Soccer

With a twist. Imagine a game of soccer with kung-fu. Well that's exactly what the Hong Kong film Shaolin Soccer is about. It tells the story of six Shaolin monks who form a soccer team to defeat the evil team sponsored by Hung, a former friend who betrayed the monks. The captain, Sing, seeks out the retired kung-fu masters and brings them into the team. Unfortunately, the old masters are completely out of shape and have to revive their martial arts skills in a short amount of time. It also turns out that the players on the evil team are taking drugs to turn them into invincible, superhuman soccer players. The tension builds up and at the beginning of the final championship, the good team is completely beaten. The force of the evil players’ kicks sends the ball rocketing across the field, covered in flames. Many members on the good team become severely injured as a result. When all seems lost, Sing’s love interest shows up and proves to be an amazing kung-fu soccer player. She and Sing team up to defeat Team Evil.

Shaolin Soccer is one of my all-time favorite kung-fu movies. It's action-packed (but not too gruesome and graphic) and hilarious. There is one scene where the good team, the underdog, charges onto the field for its first game, cheering. Much to the players’ surprise, there are no fans waiting for them on the bleachers. All they see are a few cleaning ladies sweeping the bleachers. One member quickly bounces back from the disappointment and screams, “You are all still our fans!!” The cleaning ladies respond by throwing their brooms at the team.

In order to fully appreciate this movie, the viewer has to understand that it is intended to be a lighthearted movie and not meant to be taken seriously. Some viewers complain that the plot is too simple and the kung-fu action scenes are too fake. Although I agree that the plot could have been better-developed, I think that the “fake” action scenes fit the movie well. After all, what are the chances of kung-fu masters fusing their martial arts skills with soccer techniques? Close to zero. Because the entire movie is set in a fictitious world where soccer players can zoom 50 feet into the air and rotate freely, violating everything Newton held sacred, expecting the movie to seem realistic would be unrealistic. Shaolin Soccer is an action-packed comedy that is just for laughs.

Meet the team (Sing is in the center with a “10” at the bottom of his cloak/uniform):



-Sherry