Enter the Midfielder

Most current Hong Kong movies are overlooked in the international movie scene as being lackluster, trite, gratuitous showcases for rising Cantonese pop idols. However, some of the most sought-after Asian actors and actresses in Hollywood today started their careers in Hong Kong's humble films, most notably comic stuntman Jackie Chan, gangster Chow-Yun Fat, and, the most legendary of them all: kung-fu master Bruce Lee. With last week's release of Shaolin Soccer, American audiences were finally exposed to another talented star: Stephen Chow.

Long hailed as the King of Comedy back home, Stephen Chow Sing-Chi has now potentially snagged his ticket to Hollywood stardom with his 2001 movie, Shaolin Soccer. Chow diverges markedly from your average Hong Kong film star, not only in terms of his raw comic talent, but also for his work ethic. He wrote, produced, directed, edited, and starred in Shaolin Soccer, which garnered five Hong Kong movie awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Starting in the early '90s, Chow wrote and starred in a series of hugely successful spoofs that eventually led to the creation of the slapstick genre known in Cantonese as "mo lei tau," which translates approximately to "nonsensical." He has lampooned every subject imaginable, including cooking (God of Cookery, 1996), James Bond (From Beijing with Love, 1994), and, of course, the legend himself, Bruce Lee (Fist of Fury 1991, 1991). With Shaolin Soccer he takes on the two major obsessions of Hong Kongers: kung-fu movies and soccer.

The plot parodies the traditional narrative arc of a kung-fu movie in which a fallen ex-martial arts hero has to avenge his wrongdoer by kicking some evil henchmen ass, leading up to a dramatic showdown between the hero and the antagonist. Here, though, the final showdown takes the form of a soccer match between the forces of good and evil, or rather, the athletic followers of ancient martial arts and the modern mercenary squad "Team Evil."

Chow stars as Sing, a former Shaolin monk-turned-cardboard-collecting bum who continued honing his particular brand of soccer skills on the streets after his master's death. The Shaolin school is a Buddhist sect, which remains today the most highly revered style of kung fu.

Richard Ng Man-tat (who is Owen Wilson to Stephen Chow's Ben Stiller) is "Golden Leg" Fung, a crippled and disillusioned ex-soccer star whose career was sabotaged by evil manager Hung (Patrick Tse-Yin). Spurred by the promise of a one million dollar prize at the national soccer tournament as well as the chance to defeat his former boss, Fung enlists Sing and his band of Shaolin brothers.

What follows is a hilarious montage of recruitment scenes. Sing's motley group of former monks are now store clerks and janitors, including a 300-pound youth whose specialty is the ability to walk on air and a goalie who bears an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Lee (really--it's scary). We're also introduced to Sing's love interest, Mui (played by pop icon Vicki Zhao), a humble man tou (a Chinese bun) baker who uses tai chi to give her baked creations that extra kick. Using their innovative, dexterous blend of kung fu and soccer moves, they obliterate all opposition until they face Team Evil in a hyped final face-off.

The strength of Shaolin Soccer lies in its combination of CGI-produced special effects and old-fashioned, laugh-out-loud comic daring. The special effects are on-screen versions of the manga, or anime, graphics found in kung-fu comic books. So, the team's soccer moves defy all the laws of physics, and the soccer ball hurtles through space in "bullet time" à la The Matrix.

Like all of Stephen Chow's movies, Shaolin Soccer doesn't pretend to be anything more than a superficial, gut busting romp. It may be hard for American audiences to appreciate the Cantonese wordplay and frequent allusions to Chinese culture, but Shaolin Soccer's infectious brand of mo lei tau humor and cartoonish special effects will no doubt appeal to all audiences looking for a good laugh.