October 3 movie: Shaolin Soccer. This is another one of those "I can't believe I didn't see this until now" and oh lordie, it was fun! A loving, hysterically funny tribute to classic HK martial arts movies, it was styled just like one of the old historical kung fu movies: film style (especially the close-ups) the way people talked, everyone having a goofy name for their superhero powers, even a Bruce Lee-style yellow jumpsuit on one character (also seen on Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Part 1.) But set in the present day, with soccer as the ultimate test of skill.
This is a must-see if you have any love for Chinese martial arts movies, and probably still very funny if you're not that into them. My favorite thing was the toss-off gags, like the Shaolin Soccer team's penultimate opponents being a team of women wearing fake moustaches. The movie never explains whether everyone else knows the team are women, and if so why the moustaches. They're just there, making ominous threats ("the only way you will see the finals is if we let you!") and getting their asses righteously kicked by Shaolin Soccer. And if you think that's a spoiler, you haven't seen many martial arts movies.
My only minor quibbles were 1. wishing the CGI was a bit better, but then again cheesy effects are part and parcel of the genre they're paying tribute to; 2. they indulge in a plot device I hate, namely the female love interest having a serious flaw in her appearance (in this case very bad acne) which magically disappears when she falls in love with the male hero. Just for once I'd like to see a movie where the hero falls for the ugly duckling girl, and instead of immediately transforming into a swan, she still looks the same. That would mean that he really did love her for who she was, instead of hinting that he was simply the first to see her potential as a fixer-upper.
On the other hand, the ugly duckling in Shaolin Soccer did have her own martial arts superpower and she also showed up with a shaved head for the grand finale, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
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