Shaolin Soccer

Good B-movie. I don't even know why I postponed watching it for so long. The film is a nice combination of Kung-Fu and football and even though it’s quite over-the-top, it is funny and very entertaining. A great thing even after almost 20 years. Story***, Action***, Humor****, Violence>No, Entertainment*****, Music***, Visuals***, Atmosphere***, Tension***. 8/10. (27.11.2020)

As František Fuka would say, it's so bad that it's funny. I have never seen anything quite as peculiar, and most likely never will... 7/10 (19.05.2020)

The very title promises something very special. Shaolin Soccer—it just sounds great. It’s not just ordinary soccer; everything is intertwined with kung fu. Stephen Chow is one of Bruce Lee's successors, and like Jackie Chan, he has chosen the path of comedy. His comedies are at times much crazier than Jackie Chan’s, making him a distinctive creator with original endeavors. Shaolin Soccer is about a group of misfits coming together to defeat a team of Evil—literally named that. At first glance, it doesn’t seem groundbreaking, but kung fu is kung fu, and in Chow’s hands, everything looks better. Soccer can be an incredible spectacle—fast, brutal, fiery. Stephen Chow shows that he is an incredible master of martial arts and knows how to connect it with genres and activities that don’t initially seem related to kung fu. At times, it’s evident that the digital effects were still poor for their time, serving as a somewhat sad reminder that even films that traditionally boasted classic effects incorporate something unnatural. On the other hand, Chow wanted to include elements that would be very difficult to film without computer effects. If you love kung fu and comedies and don’t mind absurdity, you will definitely fall in love with this film, and its "poetics" will captivate you. (28.02.2013)