|   Shaolin Soccer | JazzHead
Aug 15, 2003 7:33 AM | | Saw this last night on DVD. Been bombarded by the trailer at the multiplex all summer, then found out it was already available on disc from Asia (all region, DTS).
The trailer is very misleading - it makes the film look like a wild-and-crazy goofball comedy. While the film does contain a lot of humor, at its heart, it's more of a Kung Fu "Rocky."
In a brief prologue, a soccer star is brutally crippled by a rival during a match. Flash forward, the former star is a lackey for his old enemy (now a soccer team owner) when he spots a young man using remarkable Kung Fu kicking skills to beat back a gang. He approaches him and convinces him to join in starting a new soccer team, based on Shaolin principles. The young man rounds up the friends he played soccer with as a child - all of them now spectacularly unsuited for sports. They train, they bond, they kick a soccer ball so high into the air it takes hours to come down. A love interest is introduced in the form of a poor breadmaker with a bad skin condition but a refined understanding of Zen. She will be instrumental in the film's climax. All builds to the obligatory Big Game against the old nemesis' team.
All in all, better-than-average HK action, with a nice dose of comedy to lighten things up. The DVD looked very nice - better than most HK imports I own - and the DTS track was solid, though there wasn't a whole lot happening in the surrounds. The subtitles, though, were atrocious - some passages made absolutely no sense. It was as though the dialogue was translated by someone with only a phonetic understanding of English.
Curious to see how this one turns out when it's finally released here. I read that Miramax reedited it drastically, then partially relented and restored some of it. Likewise, they were planning to release it dubbed, but now seem to be leaning toward putting out a Cantonese version on the art-house circuit, in addition to the English wide release. I can see why they are waffling about it - parts of the movie are very Chinese in a cultural sense. At times, I had the feeling I was missing something. The translation had something to do with it, I'm sure, but often I sensed that I was out of the loop as a non-Chinese. Otherwise, an enjoyable evening and recommended to even casual chop-socky fans.
peace,
jh. |
| re: Shaolin Soccer | singha
Aug 15, 2003 1:49 PM | | This movie was released in HK at least 2 years ago. I saw a VHS version more than a year ago. I found the movie atrocious, yet Shaolin Soccer won multiple HK film awards, including best picture and best director - I believe. Hong Kong movie had made some good films in the 80's; but have gone way downhill ever since. |
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