Shaolin Soccer

When it was first advertised I remember thinking that it was in fact surprising that we don't see more of this sort of thing; The visual effects more usually found in stylised fight scenes applied elsewhere (in this case, sports!), but even today I can't think of many examples. Perhaps, and at the risk of making sweeping generalisations about cultural output, because it lends itself to a kind of film that doesn't get made much in Europe and America, but seems to find success elsewhere. I suspect we're just bad at it.

Shaolin Soccer is a live action cartoon. I wouldn't say it's exactly for children, but it has no room for subtleties of any manner. It's packed with bright distinct colours, the characters are all well defined stereotypes, the plot is as straightforward as can be and any emotions are expressed as visually as the actors are able, to the extent of gurning or in one case that I still don't understand, song. It goes a bit Bollywood all of a sudden, then forgets about it.

Not that their's anything wrong with anything of this (aside from the singing, there was definitely something wrong with that). Not every film needs to be The Godfather and it's clear that the intent here is little more than to be a barrel or possibly even several barrels of fun. Not precisely funny, but gently pleasing and with some charm. And I think it gets there. I found quite a lot of the childlike naivety most of the characters portray and the absence of any internal logic getting on my pecs a lot, but that's mostly because I'm a cynical generation Y'r with a heart as cold as freshly laid snow.

The effects are definitely special and there are some excellent nods to the fight scenes from which they're derived. It hits all the usual self determination notes as well as a couple of the rarer ones and it's bright, breezy and happy throughout. It's as daft as bag of hammers but terribly pleasing on a visual level.

Incidentally, considered as a cartoon, there any number of similarly repurposed fight effects to be found within anime, notably football again, but I remember once reading a manga about a kung fu chef and if ever there was a film that needed to be made it is that.