I love martial arts, and Shaolin Soccer has a solid reputation so it ended up in my queue. Shaolin Soccer is a typical sports comedy movie with a good versus evil trope framing the underdog story. A Shaolin evangelist decides to use soccer to spread the word and along the way helps his coach, his friends and a possible love interest get back on the right path.
While the fight scenes were impressive, and there were humorous moments, it took me a couple of attempts before I finished watching Shaolin Soccer. I felt like a lot was probably lost in translation. Was Shaolin Soccer supposed to be a spoof movie or a straight comedy? Shaolin Soccer was at its funniest when there was no dialogue and solely relied on physical humor. I know that my version was also shorter than the original theatrical release.
I also did not completely understand the hero’s reaction to the baker’s revelation. What have you been doing for the majority of the movie? I thought that you were both on the same page. What happened? Did he suddenly think that he could do better and lost his values?
Shaolin Soccer may be a legend, but it went over my head. I hope that it is a case of me not getting it as opposed to Shaolin Soccer being overrated.