Jay Chou stars along with Charlene Choi, Taiwanese model Chen Bo-ling and veteran Eric Tsang in this action adaptation of a manga series by Inoue Takahiko. Chou is a Shaolin kung fu student who takes up basketball and applies his martial arts training to the game. It’s looking to be SHAOLIN SOCCER without the screwball comedy which doesn’t bode well. Stephen Chow was smart enough to know that audiences would instinctively laugh at superhuman feats of martial arts in sports. This isn’t the first time director Chu Yen-ping has tackled the topic of Shaolin martial arts in an unusual way. He also directed the popular SHAOLIN POPEY films about a pair of mischievous preadolescent kids, one of whom is a Shaolin student, who take on bad guys. Whether a success or not, this is a big step forward for Chu who started out nearly 30 years ago directing B-grade action flicks like PINK FORCE COMMANDO and Jimmy Wang Yu’s all-star turkey FANTASY MISSION FORCE.
