If I could sum up Shaolin Soccer in 3 words it would be Absolutly Freakin' Amazing. Never have I seen a Hong Kong movie done so well to the point that it rivals any hollywood made films. Shaolin Soccer is, bar none, the greatest movie to come out of Hong Kong ever. I have watched this movie at least 30 times since I've bought the DVD and I plan on seeing it many more time. The plot in this movie is very thin and has been repeated many times in Hollywood. Movies such as Mighty Ducks, Bad News Bears, and The English Patient have used this plot..... Ok maybe not the English Patient. It's basically the classic story of the underdogs beating the odds and acheiving their "goals" through determination and teamwork. The story itself revolves around Mighty Steel Leg Sing, a post graduation Shaolin practitioner looking for a way to spread the teachings of Shaolin kung-fu in a brand-new modern day package to the masses. After meeting up with Golden Leg Fung, a shamed former soccer player who took a bribe to miss a goal, they decide to form a soccer team with Sing's other Shaolin brothers (each having his own personal skill). The end scene where our Shaolin heroes must face the Evil team is probably one of the greatest moments ever captured on celluloid... next to the maggot barfing dog from Bones... nothing beats that. Shaolin Soccer is a movie for anyone who likes martial arts, for anyone who likes soccer, and generally anyone who likes movies. This movie gets a 10/10 from me and it should get the same from you. Stephen Chiau is a f-ckin' genius.
Reviews
2 Reviews
The Avenging Fist
(2001)
Fans of CGI and Martial Arts will enjoy this movie
8 May 2002
I saw The Avenging Fist after watching Stormriders at a friend's house. I was grossly disappointed in Stormriders just because of the fact that there is no actual fighting. I was expecting the same thing from Avenging Fist, meaning just pretty CGI and a couple fireball here and there. I was actually very surprised that the movie wasnt that bad. What I really liked in the movie were how the fight scenes were mixed with wires and CGI, how sparks would fly off of the fighters' limbs as they strike each other, how the villain used telekinesis very much like in Dark City's final scene, and its main characters looked like Hwoarang and Jin from Tekken. However, the story was very corny, the whole scenery reminded me of the 5th Element, and the actors for the main characters were complete turds (I.E despite the attempted style of Tekken characters they looked like a couple of a-holes you could careless about). All in all it's not a bad movie at all, but it definely could be way better. With every movie Andrew Lau does, I'm sure he learns what people like and don't like. Me personally, I'd rather see good ol' Wire-Fu.
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