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The film was fun. 6/10

GREAT MOVIE.........:D

What can you say about a film that spoofs Bruce Lee's martial arts classic, Enter the Dragon, segues into a spoof of The Karate Kid, features Jason Scott Lee (no relation), the actor who played Bruce Lee in the 1993 biopic, in a supporting role and is centered on the unsanctioned, underground world of extreme table tennis (a.k.a. ping-pong)? Well, for one, you can say that it's almost as consistently hilarious as the television commercials suggest. That "almost," though, is the problem. For the first half of its 90-minute running time, Balls of Fury delivers on its comedic potential, often including an over-abundance of sight gags and physical humor in the same scene. Alas (and you knew there was an "alas" coming), the mirth and merriment stops cold when a surprisingly unfunny Christopher Walken, parodying himself (think William Shatner, without the funny), makes his first appearance around the halfway mark and stays for the duration.

Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler), a former ping-pong prodigy (and hardcore Def Leppard fan), can't shake the death of his father, Pete (Robert Patrick), an army sergeant, at the hands of the Chinese triads during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Distracted by his father's ill-timed disappearance, Randy lost the semi-final match to the uber-obnoxious Karl Wolfschtagg (Thomas Lennon). Nineteen years later, Randy ekes out a living as a novelty act performing at a dinner theater in Las Vegas. When Randy loses that gig and facing homelessness, an FBI agent, Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez), appears and makes him an offer: go undercover in the shady world of ping-pong and help him take down an international criminal who traffics in illegal weapons and prostitution, Feng (Christopher Walken), who's about to host an illegal ping-pong competition. Feng also killed Randy's father, giving him much needed motivation to take Agent Rodriguez up on his offer.

Randy needs to get back in the game, win a few competitive matches, and get Feng's attention, but he's woefully out of shape and hasn't played professional ping-pong since he lost the semi-final match at the Seoul Olympics. Realizing that Randy needs help, Agent Rodriguez enlists the aid of the blind Master Wong (James Hong), a former ping-pong ace turned instructor and restaurant owner. As the only Caucasian at Master Wong's school, Randy has a lot to overcome physically and mentally. That and the natural reticence from Master Wong's beautiful niece, Maggie (Maggie Q), a pro in her own right who's as good as any man, has when she first meets Randy. Several training sequences later, a newly confident Randy is ready to take on a local pro known only as the "Dragon." From there, it's on to Feng's super-secret island retreat and Feng's deadly competition.

As a straight-up spoof, Balls of Fury is only as good as how cleverly it sets up audience expectations based on the films it cites, only to upend them moments. And good it is, at least for the first 45 minutes as Randy seemingly steps into a parodic remake of Enter the Dragon, segues into a The Karate Kid spoof, complete with a wise master who has a confidence-boosting quip ready whenever the need arises and, of course, action-oriented scenes that riff off of Enter the Dragon's Mortal Combat-style competition, with Randy inevitably working his way up to the big boss, Feng. Then there's the semi-clever twist on the courtesans the villain provides the competitors on the night before the competition also lifted from Enter the Dragon. That's all positive, if, alas, unenlightened when it comes to the clich

"There isn't much that Garant and Lennon didn't cram into this project, and the manic pace never lets you second guess the ridiculous nature of it all."

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Balls of Fury (2007)

This movie wasn't terrible but it was just very ordinary. This is a shining example of an occassion where every funny moment in the film comes straight from the trailers. Not even Christopher Walken was funny in this surprisingly, other than his appearance. This movie really could have been a cult hit in the 80s but there wasn't anything fresh in this movie.

A former child table-tennis star (Folger), who has been reduced to performing Ping-Pong tricks at a dinner theater, is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the deadly underground table-tennis tournament hosted by reclusive Chinese crimelord and Ping-Pong effecianado Feng (Walken). Will our hero find glory or death when he ventures into the seemy underbelly of the Ping-Pong world?

"Balls of Fury" is the best film I've seen on the big screen in several weeks. It's funny not only because it takes the harmless rec-room sport of table-tennis and turns it into a game of mortal combat, but also because it's a hilarious spoof of the 1970s-style martial arts movies, and even the Yellow Menace films from the 1930s and 1960s.

Contrary to what critics seem to think, this is more of a spoof of the traditional Chinese martial arts movie than it is a spoof of sports films. It's got all the cliches you'd expect from a Bruce Lee film, or a Shaw Bros. prodution from the 1970s, except instead of Kung Fu, we've got paddles and tiny white balls. (We get a little bit of Kung Fu, courtesy of the love interest played by Maggie Q. who also gives us a very attractive showing of skin.) There's also some obvious nods to the Fu Manchu movies of the late 1960s, both through Christopher Walken's character and the location and nature of his stronghold.

Yet, most critics seem to have missed these fairly obvious cues.

This is another film that is getting bad reviews from a number of critics who simply don't have enough of a context to understand it. They are comparing it to movies like "Blades of Glory" when they should be considering it in the light of "Enter the Dragon". These same critics also missed the boat on "Nacho Libre" for much the same reasons--they simply aren't well-versed enough in genre pictures to properly judge a film that's primarily directed at lovers of B-movies.

What's amazing about these critics missing the foundation of this film is that not only do they have numerous scenes mirroring "Enter the Dragon", not to mention much of the storyline, but they have a supporting cast of actors who have appeared in numerous Kung Fu action films over the years. There's also the fact that the main Chinese bad guy is being played by a white man, like Fu Manchu has been in every scrreen appearance--Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Peter Sellers, and Nicolas Cage are as non-Asian as Christopher Walken.
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While the film is more chuckle than laugh-inducing, it's nowhere near as bad as the "professionals" would have you believe. They simply do not understand what they are watching, and they are completely missing all but the most obvious slapstick and "Naked Gun"-esque jokes. It's rather sad to watch them revealed to be utterly clueless about genre films and therefore totally miss the essense of "Balls of Fury".

I suppose it can be said that this is a film with humor that's too low for the "real" critics to get, because it's poking fun at films that many of them haven't bothered to see.

Still, even allowing for cluelessness, I think many critics are dumping on this movie unfairly. The actors all show great comedic talent and timing. Even Maggie Q. (who is having a really good year, since this is the second quality film she's appeared in this summer, the first being "Live Free or Die Hard") who I suspect is mostly in the film for her hot body gets in some funny moments by playing off the martial arts film stereotypes. Fogler is hilarious as he bumbles his way through the storyline, ultimately ending up in a Ping-Pong battle to the death against Christopher Walken's unpredictable, wakcy-yet-menacing evil Chinese villian. James Hong is also very funny as he applies martial arts cliches to the "ancient art of Ping-Pong" and delivers motivational speeches full of similies that are anything but expected. In fact, it's a toss-up as to who's funnier in the film, Walken or Hong. Both really earned their paychecks for this one.

If you have a sense of humor and a love for class martial arts movies, I think you'll enjoy "Balls of Fury" immensely. Trust me. You don't want to take the word of the "experts" on this one. They truly don't know what they're talking about. (I recommend taking in a matinee, as it's cute but not exactly roof-raising. It's just not as bad as the "professional" critics would have you believe.)



Balls of Fury
Starring: Dan Fogler, George Lopez, Christopher Walken, Maggie Q, James Hong, and Thomas Lennon
Director: Ben Garant

I am a pretty open minded guy and I can enjoy a cheesy movie for what it's worth but this movie isn't even good enough to be called cheesy. Not even Christopher Walken's awesomeness can save this turkey. To be blunt this movie isn't funny, it relies on countless blind jokes( yeah it's that bad.) My advice is to watch it for free on Comedy Central when it comes on in 6 months.

"For all intents and purposes the folks at Rogue Pictures have been very good to me this year. They have been good to all of us, seeing as they were just the right sort of folks to bring Hot Fuzz across the pond to America where it subsequently blew our collective mind. Needless to say that when I first saw the trailer for Balls of Fury and learned that Christopher Walken would be starring in a kung fu homage to ping pong, I was more than excited, I was illuminated with joy. But then again, I do love me some Walken."

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To conclude, I definately have to say that Balls of Fury is by far one of the funniest & most ridiculous sports movies I have ever seen. If you enjoyed the ridiculously funny Dodgeball, you will probably love this one as well. So, if you are looking for a bunch of great laughs, I recommend that you check out Balls of Fury. PEACE OUT!!!

I went into the theatre tonight content on see Superbad a second time. Unfortunately, my ploy to sneak into the theatre failed, and I had to settle with my friend's choice. Now, the trailers didn't make this movie look that bad. Balls of Fury isn't really THAT bad. But it was very close.

A main character (whose name I can't even remember) is a former ping-pong champ. When the FBI enlists his help in infiltrating an underground ping-pong legion. Sound absurd, half-cooked even? I dare you to sit through the whole movie.

There is one glaring problem with Balls of Fury. Despite its numerous flaws in acting, direction and story structure, Balls of Fury is simply not funny. It's not without its moments (however few and far between), but overall BoF is painful to sit through while the crowds roar with laughter. This makes the entire film an overall painful experience.

The preformances are bad, the story is predictable and undercooked, and the amateurish direction felt... well, amateurish. It's unfortunate that Walken sings on to these projects... I want my money and eighty minutes back.