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The premise of this film is so outrageous, the cartoon qualities of CGI provide a perfect match. Finally! Overblown special effects put to good use!

I have only one complaint about SHAOLIN SOCCER, and it has nothing to do with the film itself, but its treatment by Miramax. Having seen both the original DVD version and the hacked up cut that ended up on screen, I am furious. There may not be a lot missing time wise from the original, but there are KEY scenes gone – vanished. KEY plot scenes, particularly one at the beginning of the film. Its absence from the U.S. version COMPLETELY changes the tone and message of the film. It adds a character twist from which a film as simple as SHAOLIN SOCCER certainly benefits. Do the idiots at Miramax think we U.S. viewers can only handle a dumbed down cut of an already dumbed down movie? I tremble at the thought of what they'll do to HERO.

Still, even Team Evil over at Miramax can't keep a good film down. I've mentioned before how serious films without irony and sarcasm are a refreshing exception to the norm.  Well, it's also nice to have a comedy like SHAOLIN SOCCER, free of gutter humor and irony, with a good heart, and unashamed of being a purely feel-good movie

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