Shaolin Soccer is a 2001 Hong Kong comedy film co-written and directed by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the film. A former Shaolin monk reunites his five brothers, years after their master's death, to apply their superhuman martial arts skills to play soccer and bring Shaolin kung fu to the masses.
In 2008 a sequel, produced by, but not starring Stephen Chow, was released entitled Shaolin Girl . Very few of the cast from the original film made an appearance.
Plot
Sing (Stephen Chow) is a master of Shaolinquan kung fu, whose goal in life is to promote the spiritual and practical benefits of the art to modern society. He experiments with various methods to inform the modern world about shaolin kung fu, some of which include comedic song and dance routines, but all bear no positive results. He then meets Fung (Ng Man Tat), a legendary soccer star in his days, until his teammate Hung, now a rich businessman, paid him to miss a goal. After missing the game-winning penalty kick, Fung's “Golden leg” is broken by an angry baseball bat-wielding mob (hired by Hung), forcing him to retire from active play. Years later, on the day Fung learns of Hung's treachery, he meets Sing while in a drunken state in front of a shopping centre.
Sing tries to explain his desires to promote the modern uses of kung fu to Fung, who initially is unconvinced with Sing's idea and brushes off his pleas. When an irritated Fung throws a beer can at Sing, the youth kicks the can high into the sky, vanishing without a trace, but the old man remains adamant. Later, miles away, Fung sees a huge crack in a brick wall, only to discover that it was caused by the very same beer can that Sing kicked. He removes the can from the wall, and is astounded when the wall breaks down due to the force of the impact. Coincidentally, Fung witnesses a fight between Sing and a gang of local thugs, who ridicule the Shaolin master. After Sing beats the gang in a one-sided fight (with his soccer ball kicking skills), Fung is hit with an idea and asks if Sing could use kung fu to play soccer. Sing likes the idea and agrees for Fung to become his coach.
Sing meets Mui (Vicki Zhao), a baker with severe acne who uses Tai Chi to make mantou. Despite her appearance, Sing regularly visits her and even takes Mui to look at very expensive dresses at a high end department store (where he works as a janitor) after hours. She soon forms an attachment to Sing and even gets a makeover. However, this backfires when the excessive amount of make-up used gives her an almost clown-like appearance. When Mui reveals her feelings to Sing, he tells her he only wants to be her friend. This revelation, coupled with the constant bullying from her overbearing boss, leads Mui to disappear.
Reuniting with his fellow Shaolin brothers, who have since led separate and busy lives, Sing and Fung attempt to put together an unbeatable soccer team, albeit after much persuasion and initial rejection by the other brothers. However, Fung is keen on proving his skills, and in order to turn Sing and his players into real soccer athletes, he invites a vicious team, consisting of local thugs (some of whom Sing had encountered previously) to play against them in an exhibition match; rather than score points, the thugs proceed to give the Shaolin team a brutal beating. When all seems lost, the Shaolin disciples reawaken their skills and win. A few of the thugs even beg Sing to be allowed to join their team, giving their squad enough players to compete professionally.
The newly formed Team Shaolin enters the professional soccer league in China, where they chalk up successive and often ridiculously one-sided victories. Their next goal is to win the China Super Cup and to beat the notorious Team Evil , helmed by none other than Fung's old nemesis, Hung. Hung plans to win the Cup by assembling a squad of players who have been injected with an American drug and illegal training, granting them superhuman strength and speed, making them practically invincible. Team Shaolin, which had steamrolled their earlier opponents, are brought back to reality when Team Evil's amazing capabilities prove more than a match for them. At a critical moment, when Team Shaolin's Empty Hand and Iron Shirt are severely injured during the match, Mui reappears with her head shaven and her face free of acne to keep goal for Team Shaolin.
In preparation for his final and most powerful attack, Team Evil's striker leaps into the sky and summons dark demonic energy, turning the ball into a glowing orb. Mui slowly takes up the Tai Chi single whip posture to guard against the threat and channels her qi in the form of a Yin-yang symbol. When he kicks the fiery ball, it explodes towards Mui, but she leaps back and redirects the attack by twirling around and spinning it on her finger. Mui and Sing combine their martial skills and rocket the ball down field with so much force that it creates a horizontal tornado, which tears the ground and sucks up everything in its path. The ball plows through Team Evil's goal post and destroys half of the stadium, winning the tournament for Team Shaolin.
Hung is stripped of his title of soccer chairman and sent to jail for five years, while Team Evil players are permanently banned from playing in the professional league. With people all over the world becoming aware of and practicing kung fu in their daily lives, Sing's dream is finally fulfilled.
Cast and characters
Major
- Iron Head (Wong Yut Fei)
- The eldest of the six Shaolin brothers, "Iron Head" spent much effort gaining the kung fu style that makes his head as tough as iron. After the death of his master and the subsequent split of the brothers, he drifted, becoming a janitor at a night club. After an absurd plan of Sing's involving kung fu and a humiliating music performance, Iron Head gets demoted . However, through a bit more difficulties along the way, he would become a valuable player in Team Shaolin, with his powerful header.
- Hooking Leg (Lam Chi-Sing)
- The second eldest brother, "Hooking Leg" has Shaolin skills resembling Ground tumbling boxing. Because his family was poor and could not afford school, his father sent him to Shaolin to learn kung fu. Following his training, he couldn't find any other work besides transporting excrement and urine and washing dishes. When Sing and Fung approach him to join the soccer league, he reacts violently, even threatening to kill them with a meat cleaver, all because they still have full heads of hair, whereas his has fallen out. He finally joins after the idea of being part of family again sinks in.
- Iron Shirt (Tin Kai Man)
- Third brother "Iron Shirt" can absorb all kinds of blunt force attacks with little to no injuries, as well as siphoning and shooting the ball with his abdomen. When his master died, he went on to become a businessman. The thought of reuniting with his brothers overshadows his busy schedule, and he leaves to be a part of Team Shaolin. During the final game against Team Evil, he bravely volunteers to be the replacement goalkeeper for Empty Hand.
- Empty Hand (Danny Chan Kwok Kwan)
- Fourth brother "Empty Hand" bears much resemblance to legendary martial artist, Bruce Lee, and his bullet-fast hands makes him the first goalkeeper for Team Shaolin. He was unemployed for a stretch of time, following master's death. Instead of wearing the yellow robe uniforms like the rest of Team Shaolin, he wears the yellow-and-black tracksuit Bruce Lee made famous in Game of Death. During the final game against Team Evil, he is severely injured when he is hit in the face at point-blank range and sent flying through the net, crashing into the stands. Iron Shirt would be replacement goalkeeper in his absence.
- "Mighty Steel Leg" Sing (Stephen Chow)
- The striker for Team Shaolin, fifth brother "Mighty Steel Leg" Sing is a master of the "Shaolin Orthodox School Mighty Steel Leg" kicking technique. His leg is powerful enough to accurately kick an old refrigerator onto a pile of other junk five to six meters tall or to send a soccer ball into the upper atmosphere. Sing remains dedicated to Shaolin kung fu, and despite various setbacks, he adamantly believes in Shaolin spirit and his dream. His schemes to promote Shaolin kung fu inevitably fail, until he meets Fung and leads him to the idea of combining martial arts with soccer.
- Light Weight (Lam Chi Chung)
- The youngest of the six brothers, "Light Weight" is obese and gluttonous, due to a viral pituitary infection resulting in his uncontrollable appetite. However, he is empowered to lighten his weight and soar through the sky for short periods of time. Unfortunately, since his master died, he lost faith and motivation, working at a grocery store, but spends most of the time gorging himself with junk food. He refuses the offer from Sing and Fung to play soccer at first, but hears out Sing's words of encouragement.
- "Golden Leg" Fung (Ng Man Tat)
- In the 1980s, Fung was a respected soccer player nicknamed "Golden Leg". However, after accepting a bribe to throw a penalty shot, resulting in a tragic end to his career, his leg is brutally broken by a mob of "disgruntle
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