DVD Review: Shaolin Soccer
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this movie has some comic violence
and crude humor, including a scene of a man peeing on a wall.
There is some action/fantasy violence, and characters are
wounded. Characters smoke and drink, and there's a reference to
"American drugs" (presumably steroids). A character mentions
suicide as a response to humiliation. There is a joke about
being in love with a married woman. A character removes his
pants (off camera) and makes another character wear his
underpants on his head to humiliate him.
- Families can talk about how Sing saw Mui as beautiful even when no one else did. How did he know? What made it possible for the Shaolin team to begin to win? Families could also talk about the way that Sing made Shaolin into a way of life that affected everything he did.
When former soccer superstar "Golden Leg" Fung sees Sing demonstrating Shaolin in the streets, he realizes the guy has what it takes to be a great soccer player. Sing (Stephen Chow) dreams of a world based on the principles of Shaolin. He realizes that becoming a soccer champion by using Shaolin techniques could bring his message to the masses. So, Sing agrees to help Fung start a team, and they invite Sing's brothers to form a team. At first, they suffer humiliating defeat. When they register for the big tournament, the owner of Fung's arch-nemeses Team Evil laughs at them. But then the games begin. The Shaolin team's magical leaps and kicks bring them to the final round where they must face Team Evil. But when the goalie is injured, who will replace him?
The most successful Hong Kong film ever, SHAOLIN SOCCER is a very traditional underdog sports team story told in a delightfully untraditional style, with whimsy, fantasy, and heart. The movie is pure silly fun with such wonderful spirit that even the dumbest jokes and most predictable developments seem brighter.
The film's visual imagination and effervescent good spirits are pure delight. A group of Chinese people spontaneously break into a dance number to the Kool and the Gang song, "Celebration." Soccer players fly through the sky and kick the ball the length of the field. A sweet bun maker (that is, a sweet maker of sweetbuns) uses kung fu to mix the flour and gets fired when the buns get sour after her tears fall into the batter. And the hero tells the heroine she is beautiful before her makeover.
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