I am amazed. No. I am Amazed. Nope. I am AMAZED and IPRESSED. Yeah, that’s about there. I have seen “Shaolin Soccer” on DVD right now. I thought it would be yet another funny Chinese kung fu flick with some action and some jokes, and that something of what I like about all Chinese movies…
I was a bit wrong there. This movie is really a breakthrough in Chinese-American movie-making. It brings the best of both cultures. Let’s see. From Chinese side it takes, of course, all the kung fu action. It also takes this traditional “simple way of viewing complex things and complex way of viewing simple things” thingy. And actors are all Chinese. From the American side it brings an excellent production, computer graphics and special effects, and the simplicity of story (although that could have been Chinese too). The mix turns out to be mind blowing film!
It does have a few weak points though, again brought from both cultures: poor soundtrack which mostly a kind of Chinese Britney Spears, weak supporting roles, and few underdeveloped characters.
Still, this movie is very refreshing and way too unexpected. I’ll rate it as a 9 out of 10. Surely worth a rent if you ever enjoyed at least 1 American and 1 Chinese movie.