MOVIE
REVIEW: Balls Of Fury
08/28/07
Once again, my disclaimer . . . I
have a very open sense of humor. I’ll laugh at almost any
kind of humor, ergo I actually enjoyed this movie as well. I
had mentioned my character flaw in the Hot Rod review and
similarly I realize that not everybody will like this kind
of movie. Thus I mention the disclaimer. This movie is
goofy, stupid, corny, physical, and predictable at times. In
the Rush Hour 3 review I mention the “tears of laughter”
criteria and yes I did get teary eyed at one point during
this film but not for very long. Overall it was fun to watch
but you need to go in expecting exactly what you should
expect from a movie like this, no more and no less. I was
hearing comparisons to Dodgeball, but Dodgeball had a more
substantial cast and was a better quality comedy. I don’t
know for sure if this one will develop a following, like
Borat, Napoleon, or Dodgeball, but it does have three
features that make it special in its own way: it’s a spoof
on Bruce Lee’s classic, Enter the Dragon, it’s all about
ping pong, or as the Chinese call it, ping pong, which is a
game I enjoy playing, and it’s got Christopher Walken. Hey,
no disrespect to Mr. Lee, but it is always nice to reminisce
on anything Bruce Lee, even if it’s a spoof so long as it is
light hearted and in good taste, and I think this one is.
Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) is at the top of his game. With a
chance to win Olympic gold for table tennis, he is
distracted by his father’s ill-fated wager on the match
placed with Chinese thugs. He loses the game, his father,
and his passion for ping pong. Years later, the FBI is
looking to recruit him in order to infiltrate a group of
Chinese mafiosos lead by Feng, not Fang, Feng (Christopher
Walken). The FBI want to bring Feng down and he, being a
ping pong pro himself, likes to hold an underground best of
the best ping pong tournament at his secret compound. This
is where Randy comes in. He will need to regain confidence
in his game in order to face the man that defeated him in
the Olympics, Karl Wolfschtagg (Thomas Lennon), and gain the
courage to face the man responsible for his father’s death,
Feng. He does this with a little help from his friends, ping
pong Master Wong (James Hong), his niece Maggie Wong (Maggie
Q), and FBI Agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez). Each of
these characters were perfectly cast and the corresponding
actors kept the movie alive with their performances.
Although, I think George was underutilized. He is arguably
the funniest man in this cast but he doesn’t really steal
the show. Chris Walken, on the other hand, does. His very
presence in this movie is a treat. And wait till you see his
costumes . . .
It’s funny how this movie spoofs Enter the Dragon and the
title spoofs another Bruce Lee movie, Fists of Fury. I guess
Enter the Pong wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense so I can
see why they went with Balls of Fury. Speaking of Bruce Lee,
Jason Scott Lee has a small role in this movie. You might
remember him as Bruce Lee in the film Dragon: The Bruce Lee
Story. The makers of this project must be Bruce Lee fans.
They must be fans of ping pong too. The ping pong play and
special effects were very well done and quite impressive for
a comedy. Speaking of comedy, this is Ben Garant’s second
time around as director of a motion picture and he is off to
a decent start. His first was Reno 911!: Miami. Not exactly
blockbusters, but he definitely has a good fan base. He also
has talent as an actor (Reno 911!: Miami) and even more so
as a writer having Taxi, The Pacifier, Herbie Fully Loaded,
Night at the Museum, Reno 911!: Miami, and now Balls of Fury
on his resume among others. Looking forward to seeing more
of his work. In the meantime, ping pong anyone?
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
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