found in the film. The most compelling special effects were children of “The Matrix,” so no ground was broken in this arena either.
Not much can be said for the film’s cinematic elements, but as a change of pace, “Soccer” might be worth the price of admission.
