{"id":68382,"date":"2026-07-13T18:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=68382"},"modified":"2026-07-13T18:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:42:01","slug":"review-kung-fu-soccer-movie-review-stephen-chows-stale-gender-swapped-shaolin-soccer-spin-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=68382","title":{"rendered":"Review | Kung Fu Soccer movie review: Stephen Chow\u2019s stale, gender-swapped Shaolin Soccer spin-off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/07\/13\/8f4a465f-71d0-480d-a518-0c3cebf32326_f18668cd.jpg?itok=x4J0mkC2&amp;v=1783931275\" \/><\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\"><strong data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa17\">2\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">It has been seven years since Stephen Chow Sing-chi last released a film \u2013 his longest hiatus yet as a filmmaker. His last feature, <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">2019\u2019s <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The New King of Comedy<\/em><\/span>, was a poignant reworking of his 1999 classic <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">King of Comedy<\/em>. Now the <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Hong Kong comedy superstar<\/span> offers a gender-flipped reimagining of another of his greatest hits \u2013 <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Shaolin Soccer<\/em><\/span> (2001) \u2013 squarely aimed at the mainland Chinese box office.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Unlike his 2019 effort, however, <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Kung Fu Soccer<\/em> is vastly inferior to its predecessor in quality and creativity, playing as if it were partly crafted with AI. Its silly gags are often mere retreads of previously successful beats, and its stadium views would not look out of place in a 20-year-old video game.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Produced and directed by Chow from a script he co-wrote with magician and YouTuber Hunny Ho Wing-suen, the film jettisons his usual underdog narrative and throws us straight into an international women\u2019s football tournament. There, the Emei team enters as an unknown quantity alongside other similarly physics-defying teams of superhumans.<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"methode-html-wrapper oembed-wrapper e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"e2gky7d0 e1drg7e30 e1ciypty0 ehdmpxk0 css-1avyp1d e1hpd36k0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<div class=\"e1hpd36k3 css-79hwxn e1x11wau0\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-VideoTitleContainer\"><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"25\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 25\" fill=\"none\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-StyledVideoRecorder\" class=\"css-1nnwg93 e1x11wau1\"><default:path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M22 6.22926V18.4315L17.5463 13.9868V17.8655C17.5463 18.1618 17.4383 18.4248 17.2228 18.6531C17.0067 18.8829 16.7498 18.9967 16.4537 18.9967H3.13414C2.80989 18.9967 2.53968 18.8829 2.32425 18.6531C2.10808 18.4248 2 18.1618 2 17.8655V6.79519C2 6.49893 2.10808 6.23665 2.32425 6.00688C2.53968 5.77858 2.80989 5.66333 3.13414 5.66333H16.4537C16.7498 5.66333 17.0067 5.77858 17.2228 6.00688C17.4383 6.23665 17.5463 6.49893 17.5463 6.79519V10.674L22 6.22926Z\" fill=\"#001246\"\/><\/default:svg><\/p>\n<p>\u300a\u529f\u592b\u5973\u8db3\u300b 2026 \u65b0\u52a0\u5761\u5b98\u65b9\u9884\u544a\u7247 \uff5c 8\u67086\u65e5\u65b0\u52a0\u5761\u70ed\u8840\u4e0a\u6620<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">While <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Shaolin Soccer<\/em> derived much of its fun from its protagonists discovering their football aptitude through their unique martial arts abilities, <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Kung Fu Soccer<\/em> offers a relatively muddled tale of how a ragtag team of women from the Emei martial arts sect adjust their mindset to win it all.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">The central conflict revolves around Emei\u2019s \u201cnearly 40-year-old\u201d captain and de facto coach Shuang (Zhang Xiaofei of <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Hi, Mom<\/em><\/span>), who must learn to set aside her domineering ways to reconcile with her attacking partner Jade (Dilraba Dilmurat) and recognise the value of her teammates \u2013 all with a little nudge from their duplicitous mentor Xu Feng (Lay Zhang Yixing).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/entertainment\/article\/3360365\/kung-fu-soccer-movie-review-stephen-chows-stale-gender-swapped-shaolin-soccer-spin?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2\/5 stars It has been seven years since Stephen Chow Sing-chi last released a film \u2013 his longest hiatus yet as a filmmaker. His last&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[26086,26429,4783,1543,28,13274,19254,5398,25060,8890],"class_list":["post-68382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-chows","tag-genderswapped","tag-kung","tag-movie","tag-review","tag-shaolin","tag-soccer","tag-spinoff","tag-stale","tag-stephen","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}