Usually.
But this isn't your everyday sport movie. Sure, it's got the whole ragtag-team-of-underdogs-trying-to-overcome-adversity-and-clinch-the-cup storyline. Like nearly every other sport movie ever made. It's got a half-arsed romantic subplot. Like nearly every other sport movie ever made.
But the thing it has, which all other sport movies lack, is Stephen Chow. I've been a fan of his since I saw "From Beijing With Love" on telly a couple of years ago. To my mind, it's still the best Bond send-up ever made. I've managed to see some of his other movies since, but none of them have been as funny as "Shaolin Soccer". Chow has taken what must have been a fairly simple idea, and milked every conceivable possibility from it. A bunch of former kung fu masters must rediscover their talents, in order to win the world soccer championship. Sounds a little silly. Well, it IS a little silly. But that's kind of the point.
The secret to Chow's brilliance, I think, is that no matter what kind of craziness is going on around him, he's just so COOL about it. He almost always delivers his lines with a totally deadpan expression. Think a much more talented Leslie Nielsen (a-la Naked Gun), who is also cool, good-looking, and BUFF. Okay, he's NOT like Leslie Nielsen. That was a bad comparison. He's like any action hero you could name, except that he's genuinely FUNNY. Sure, he hams it up a bit occasionally, but only when it's appropriate. Nothing ever seems laboured. He doesn't just mug pointlessly (like...er, Leslie Nielsen). A lot of other film comedians could learn from this man. Leslie Nielsen, for one. (Okay, I'll stop)
As for the soccer sequences, well, words can't do them justice. You'll just have to see them for yourself.
But this isn't your everyday sport movie. Sure, it's got the whole ragtag-team-of-underdogs-trying-to-overcome-adversity-and-clinch-the-cup storyline. Like nearly every other sport movie ever made. It's got a half-arsed romantic subplot. Like nearly every other sport movie ever made.
But the thing it has, which all other sport movies lack, is Stephen Chow. I've been a fan of his since I saw "From Beijing With Love" on telly a couple of years ago. To my mind, it's still the best Bond send-up ever made. I've managed to see some of his other movies since, but none of them have been as funny as "Shaolin Soccer". Chow has taken what must have been a fairly simple idea, and milked every conceivable possibility from it. A bunch of former kung fu masters must rediscover their talents, in order to win the world soccer championship. Sounds a little silly. Well, it IS a little silly. But that's kind of the point.
The secret to Chow's brilliance, I think, is that no matter what kind of craziness is going on around him, he's just so COOL about it. He almost always delivers his lines with a totally deadpan expression. Think a much more talented Leslie Nielsen (a-la Naked Gun), who is also cool, good-looking, and BUFF. Okay, he's NOT like Leslie Nielsen. That was a bad comparison. He's like any action hero you could name, except that he's genuinely FUNNY. Sure, he hams it up a bit occasionally, but only when it's appropriate. Nothing ever seems laboured. He doesn't just mug pointlessly (like...er, Leslie Nielsen). A lot of other film comedians could learn from this man. Leslie Nielsen, for one. (Okay, I'll stop)
As for the soccer sequences, well, words can't do them justice. You'll just have to see them for yourself.