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Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Women's Soccer," a spiritual sequel to his 2001 hit "Shaolin Soccer," is breaking box office records in China — but a scene depicting South Korea's women's soccer team as serial foulers and unsportsmanlike players has ignited a wave of criticism.

The film opened Saturday and crossed 600 million yuan ($88.8 million) in cumulative box office revenue within three days of release, according to Pengpai News and Guangming Daily. It earned 260 million yuan on opening day and 239 million yuan on its second day, then pulled in more than 100 million yuan on Monday — a weekday — to lead the summer box office. By Wednesday afternoon, cumulative revenue had climbed to 675 million yuan.

The film is Chow's first new work in six years, following "The New King of Comedy." A comedy, it follows an underdog women's soccer team called "Amipa" as it combines martial arts and soccer to pull off a series of miracles.

The depiction of the South Korean women's team, however, has drawn considerable criticism.

The fictional "Ewha Women's Soccer Team" — a clear nod to Ewha Womans University, one of South Korea's most prominent institutions — is portrayed as a side that routinely strikes opponents first, trips players and stages dives to manipulate referee decisions. The players are shown wearing colored contact lenses and obsessing over their makeup, and one scene features them shouting in broken Korean, "Referee, please help us."

Critics note the portrayal clashes with actual match history. At the East Asian Cup women's soccer match between South Korea and China last July, it was Chinese players who drew controversy for rough fouls — including kicking Ji So-yun in the chest and elbowing her in the head.

In Chinese-speaking communities, an anecdote involving actor Song Kang-ho has also resurfaced.

Taiwan's ET Today reported that the film ends with the Chinese kung fu team delivering a "shocking lesson" to the Korean side, adding that while Chinese audiences find it highly entertaining, the content insulting Korean sports has drawn frowns.

ET Today also reported that Chow had sought to cast Song in a cameo as a referee who makes biased calls in favor of the Korean team, but that Song reportedly refused after recognizing the malicious intent behind the role. Chinese media, ET Today said, interpreted the approach as Chow attempting to use South Korea's beloved actor to deliver unfiltered satire.

Chow himself has acknowledged the approach. At the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival in 2023, he shared a photo taken with Song and publicly mentioned that he had offered him the referee role.

"I heard that Song's wife is a huge fan of 'Shaolin Soccer,' so I rode that momentum and proposed the referee role to him," Chow said. "But he turned around and asked me, 'Why can't I play a player instead?'"

Critical reception has been mixed despite the strong box office performance. The film scored 6.6 out of 10 on Chinese review site Douban. Reviewers praised Chow's signature blend of comedy and martial-arts sensibility, but said the plot development and special effects fell short of expectations.

At a recent stage greeting, Chow said he often still feels he has not done enough. "I'm afraid of letting the audience down," he said.

Industry observers in China project the film's final box office take will reach 2.5 billion yuan. In South Korea, however, criticism is spreading that the film's caricature of the Korean women's team goes beyond sports comedy and crosses into national disparagement.


rainbow@heraldcorp.com