Shaolin Soccer

I often go about things all wrong. For example, I watched Kung Fu Hustle before watching Shaolin Soccer. Both movies were made by (and star) Stephen Chow, and both are hilarious fun.

Shaolin Soccer is sort of a Bad News Bears movie. Chow is concerned with making the martial arts relevant to modern society, and he's always got a scheme (including one that gives us the worst singing duo since Hoffman and Beatty teamed up in Ishtar. In his latest plan, Chow wants his band of brothers to form a kung fu soccer team. This suits Golden Leg fine. He wants revenge against the owner of Team Evil (yes, that's its name) because the owner had his leg broken years before.

You pretty much know what's going to happen, and sure enough it does. The kung fu team tears through the opposition, right up until the Big Game, when they meet Team Evil, a bunch of guys who have even more kung fu powers (the cheaters!) than our heroes. I won't tell you the outcome of the game, since you know it already, but maybe the way it happens will surprise you.

Like Kung Fu Hustle, this movie throws in some singing and dancing in places you'd least expect. It also has a love story, and lots of laughs. There's no sequel, so far, but I read somewhere that Kung Fu Hustle 2 is being filmed. I'm ready.