Shaolin Girl (2008)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Too many fans seem to be blown away

An action-packed slog

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Now, a lot can be said about "Shaolin Girl" (aka "Shôrin shôjo"), but comparing it to "Shaolin Soccer" is hardly appropriate, because they are two very different movies. And yes Stephen Chow did produce this movie, but this is not a sequel.The story is about Rin, a Japanese woman who has studied the art of Shaolin Kung Fu in China and now has returned to Japan to honor her grandfather, but Things are very changed from before when she went to China."Shaolin Girl" is a fairly average movie, which never really managed to strike a lasting impression. The movie just lacked finesse, an interesting storyline, characters to captivate the audience and any outstanding acting performances. So it was a very mediocre movie experience.Several times throughout the movie did I find my focus and concentration to drift away from the movie. There just wasn't anything to thrill or excite me enough to keep me entertained.It was the production level that kept the movie afloat. But a production level can only go so far. A movie is supposed to be entertaining, and that is where "Shaolin Girl" failed.There were surprisingly little Kung Fu in this movie, and it was mostly just about lacrosse and drama. So the movie was somewhat misleading in terms of what you would expect from it given its title and synopsis.If you enjoy Asian movies, then there are far better, much, much better movies available. I can't really come up with a valid reason to recommend "Shaolin Girl" to others.

This, I'm sure, is a great film... if it's purpose is to interest 12 year old girls in the martial arts genre, but personally speaking, I was sorely disappointed.First off, most of the characters are simply annoying, although in fairness I wouldn't necessarily include 'Rin' in that category, but the general level of acting acting in this movie was also poor. In fact some of the characters may have come across far less annoying if some of the actors had put in better performances.I quickly realised this was more of an odd kind of drama than an action film as it seemed to take forever before Rin's fighting abilities were even displayed. I kept waiting for a decent fight sequence. And waiting and waiting and waiting...And when the moment finally arrived (after a whole hour) the choreography was disappointing to say the least, one could almost say laughable.I realise this is not a movie that takes itself seriously but it would have been better if it had thrown itself fully into the Lacrosse aspect of the film which was more prevalant than anything else anyway, but it even failed to commit itself properly to that. It could have been to Lacrosse what Shaolin soccer is to... well, soccer. But in the end it was neither here or there.As for the final battle, well, what can I say except 'Kung-Fu Hustle'!!! The last scenes were almost identical. Shamefully so in fact. Having said that, maybe Shaolin Girl should have actually borrowed more from the brilliant Kung-Fu Hustle and at least may have injected some fun into the whole affair.Overall a real shame. I truly expected to enjoy it. It had potential and it did have it's rare moments, but sadly it was - as the saying goes - a damp squib.

The current comment on the front page for shaolin girl is, I think, overly negative and sceptical. Granted I haven't seen Shaolin Soccer so maybe it seems a lot more original to me - but nevertheless this is a really good movie; the slapstick comedy is great, if you take it in the spirit it's presented (laugh at the cheapness of the jokes, not the jokes themselves). I loved the unnecessary references to Star Wars, The Matrix, Bruce Lee and probably some others i missed - as well as the usual trademark stuff from Stephen Chow (nobody stepped on an eagle though, which would have been epic).Basically the film's got comedy, cute Japanese girls (with lesbian overtones) and martial arts. How is it not rated higher?

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.