Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Reviewed by: xiaoka on 2003-03-30
Summary: I've seen the US version...

I saw a preview screening of the US version of this film last week. -- It had been like a year since I watched the HK version(s) so the jokes were relatively fresh this time around. The dubbing wasn't TOO bad, Stephen Chow does his own voice! I was surprised, his english is pretty decent. The other voices could have been better, but not any worse then other HK to US dubbing jobs (Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop, Black Mask, etc). A big question in my mind was how would they edit the film to cater to US audiences. The answer is... kind of strangely... it seemed like they wanted to cut the running time shorter, so they took out a LOT of little bits and pieces, and yet they did include some stuff off the HK 'special DVD version' (the Michael Jackson dance sequence in the beginning for example). They did leave a lot of the odd-ball type humor in though (good!) and didn't butcher the martial arts references (even better!) -- I think if you haven't seen the HK version you'll definitely like the US version, and if you don't compare the two versions side-by-side, then you'll like it on its own. My biggest criticism is the fact that they included "Kungfu fighting" by Carl Douglas over the closing credits... so cliched!!!!
Reviewer Score: 9