Tuesday, December 18, 2007

BALLS OF FURY

BALLS OF FURY LACKS BOTH BALLS AND FURY
As Ben Garant the Director and co-writer of this film says, this is a " kung fu movie without the kung fu." Brought to you by the same people who brought you Reno 911, this is a film that mimics loads of great kung fu movies like Enter the Dragon, except it is a comedy. Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) is a has been in the ping pong world after losing his most important game and his father at the same time. Years later, he is recruited by FBI Special Agent Ernie Rodriquez (Carlos Mencia) to infiltrate the ping pong underground in efforts to bring down crime and ping pong boss, Feng (Christopher Walken). They are aided by the Master teacher of both Feng and Daytona (James Hong) and his daughter Maggie (Maggie Q- last seen in Live Free or Die Hard). They used the whole Karate Kid/Master trainer bit to pieces, adding a touch of their raunchy humor, "It is better to die like a tiger than live like a pussy." If you are a kung fu movie fan, this may be a funny film for you. I chose to see it for Christopher Walken. He called in his part and the lines they gave him were fun (his character's email address is "pradafan"). One sequence has sweethearts Dayton and Wong mimic the gun fight between Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe in The Quick and The Dead. It was also fun to see Hiro from Hero in a minor part. This film did have excellent actors, but I'm not sure they were enough to save the movie. They let Mencia out of his cage toward the end of the movie and that gave it a much needed kick, "Say hello to my little friend." There was no fury and the balls were too obvious for my delicate sense of humor. Not an outstanding movie in any way, but okay to see if you have nothing better to do and like Kung Fu.
Rating: Something to do, mildly funny, raunchy and too many obvious jokes about balls.