Siu lam juk kau (2001)

Director: Stephen Chow

Cast: Stephen Chow as Mighty Steel Leg Sing, Man Tat Ng as Golden Leg Fung (as Ng Man Tat), Wei Zhao as Mui, Yin Tse as Team Evil Coach Hung (as Patrick Tse Yin), Hui Li as Banana Peel Girl, Cecilia Cheung as Team Moustache Player 1, Karen Mok as Team Moustache Player 2, Vincent Kok as Team Puma Leader, Kai Man Tin as Iron Shirt Tin (Third Brother), Chi Chung Lam as Light Weight (Small Brother), Kwok-Kwan Chan as Lightning Hands (Fourth Brother), Chi Ling Chiu as Hooking Leg - Second Brother, Ming Ming Zhang as Little Hung, Pu Ye Dong as Little Fung, Shi Zi Yun as Team Evil Center

This film was seen as something of a surprise. Having only heard of
Shaolin Soccer on the net, and seen a teaser for the film, I thought
nothing more of it until given the opportunity to go and watch the UK
release. My initial disappointment with the dubbing (I am a subtitle
die-hard) was soon overcome with admiration of how far HK cinema has
come. Imagine the FX expertise of the Matrix with the comedy of Jackie
Chan fused into a somewhat generic football film. In a word, a
brilliantly scripted and often funny film. Many moments are extremely
funny, with the over-the-top storyline made famous by HK, and also the
very touching moments with the acne-ridden baker girl/love interest as
she is only accepted for what she is. It feels as if there is more to
the love story in the original cut of the film, as the story
occasionally skipped in places, like a bad DVD. But the overall story
is not affected, it moves sedately at first, which is good, as the
excessive use of Kung-fu and Football are shown in increasingly
ridiculous stages. The final goal reminds me of Hot-Shot Hamish, for
those that read the comics. Worth seeing, and I can't wait for the DVD
- providing it has the original cut, and subtitles.