Sometimes I forget that movies that I’m familiar with and are old news to me are very much new news to many other people. Today’s reminder? Shaolin Soccer. I was surprised to realize that it came out all the way back in 2001. It’s a Stephen Chow movie, which either means something to you or (more likely these days) doesn’t. Back in the early 2000s, he released a couple of comedy/martial arts movies that were over the top and just . . . kind of really out there. Slapstick dialed up to 11. Shaolin Soccer is very much in that vein.
It tells the story of a man who’s convinced kung fu is the solution to all of life’s problems. He longs for a vehicle to be able to show the world that simple fact, and lands upon the idea of creating a soccer team from Shaolin masters who have fallen on hard times. From there, you get anime-style soccer training and match sequences. Think of it like a live-action cartoon, where the physics totally doesn’t need to make sense, and where plot holes are more opportunities to jump over and do something really cool in the air while you’re doing it.
For me, it’s a total blast. For others, it might not be their cup of tea. The special effects are definitely dated, but it’s just a fun movie to watch and be entertained. You never really know what they’re going to come up with next, and it’s fun watching it all happen in front of you. The one weak spot is the romance plot line, which is just kind of . . . bewildering to the point that I ended up ignoring it more or less. It might be that something’s lost in the cultural translation. (The film is entirely in Chinese, with subtitles.)
It’s a bummer Stephen Chow never became any bigger, because I would have loved to have seen more of his style of martial arts comedy. Then again, I’m just thankful for the films we got, I guess. This one’s on Paramount+ right now, and it’s rated PG-13. I gave it a 9/10. It’s not going to change your life, but if you’re like me and Tomas, you’ll laugh a lot while you’re watching it.