Lesbian viewers might wish to catch this for the cute actresses, as well as the Sapphic subtext provided by sexpuss Kitty Zhang.

The idea for the movie began in 2002 when Hong Kong's king of comedy Stephen Chow released Shaolin Soccer to great acclaim and box-office success. Chihiro Kameyama, Japan's biggest producer, immediately struck up a friendship with Stephen and the men agreed to collaborate on a project together. The result � ta da! � is Shaolin Girl, a martial arts-meet-sports movie that hopes to repeat the success of Shaolin Soccer.

So, does it? Weeeelll, not really...

Lovely Kou Shibasaki (Crying Out in the Centre of the World) plays a Japanese girl who learns shaolin kung fu with hopes of reviving her grandfather's dojo. She accepts an invitation to join a college lacrosse team and immediately starts to display astounding feats of agility with the ball and racket. Some hilarity ensues.

Directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro (of Bayside Shakedown fame), Shaolin Girl is short on laughs and action. The comedy is somewhat limp, while the action is not nearly enough. Kou Shibasaki, who is both sexy and good with the action sequences, doesn't have the comic charms of veteran Stephen Chow.

Even the lesbian undertones fail to ignite much spark.