The FIFA World Cup might have ended with Argentina’s win, but the craze of football shows no sign of slowing down. Animated comedy flick The Soccer Football Movie,helps the audience stay in the FIFA World Cup mode as it brings excitement to all the fans no matter where they are, and which team they support.

It has an evil doctor, snatching of talents, an ambitious group of kids, legendary players, and a decisive six-a-side football game, to start with. It also reminds the audience of the live-action/animated sports comedy film Space Jam, where aliens rob basketball players of their talent and Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes win it back for them. For a change, in this film, aliens are replaced by the multi-talented ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, who single-handedly comes up with the evil ‘talent stealing’ plan.

If one person can be a genetic scientist, a brain surgeon, the town’s mayor, as well as a wannabe soccer star, it could only be someone as famous as ‘Weird Al’, who plays himself throughout the movie. Legendary footballers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Megan Rapinoe are there, becoming the first ones whose talents get ‘stolen’. Four young soccer superfans team up to help their idols regain their abilities, who were turned into mutants by Al’s experiment.

Like Ghostbusters, these youngsters extract mutants from their favourite players’ bodies, and that raises the stakes for the team that doesn’t have Weird Al’s blessings. The addition of famous commentator Rob Stone is a masterstroke since it adds credibility to the film, which already has Ibrahimovic in the pivotal role. His unique accent adds flavour to the movie, while Meghan Rapinoe’s role can inspire girls who want to take up the game, especially after watching the recently concluded FIFA World Cup.

The film is unique since it brings together AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Rapinoe for the first time. While the tall, ponytailed and well-built Ibrahimovic avatar needs no introduction; Rapinoe is a well-known US Soccer Player who won gold and bronze medals at the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games respectively, and was also part of the United States team that played in FIFA World Cups in 2015, and 2019.

Both the legendary players lend their voices for themselves along with ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, who wants to become the greatest player of all time, but by taking what is not his. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s following and excellent graphics, the movie is one that is not to be missed.

Don’t be surprised by this film’s common elements with Space Jam because director Mitch Schauer was part of the animation team of the grea­test Looney Tunes flick back in the day.

The film gives a message that talent, no matter how small or big, is something that cannot be stolen or borrowed. It tells the viewers if you are talented, then staying humble, sharing whatever knowledge you have and never getting carried away are things you should follow. There could have been no other way to teach that simple lesson than ‘using’ the most watched game in the world.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 14th, 2023