Shaolin Girl
                                                             
Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro
Year:  2008
Rating: 6.0
An interesting Japanese film that's inspiration appears to be Hong Kong's Shaolin Soccer. So much so that two of the actors in that film are in this one with the same character names. And Stephen Chow is a producer. It isn't Shaolin Soccer of course, but it is pleasant enough. Instead of soccer, this has female lacrosse with all sorts of similar CGI. It is almost two films - one your typical underdog sports film and then it becomes a traditional martial arts film. So, two for one.



Rin (Ko Shibasaki) graduates from the Shaolin Temple after 3,000 days of training. Time to return to Japan to spread the teaching of shaolin martial arts. The monks whisper to each other that they hope she never realizes the power within her and turns to the Dark Side. In Japan she discovers that her former dojo has closed and that her teacher (Yōsuke Eguchi. Goemon, the Rurouni Kenshin films) is now a cook in a Chinese restaurant. Working in the restaurant are Lam Tze-chung, Tin Kai-man and Kitty Zhang. The first two from Shaolin Soccer and Kitty Zhang who reminds me of a young Cecelia Cheung. And Stephen Chow may have thought so as well since he cast her in CJ7 and The Mermaid. She is charming and along with Ko Shibasaki make for easy watching. Ko has been in a number of well-known films; Battle Royale, One Missed Call, Memories of Matsuko, Dororo and the American version of 47 Ronin.



Kitty agrees to learn kung fu if Rin will join the school lacrosse team. After some initial issues with being part of a team sport, the team is learning kung fu and it turns them into a power house. But the film takes a weird turn at about the hour mark and turns into a kung fu film when Rin has to fight her way up a tower with opponents at each level. Even a Bruce Lee wannabe. If the martial arts had been pure, this could have been great but an overuse of wires, CGI and fantasy just make it silly. The director Katsuyuki Motohiro has a knack for films about friendship as he displayed in the wonderful Bayside Shakedown films and Space Traveler.