Most helpful customer reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
This movie is ridiculously funny, Jun 28 2007
Stephen Chow did an amazing job 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 entire cast did a wonderful job in their roles by giving 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. Some of the scenes, such as the first time we see Mui making bread, are absolute genius; so funny that you can't help but to laugh. I felt Mui seemed like she should have been in more of the film, and I've read that a lot of her part got cut out of the American release, which is a shame. A number of people are saying the original is vastly superior to the edited U.S. version, but this version is so great that I would be mightily impressed if that were true.
The idea of this movie is ingenious, using the style of extravagant martial arts films in a soccer movie, and is done beautifully. 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). This is another type of cliché, a very different one, so different that I would say it is not a cliché at all.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
grreaat, Jul 12 2004
This movie is funnay!It employs some great martial arts techniques and kool computer effects. It begins with a group of former Shaolin monks that have chosen to embark on different ways of life. They reunite through one student that is down on his luck poor, but still positive. Another man was once a soccer legend and loses that prestige through an injury. He takes abuse from the coach. He then meets the former shaolin monk and they decide to form a soccer team.
It sums up the sense of honor and respect that the martial arts emanate. It does this lightly and humorously. The part in which stephen chow and his other monk brethren dress up and sing and dance...very funny. I nearly choaked on my popcorn and collapsed on the floor of my room laughing. It has the contrast of the basic yin and yang of evil, hence the "evil team"(a bad soccer team that the shaolin monks must compete against)It brings the martial arts timeless ideals of honor into the 21rst century, With style and substance.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
My new fascination with Stephen Chow, Jul 10 2004
While I like to think of myself as an internationalist when it comes to watching films, I had never heard of Stephen Chow before deciding to take a chance on 'Shaolin Soccer.' Shame on me. Chow turns out to be a hilarious and creative star. Who could have dreamed of something as goofy, infectious and, at the same time, as technically brilliant (the special effects are eye-popping) as Shaolin Soccer? Now, I'm reading through the comments left here by Mr. Chow's longtime fans and I realize I'm going to have to check out some of his "better works" (as judged by these aficionados) like 'God of Cookery' and 'From Beijing with Love'. Not knowing what to expect from Shaolin Soccer, I found myself delightfully convulsed with laughter at two early points in the film: - An impromptu synchronized 'street' rendition of the Kool and the Gang hit 'Celebration.' This is almost impossible to explain. When it took shape in the movie, I literally mouthed the words "What the...?" Truly inspired. - A second muscial number, in which two of the Shaolin 'brothers' take to the stage in an ill-fated cabaret act. While I'm sure this was even funnier in Cantonese, even the wonderfully descriptive subtitles demonstrated the amateur campiness of their performance (which was exactly Chow's point). Plus, for any soccer/football fan the depictions of the in-game events are a joy. All in all, Shaolin Soccer was a unexpected treat.
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