Successful
soccer film kicks into theaters this summer
By Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner
“Shaolin
Soccer” is not a typical soccer movie. The
film was written, directed, produced and
edited by Chinese comedian Stephan Chow.
It combines the ancient martial arts born
in the legendary Shaolin Temple in China
with off the wall humor and zany special
effects.
This film will make audiences laugh with
its wicked humor and will draw attention
with its eye-popping action and surreal
stunts. Its no wonder “Shaolin Soccer” is
the most successful Hong Kong production
ever made, and holds the No. 1 box office
record for the Hong Kong film industry.
The film was released in 2001 in China,
and enjoyed tremendous success throughout
Asia winning several awards including best
picture, best director, best actor and best
special effects at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Chow who has appeared in over 50 movies
is one of the most famous and loved comedians
throughout China. He is often referred to
as the “Jim Carrey of the East” for his
clever parodies and his razor sharp wit
to spoof famous actors like James Bond and
Chow Yun Fat.
Chow played the lead role in the film which
was entirely filmed in China and presented
his own stunts — the ones that are not computer
generated anyway.
Sing (Stephan Chow) is a Shaolin monk with
extraordinary martial arts skills and a
“steel leg,” who dreams of a world where
kung fu is used to solve all the world’s
problems. He gets his chance when he meets
Fung (Ng Man Tat), a former soccer player
looking for redemption and a team to coach.
The two form a soccer team and use kung
fu taking this film to an extreme that has
never been done before.
“Shaolin Soccer” begins like how the majority
of soccer movies end where the final shot
and drama all come down to a penalty kick.
This film uses that as its beginning. Fung
is China’s best soccer player and is known
as “golden leg.” He commits the cardinal
sin in soccer by missing the penalty kick
and losses the Chinese national championship.
Fung suffers the consequences of this sin
when enraged fans storm the field and break
his leg. 20 years later a crippled Fung
is carrying equipment for his former teammate
Hung’s “Team Evil.”
Hung is the most successful soccer coach
in China and portrays the villain in the
film. He fires Fung after 20 years of loyal
service and tells him he will never become
a soccer coach.
Fung gets the idea to form a Shaolin soccer
team when he sees Sing takes on a bunch
of thugs with nothing but a soccer ball.
Sing recruits his former, out-of-shape Shaolin
monks to play, and this is where all the
fun begins. Each player has a special power
that adds to the team’s limitless potential.
With its Shaolin technique, Fung’s soccer
team enters a tournament and makes it to
the final game where they face the dreaded
“Team Evil.”
The film is loaded with “Mo Lei Tau,” a
“nonsense comedy” that chow invented with
his physical sense of humor that uses slapstick
antics, toilet humor and water-thin plots.
The incredible digital effect stunts is
what makes this film unique. Players consistently
defy the laws of physics, leaping high in
the air and doing impossible backflips,
putting the supersonic soccer balls in the
net and literally blowing the unfortunate
goalie away.
The final game in the championship is unlike
any other soccer final ever played, and
the ending has to seen in order to be believed.
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