Golden Leg Fung (Man Tat Ng) is man crippled in a soccer riot as a youth. At that time he was the best in soccer in school. Now he is a sad shadow of a man serving the once inferior Hung. On the street one day he meets Sing (Stephen Chow), a garbage collector and student of Shaolin Kung Fu. Sing is looking for a way to utilize his Kung Fu skills since his Shaolin master forbid him to use his skills for fighting (his first attempt at Shaolin singing and entertainment is a total bust). Eventually Lung and Sing corral many of Sing’s childhood friends--and eventually enemies too--to make a team. They enter the National Soccer Tournament. Here their combination of soccer and kung-fu skills are unequaled; until the final match up with Hung’s Evil Team…

SHAOLIN SOCCER reminded me of 1997’s THE FULL MONTY; essentially about a band of working class guys who team up to accomplish a goal. In MONTY it was to raise money for child support; in Soccer, it is just the idea of accomplishment. Sing’s group are pretty much geeks and losers, but they each find their own talent to utilize in soccer.

Now before I get any further I first must say that this film is a comedy and not a martial arts spectacular. Most of the “stunts” are CGI—and look it. The f/x are decent though and work for the humorous intent of the film. Many of the funniest sequences involved a character’s perception of what is happening. In the middle of a game with street rivals, while his team members get the crud beat out of them, Sing sees himself in actual combat. Crawling on the ground he picks up a helmet, machine gun, and a walkie-talkie and starts calling for back up as helicopters whirl overhead. The walkie-talkie turns out to be his show and the gun is a stick; Coach Lung stands above him yelling at him to get up!

Perception also plays a roll with the ball and the game itself. The audience sees the ball zoom though the air with fire behind it, tearing up the grass and earth, or as a charging panther ready for the kill. Team members fly though the air at incredible heights and defend the goal with impossible speed and adeptness. Rival team member have a cloud of terror and destruction above their heads as they prepare to kick the ball. Humor here is the main purpose, the stunts and martial arts are secondary, but the film works. Stephen Crow is one of Hong Kong’s most popular comedians and it is easy to see why. His ease in front of the camera and his ability to look like an everyday Joe let him blend into the framework of the story. If any one actor or character stood out too much the audience would be less willing to root for the team as a whole.

My rating on the Watson scale: 5