“Shaolin Soccer” is a ridiculous and undeniably fun sports comedy. The movie stars and was directed by Stephen Chow (“Kung Fu Hustle”, “Forbidden City Cop”), who is one of China’s most famous filmmakers. This is a picture that is completely unashamed of its goofiness.

Sing (Chow) is a shaolin warrior that wants everybody to study kung-fu. He finds a new opportunity to bring it to the masses when a retired football star (Man-Tat Ng) wants to coach a team. Sing recruits his old shaolin friends to form a team. Together, they use their incredible skills to progress through a tournament. Sing also hopes to win the heart of a young woman (Wei Zhao “Red Cliff”).

The characters in “Shaolin Soccer” are unsurprisingly quite simplistic but they are likeable. It’s pretty darn amusing them fire footballs and knocking each other into the air. Stephen Chow’s Sing has a heart of gold as he tries wooing a woman that suffers from bad skin and a low opinion of herself as he sees her inner beauty. Most of the characters perform stunts that defy all the laws of gravity. The special effects on them are not meant to be convincing but they are delightfully cartoony.

I enjoyed “Shaolin Soccer” a lot more than “Kung Fu Hustle” and I think that’s because it’s a much more straightforward film. It’s a little slow to start with but once the characters start doing kung-fu kicks with footballs, it’s very enjoyable. Some of the gags are really funny and I found myself chuckling throughout the duration of the picture. This is about as good as a movie about kung-fu football could be. If the premise sounds hilarious to you then you will probably like it. However, if the concept is putting you off then go and look elsewhere for your entertainment.