Esotropiart

Stephen Chow is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors/directors. I was enthralled with the imagination of Kung Fu Hustle and decided to pursue other Stephen Chow films. I was surprised to find out that he has been involved in an immense number of films, and he is recognized as essentially the greatest comedian in China. Shaolin Soccer was mentioned on the back of the Kung Fu Hustle DVD case, so I figured I could start my Stephen Chow appreciation there. Interestingly enough, I had some difficulty finding the movie, going to three different movie rental stores before finding a copy that wasn't out.

I can now see why it was hard to find. No one has more than two or three copies, and it is an extremely amazing movie. Bad combination. It seems like half the time Hollywood and Blockbuster get six zillion copies of random movies and just a couple copies of the ones I actually want to see (namely martial arts movies). I was totally impressed at the number of Kung Fu Hustle copies they had, furthermore. I don't remember ever seeing a kung fu movie fill up an entire shelf with copies. It's cool to see Chinese kung fu movies get their due acknowledgment.

Shaolin Soccer is a combination of three of my favorite subjects, making it virtually the perfect movie. Stephen Chow somehow manages to combine extremely imaginative martial arts with soccer and nonsensical comedy to form an unstoppable trio. I am actually surprised not to see more of this style of movie out there, especially with the growing popularity of Manga, an exaggerated Japanese comic drawing style. Perhaps the only American equivalent would be The Matrix with Keanu Reeves. Basically, Chow brings to live action the extreme hyperbole found in Japanese animation, except even Manga is left in the dust with these incredible visuals. Stunning! Jaw dropping! I think I like Shaolin Soccer better than Chow's latest Kung Fu Hustle simply because I enjoy the more innocent and comical subject matter.

Shaolin Soccer is basically a story about a guy who is totally bonkers about kung fu. He believes that everyone should learn it, and he is constantly searching for a way to prove that kung fu can be used in any daily profession or situation. Sing, played by Stephen Chow, and his Shaolin "brothers" go through a series of failures before nearly losing hope after finding no one to appreciate their skills. A former soccer star happens upon Sing and later sees his incredible leg strength ("Steel Leg" Technique) and gets the idea to start a soccer team to regain his old glory. Sing likes the idea as another attempt at universalizing kung fu and goes about rounding up his Shaolin friends to complete the team.

Virtually every minute of the film contains a host of visual and CG effects that create a sensational distortion of reality. Chow is genius in his ability to represent extreme martial arts skill in such a believable and funny way. Hats off to all the crew and artists who made it happen as well. I'll have to watch this movie several more times to appreciate it fully. It certainly deserves equal or more hype than Kung Fu Hustle. Soon I'll try to write a little article about Stephen Chow, my new favorite actor/director. In reading up to write this review, I realize how accomplished and interesting he is as a person - worth further investigation.

Oh, and here is my deep and trivial thought: Which character in the movie was the most invincible and impervious to damage? No, it was not Sing or any of his teammates, nor was it Team Evil. No, it was the soccer ball itself. It underwent all sorts of abuse and never once exploded, got burnt, scratched or incinerated. A pretty impressive feat if you watch the movie.