This is one of those rather strange movies that brings to mind a trendy (hope still is) term of "genre-defying". I don't know how the project got started (nor do I care), but it seems like someone, seeing the success of "Shaolin Soccer", decided to do a "Shaolin lacrosse". In the process, they threw into the pot whatever is their fancy at the moment, and didn't even bother with stirring.
Never mind how a Japanese Shaolin Japan teacher in a small town in Japan gave up martial art altogether to become the operator of a small restaurant and double up as a lacrosse coach in a local girls' school. And if you try to figure out what kind of a traumatic experience this guy had that made him send his most talented student, a little girl called Rin (Kou Shibasaki), to China to master the martial art of Shaolin kung fu, you're in for big trouble because as the story unfolds, there'll be a long line of unexplained or unexplainable event and things as long and confusing as this sentence.
The first half of the movie looks loosely like a coming-of-age story, with a bit of team spirit, conforming, getting accepted, that kind of stuff. On the other hand, parallel alternating scenes lurking in the background suggest an ominous side, a painfully clear reminder of Anakin Skywalker. As the action intensified towards the end, the movie jumps awkwardly between seriousness and farce, bringing you more things familiar. Painfully obvious is Bruce Lee's "Game of death" (1978), minus the brilliant action sequences. As a matter of fact, there's really nothing to say about the action sequences in this entire movie of "Shaolin girl". What is a little more watchable is the CGI-fu, particularly the use of water, although it is not quite as brilliant as what you see in Hong Kong's "A man called hero" or "Zhong hua ying xiong" (1999) or Korea's "Volcanic high" (2001). Then the whims of the movie makers keep coming and at the climatic duel, they even throw in a bit of Sigmund Fraud for good measure.
I like watching Kou Shibasaki and I am happy to see her moving from tragic to comic roles. She is heartbreaking in "Crying out love, in the centre of the world" (2004) and "The sinking of Japan" (2006) (the actress, not necessarily the movies). Then it was delightful to see that she can be so much fun in Dororo (2007). "Shaolin girl" is sort of a filler and a reminder to watch out for the sequel for Dororo, which hopefully will be made.
Never mind how a Japanese Shaolin Japan teacher in a small town in Japan gave up martial art altogether to become the operator of a small restaurant and double up as a lacrosse coach in a local girls' school. And if you try to figure out what kind of a traumatic experience this guy had that made him send his most talented student, a little girl called Rin (Kou Shibasaki), to China to master the martial art of Shaolin kung fu, you're in for big trouble because as the story unfolds, there'll be a long line of unexplained or unexplainable event and things as long and confusing as this sentence.
The first half of the movie looks loosely like a coming-of-age story, with a bit of team spirit, conforming, getting accepted, that kind of stuff. On the other hand, parallel alternating scenes lurking in the background suggest an ominous side, a painfully clear reminder of Anakin Skywalker. As the action intensified towards the end, the movie jumps awkwardly between seriousness and farce, bringing you more things familiar. Painfully obvious is Bruce Lee's "Game of death" (1978), minus the brilliant action sequences. As a matter of fact, there's really nothing to say about the action sequences in this entire movie of "Shaolin girl". What is a little more watchable is the CGI-fu, particularly the use of water, although it is not quite as brilliant as what you see in Hong Kong's "A man called hero" or "Zhong hua ying xiong" (1999) or Korea's "Volcanic high" (2001). Then the whims of the movie makers keep coming and at the climatic duel, they even throw in a bit of Sigmund Fraud for good measure.
I like watching Kou Shibasaki and I am happy to see her moving from tragic to comic roles. She is heartbreaking in "Crying out love, in the centre of the world" (2004) and "The sinking of Japan" (2006) (the actress, not necessarily the movies). Then it was delightful to see that she can be so much fun in Dororo (2007). "Shaolin girl" is sort of a filler and a reminder to watch out for the sequel for Dororo, which hopefully will be made.