| Rin (Kou Shibasaki) has just completed 3000 days of training at the Shaolin Temple. When asked what she will do upon completion, she tells the masters that she wants to spread Shaolin Kung Fu. Upon returning home, she finds her old dojo rundown and abandoned. When she finds her former teacher, he has given up Kung Fu and runs a restaurant. Employed at this restaurant are two who who we've seen before in SHAOLIN SOCCER., Iron Shirt (Kai Man Tin) and the not so Litte Brother (Lam Tze Chung). Rin undeterred, joins a lacrosse team with hopes of teaching the other girls Shaolin Kung Fu. Shortly there after, Rin's teacher joins as the coach of the team. Unfortuneatley, Rin isn't much of a team player and while very powerful she ruins the game and leaves the team. Little by little Rin learns to work with a team and the other girls open up to learning Shaolin Kung Fu. But life isn't perfect. Rin learns that she has a hidden power. If she can't control it, it will destroy her. The teacher wants Rin to never fight so that the power won't be unleashed. This is beyond her control when a friend is kidnapped and she is forced to fight to get her back.
SHAOLIN GIRL may not be a direct sequel to SHAOLIN SOCCER but it's in the same universe. There are nods to many movies including SHAOLIN SOCCER, KUNG FU HUSTLE, KILL BILL, and also a few Bruce Lee movies for good measure. There are some moments of comedy but this is mostly an action movie. The pace isn't as fast as SHAOLIN SOCCER, and while Kou Shibasaki is great as Ren, most of the other actors don't command the screen the way she does. Even the main bad guy , Toru Nakamura, just doesn't seem threatening.
I really wanted to like this movie. I mean, a movie called "SHAOLIN GIRL", with links to SHAOLIN SOCCER, what more could you want? I was left disappointed because with all the build up, it doesn't deliver. The movie is a little too "cute" for its own good and sometimes makes it feel like a kid's movie. This is very apparent at the climax of the movie.
I won't say the movie is horrible; but leave any expectations at the door and you may wind up enjoying SHAOLIN GIRL just enough to say you didn't waster your time. Now, no matter what I say fans of SHAOLING SOCCER will want to see this and to be honest, I would have wanted to see this regardless of any review. |
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