As a new masterpiece directed by the 'King of Comedies' in the Chinese film industry, Zhou Xingchi, the movie 'Female Boxers' demonstrated remarkable commercial success in mainland China this summer. It achieved a box office revenue of 2.315 billion yuan, firmly securing the position of the summer box office champion.
However, as the film officially launched in the overseas market on October 23, entering the United States, Canada, the UK, and Ireland, and featuring an English dub version narrated by Stephen Chow himself, no one expected it to suffer an epic defeat on the international mainstream movie review website “Rotten Tomatoes”. All of the first 12 certified professional reviewers gave negative reviews, starting with a dismal score of “zero”, making it one of the rare “zero-star” films on this platform in recent years.
It should be noted that the 'freshness' of tomato tomatoes does not represent the average rating of a movie, but rather the proportion of film critics who give positive reviews. Due to the limited sample size at the beginning of the release period, this proportion will fluctuate dynamically as more reviews are published.
According to the latest data obtained on the 27th from Xinqiao Guanyu, after the latest positive review was included, the freshness of this video has temporarily increased to 8% (out of 100%). Additionally, since there are still less than 50 reviews available, the popcorn index, which represents the ratings of average viewers, has not been displayed yet.
On July 11, the domestic release of "Kung Fu Women's Football" focuses on the story of the grassroots women's football team "Emei Team". The film combines traditional martial arts elements with the theme of women's football, telling the growth story of a group of young people who break through their own limitations, confront external doubts, and remain passionate about football. The film continues the iconic absurd comedy style of Stephen Chow, starring Zhang Xiaofei, Dilruba, and Zhang Yixing, with big-name actors such as Liu Jiaming and Kōji Sato making special appearances.
Although the film achieved a record-breaking box office of 2.3 billion yuan thanks to its nostalgic charm and family-friendly appeal, its rating on Douban has plummeted from a starting score of 6.6, and it now falls below the passing mark, sitting at only 5.9 points.
"Kung Fu Girls" is widely regarded as a "spiritual sequel" to Stephen Chow's classic film "Shaolong Football", which was released 25 years ago. Public data shows that the global box office of "Shaolong Football", released in 2001, reached 42.776 million US dollars (approximately 300 million RMB). The film achieved remarkable success in many markets both at home and abroad, and it remains a benchmark work in the Chinese martial arts sports genre to this day.
Therefore, for Stephen Chow, who once amazed the West with 'Shrinking Tree' (rotten tomatoes score: 89%) and 'Kung Fu Hustle' (90%), and was regarded as a genius by Hollywood, this poor overseas opening for his new film is probably the worst public reaction to his directing career.
In the midst of negative reviews, many overseas film critics pointed out that the plot of the movie is weak and the humor is clichéd. They believe that although "Karate Girl" continues the idea of combining martial arts with football, the excessive use of computer-generated effects has ruined the unique charm of "Shaolin Soccer," which blended real-action scenes with exaggerated special effects. The film has failed to replicate the humor and emotional impact of classic works.
On the football field, those deliberately absurd and comical actions did indeed make me laugh a few times, but as soon as the camera leaves the field, boredom and monotony strike. A film critic's blunt words depict this, with actors and behind-the-scenes personnel likely needing a red card and early departure; this new film is essentially a massive reduction in style of the director’s martial arts comedy.
Many reviewers who gave negative reviews are actually fans of "Shaolin Football". In their opinion, "Kung Fu Women's Football" only transforms the main characters' gender, while its plot structure and core formula are almost entirely a copy of the old formula from 25 years ago.
On the first day of its release overseas, Hollywood veteran film critic Peter Sobczynski wrote in a long article: "This film shows us a once great filmmaker who now seems to have lost his talent. He tries in vain to recreate old tricks and efforts to bring about miracles and glory again, only to end up with nothing but trouble."
