Stephen Chow created one of the best crossover comedies back in the early 2000s with "Kung Fu Hustle" but afterwards worked mostly in China which made sense due to the burgeoning Chinese film industry there. "Kung Fu Soccer" is his most expensive film yet but harks back by design to "Shaolin Soccer" where he burst into the international cinema with a bombastic kung fu approach to sports. He starred in that film and it shares DNA here which you really get a sense of in the mid-credit sequence. That said, this Is about girls championship soccer and once it gets going it is every bit as fun as "Shaolin" but more high tech with a little less comedy and a little more drama, which is to be expected in the current setting. The subtitled version as always is better though the English dub will be released in theaters in America. It is just a matter of slang and how the humor is translated that is key. The movie really circles around the two girls leading the team. Zhang Xiaifei plays Shuang, the captain of the team and an orphan with a bone to pick. Her best friend whom she has been fighting with lately is Yulong played by Dilraba Dilmurat. Yulong is the cooler of the two but Shuang has something to prove and something to learn.
Like "Shaolin" they are beats on the field until they come up against a for that uses different tactics. The team is overseen by a grandmaster who is fairly hands off. She just plays Mahjong with her board of directors (which seems like a couple cast members from "Hustle"). The set up is understood and there is a love interest/lesson learned in, by and with Great Uncle which both makes sense but is a little dirty in the way it is played. But after a stunning defeat by other players (that feign injury in certain gender ways for advantage). it is about thinking a different way. Again the first half of the film is just setting up the enemy to defeat (which is Shuang internally). Like "Shaolin" with a bigger budget and new advanced (maybe AI) effects, the magical soccer play is just as energetic and fun as it has ever been. Some have said it is cartoonish in how it is done but that is the point. The comedy comes out of it like a Tex Avery cartoon. While this isn’t "Kung Fu Hustle", it shows that Chow still has the touch. Whether it will make a dent Stateside doesn’t really make a dent (or difference) as it is already a success in China but it is great to see Chow return to home ground in a way. He doesn’t insert himself as he was the star of "Shaolin" but we get a taste just to know he is still there as the character. The acting from all the girls, especially with the two leads, is effective though Great Uncle lays it on a bit thick. But every player here on the central team has something to prove and a power to show. That kind of depth is what the makes the second half of the film a lot of fun. 85%/B
By Tim Wassberg
