This movie is by no means garbage as some have posted, nor is it a great movie. Think before you buy the ticket. If you walk in expecting a spoof about ping pong w/ a cast of completely 1 dimensional characters to be a 10/10 you must live a life full of disappointment. This movie is funny, and if you didn't find yourself laughing at it you are probably already dead or on the fast track to ulcers and a stress induced stroke by age 30. This is not the first movie that approached a ridiculous subject in such silly manner. Odds are if you hate movies that have done that in the past (ie: Dude, Where's My Car, Blades of Glory, Hot Rod, etc.) you are gonna hate this one as well. As it stands right now this movie has a 4.6 and that probably a little low due to people 1 staring it because they wanted the Saving Private Ryan of ping pong movies. This movie should probably get a rating in the 6.1-6.3 category. If you have a little time to kill, have already seen Super Bad, and want a good laugh go check it out. Otherwise wait till it comes out on DVD or just ignore it. As for those who have blasted it. Go blast a movie that actually supposed to be good and isn't as opposed to picking on the 90 lb. asthmatic kid of movies. This movie can't defend itself for being stupid because is supposed to be. If you couldn't tell that from the trailer, then odds are you haven't made it this far into my comment.
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drkvas10 September 2007
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mollymormonbrat15 September 2007This has to be, quite possibly, the dumbest movie I have seen in a very, very long time.
However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. I don't think there was a single moment in this film that purposely wanted any smidgen of intelligence whatsoever.
And, heck, the reason I went to see this movie was because I thought it looked funny. And, guess what? I laughed. I don't know if this will go into the treasury of greatest stupid movies ever made, but it did leave me with a smile on my face.
I think it was because it was ping-pong. Yes, I like a good game of ping-pong as much as the next person, but come on. It's ping-pong. Just try telling that to these characters. The fact that anyone could take so slight a game so seriously cracked me up.
And that's where this movie works.
It's pointless, silly, and down-right brain cell killing. But I found myself forgiving everyone because they were so good-hearted in waltzing around with their idiotic humor.
No, it will probably not be nominated for Best Picture. But as for dumb comedy goes, this nicely held its own. -
doolittle124 September 2007I went into the theater expecting almost nothing good coming out of it. I read the reviews- Washington Post, USA Today, Rotten Tomatoes, etc. I knew they were horrible and quite honestly, I thought I would hate the movie. But my friend wanted to go, and me having no life whatsoever, I agreed to join her.
I have to say, I should go into to more movies with such low expectations, because I really enjoyed it. Was the acting superior? No. Was the script well-written? No. But it was funny and Christopher Walken makes all things glorious, so all in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend a Thursday night after an especially terrible day of work. The actors all seemed to realize that they weren't participating in a project that would make movie history and they all seemed OK with that. It was very much a movie done to simply enjoy the play on the word "balls" and in this particular case, it was forgivable.
Overall, don't go in expecting complete comedic genius and you just might find yourself laughing. -
alan-101129 August 2007Balls of Fury wasn't the total disaster, but when that's the highest praise I can offer, well, that's a problem. Think of it as a lesser version of Dodgeball.
Ping-pong just isn't that funny, or exciting, or anything really - just like the film. The idea of underground ping-pong never really goes anywhere. The jokes are okay at times, but there are no big laughs and certainly no surprises.
Unless you are a 10-14 year-old boy, who given the film's humor and scantily clad actresses is obviously the target market, you will probably be disappointed by paying money for it. Wait a couple of years and watch it free some night on Comedy Central and spend your ten bucks somewhere else. -
I laughed at this movie. I laughed a LOT. True, some of the laughs were simply because some people were in this movie that had NO BUSINESS being in it, because they are considered to belong to a higher echelon of movies. Christopher Walken and Maggie Q are usually seen in LARGE blockbusters or high-profile indies; George Lopez has a very successful TV series, not to mention MANY cameos from well-known comedic actors. These people are GOOD. When they are on the screen, funny stuff happens. The script is an obvious parody on the movie "Enter The Dragon", but with ping-pong in lieu of kung-fu or karate. It also spoofs the "underdog" motif like the "Rocky" movies. I dunno, all I can say is that I REALLY enjoyed this movie. I didn't expect much, and I got a lot back because of that. True, I was a little liquored up, and a second sober viewing might not pay off repeat dividends, but I had a good time. Isn't that really what it's all about? Honestly, it ain't Citizen Kane, but I've seen crappier movies... a contemporary comparison: I was NOT disappointed by this movie, and comparatively much more disappointed with the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie...
Yaaarrrr, thar be worse things under the sun, matey... -
TheMovieMark30 August 2007Taxi. The Pacifier. Herbie Fully Loaded. Let's Go to Prison. Night at the Museum. If this list of movies is an accurate representation of your DVD collection, then my friends, you either have a young child in the house or a strange fetish for average-to-below average comedies. Or "absolutely dreadful" in the case of Jimmy Fallon's Taxi. *shudders* I'm still trying to erase memories of that steamer from my mind.
Other than being part of the aforementioned pathetically sad DVD collection, do you know what else each of these movies has in common? They're all written by Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, the duo who wrote, produced, and directed Balls of Fury. Are you trying to decide whether or not this is a film worthy of your time and money? Please let my above revelation stand as "enough said."
In all honesty, what can you expect when you take a poor man's Jack Black and give him the starring role in a poor man's Dodgeball? A little thing I like to refer to as "not much." Dan Fogler gives it the ol' college try, but perhaps the material is to blame for his mostly forgettable performance. He delivers a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, but by the time he's lip-synching to Def Leppard you'll be asking yourself, "So who's this guy, and why is he doing a bad karaoke impersonation of 'Jack Black Meets Sam Kinison'?"
I will give Balls of Fury three credits - 1) Maggie Q is adorable, 2) The film rightfully never takes itself too seriously, and 3) It's nowhere near as filthy as I expected. At the top of my notebook I wrote, "Balls/Genitalia References" and I was set to keep track. I just knew they were going to fly off the screen fast and furious, especially judging by the "a huge comedy with tiny balls" tagline. So I was quite shocked when the grand total was only one, and that one was merely Maggie Q's character disgustedly relaying an example of the comments she was forced to deal with from male players.
What more can I say about a film whose crowning achievement is, "Well, I didn't expect much, and it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, so whatever"? That certainly doesn't send you rushing to purchase a ticket, now does it? It'll be on TNT or TBS soon enough so just have patience and watch a few legitimately good comedies in the interim. There'll come a time when you're flipping channels, nothing else is on, and you'll cruise across this. You can decide then whether you want to sit through all of it. The end result will likely be a long email thanking me for saving you $8.
Before I commence, let me once again bring attention to my above "poor man's Dodgeball" quote. I overheard several disappointed people say, "I thought it'd be like Dodgeball." What's that? Yeah, they said it in unison, Wisenheimer. Now shut up. The consensus? It's not even close. So if that was the opinion you formed after watching the trailer then dismiss that notion immediately. It's an interesting concept that probably contains about ten minutes of solid comedic material.
What ultimately happens when you stretch that over an hour and a half? Unfortunately, the jokes suffer from what I like to call the "Kate Moss, Heather Mills McCartney, and post-2000 Muhammad Ali Syndrome." In other words, they're flat, lame, and they pack no punch. Let's see them put THAT on the DVD cover. -
helmutty30 September 2007It is not that bad. I am one of the guys who like this. It is not bad comparing to the movies that were recently released in Singapore. Underdog is not very good, can't even be a superhero movie. Shoot em' up is for hard-core action fans and basically is very violent and bloody. Then it is Balls of fury which I enjoyed watching. I thought it was something like Prince of tennis, the live-action movie and the ping-pong ball fights scenes are something like that. That, the ping-pong ball fights, is the thing that attracted me to watch it. But Prince of tennis is better than this. Balls of fury got the comedy and the simple action which becomes a harmless fun movie. I like movies as long as they are fun or entertaining. Balls of fury, though fun, is considered quite dumb for some mature adults or teenagers, the director used stupid jokes like always get hit in the groin and banging into the wall. It has to be stupid to be funny. Sometimes, I admit that it is quite dumb in some of the scenes but it is fun, it got slow-motion ball fights, it got Maggie Q who is hot and it got dumb-a** jokes so what more you want for a dumb comedy.
Overall, it makes a harmless movie that you can watch in your free time. It can be funny sometime and it too can be dumb sometime. You may laugh or smile at some scenes. I don't know but I smiled when watching it even at the stupidest jokes. Best to leave your brains at home while watching. This movie is not to be taken seriously. -
tajoholic16 September 2007Not the greatest comedy of the summer, but it had its fair share of laughs. Some of the situations were pretty amusing and some of the lines were laugh-out-loud funny.
Christopher Walken seems to always make the best out of his roles, whatever he's given, he makes it his own. And this is no exception. The script wasn't rolling on the floor funny, but it had its moments. This would qualify as a good choice for a matinée-priced movie, I'd say.
As an aside, I don't know WHY ON EARTH that African American lady who played Christopher Walken's female henchman keeps getting roles (she played Jennifer Love Hewitt's antique shop partner for a while and stunk in that role too). -
If hit-to-the-groin jokes are your cup of tea, then look no further than Balls of Fury, the newest comedy from the minds behind Reno 911. Not only are there punches to the groin, kicks to the groin, and paddles to the groin, there are even chopsticks and metal spheres to the groin! If, on the other hand, you're looking for something with a little more comedic value then men being hit in their nether regions, avoid Balls of Fury like the plague.
The plot, which serves no purpose but to string together a multitude of lame jokes, follows Randy Daytona, a 12 year old ping pong prodigy, who is sweeping the ping pong world by storm. Unfortunately he ends up losing an important match, becomes a laughing stock and his father, who was involved in illegal gambling, is murdered.
19 years later, Daytona (played by third rate Jack Black wannabe Dan Fogler) is washed up and performing ping pong tricks at a run down theatre. FBI agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez), who has been assigned to take down Feng (Christopher Walken), a criminal mastermind who runs an underground ping pong tournament, decides to enlist Daytona to help take Feng down. Daytona, besides making a comeback in the ping pong circuit, wants to get his revenge on Feng, who incidentally, was responsible for his father's death. So Daytona and Rodriguez go undercover, infiltrating Feng's annual ping pong tournament, where they...get hit in the balls.
There are two very confounding things about Balls of Fury. The first being how a script so utterly bad was green lit and produced. The movies plot doesn't make a lick of sense and ambles on from one random scene to the next. In one moment, Daytona and a female ping pong master are shown as hating each other...and out of nowhere, a minute later, they are suddenly love interests. It would've been nice for the writers to put a little bit of effort in and at least include something leading up to that. Another scene has Daytona refusing to join Rodriguez in taking down Feng, only to learn that a water park has been built next to his father's tombstone. How does that provide any motivation for Daytona to strive to take Feng down? The answer is it doesn't, as the writers were to busy writing in jokes to develop a good story.
This wouldn't be such a big deal if any of the jokes were actually funny. Sadly, half of the jokes either involve testicles or an old blind man walking into things, or in some instances, a combination of the two. It's not funny unless you're 12 years old (I wouldn't be surprised if the writer actually was). Not only are the jokes unfunny, they've been done hundreds of times before and done much better. When Balls of Fury does manage to include some original jokes, it involves stuff like the aforementioned water park being built next to a tombstone, which sadly enough, is less funny then the blind man falling down a staircase.
The second mind boggling thing about this movie is how they managed to stick Christopher Walken in this film as the villain, Feng. There are a few other relatively known actors in here, but Terry Crews has already been making appearances in terrible movies for a while now (Norbit anybody?) and Maggie Q still hasn't become a house-hold name. But Christopher Walken? Walken is an amazing actor and it's a crime to see him act in crud like this. He's been in a few duds in the past (Envy springs to mind), but he's never sunken to this level before. Walken isn't fading out or losing appeal, in fact he just had a role in the critical and box office hit, Hairspray. How could he read a script that terrible and agree to take on a big role as the villain? The only reasonable answer seems to be that director Ben Garrant blackmailed him into taking it, as I've got to much respect for Walken to believe he'd actually willingly agree to.
Walken manages to get a few laughs, which is an impressive feat in a movie like this, and steals every scene he's in. Despite working with crummy material, he still puts in a decent comedic performance as Feng, far outshining the other actors. Dan Fogler is the least funny leading man since Jimmy Fallon and mugs for the camera every opportunity he gets, imitating Jack Black as best as he can. George Lopez and Maggie Q play their roles completely straight, which doesn't work in a movie so absurd. By the end of the movie, you'll be wishing they axed the main characters and just made a movie about Feng instead.
The tagline for Balls of Fury reads "A Huge Comedy with Tiny Balls". On the contrary, it took a lot of balls to make this movie. It took balls for director Ben Garrant to release the film without Alan Smithee in replace of his name in the credits. It took balls for Christopher Walken to act in this trash and risk losing his credibility as an actor. It took balls for Rogue to screen the film for critics, as if they expected any good reviews. Yep, it took a lot of balls to make this movie. What it didn't take to make the film was any talent. Balls of Fury is a horrid excuse for a film, and if you're looking for a funny movie to see in the theatre, go see Superbad or Hot Rod. Hell, you can even go see Halloween, as a film about a serial killer is bound to be more funny then this trash. -
dbborroughs28 December 2007Amusing comedy staring Dan Folger who won a Tony for the 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee. The film concerns a Ping Pong Tournament run by madman Christopher Walken. A spoof of films like Enter the Dragon and everyone of those spy films where the FBI or CIA use a regular Joe for a secret mission this is an amusing romp I'm glad I didn't pay big bucks to see on the big screen. Don't get me wrong its a funny movie but not worth the 11 bucks it would take to see in a theater. Dan Folger clearly is a man of limited ability,He's okay here but its clear between this and Good Luck Chuck he's headed for a limited film and TV career in supporting roles. As I said he's good the role doesn't require him to do little more than mug at the camera and he's fine, but I doubt very much he'll be able to ever really do more than that. Christopher Walken on the other hand is a scream, and its clear why he took the role, he can go as far over the top as he wants and still be amusing. The rest of the cast including veteran James Hong and comedian George Lopez is up to snuff, though Maggie Q is given little to do other than look good. Absolutely worth seeing on both DVD and cable.
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Floated230 August 2010Balls of Fury seemed like a clever idea; take all the clichés from martial arts b-movies and apply them to ping-pong. Unfortunately, this flick doesn't deliver on its promising premise. First from seeing the trailer, I didn't know what to expect but it looked alright. This film wasn't be taken serious but just silly and comedic. There are some jokes there but some also childish acts. Most of the jokes are toilet jokes, jokes involving the blind man. It was surprising to see Christopher Waken in this. Though he was pretty god as the villain. He's a natural; his timing is terrific and he makes nearly everything he says worth a giggle or two in "Balls." Without him, there wouldn't be much to write about this movie at all. It could have been much better but it was pretty okay imo
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robertmfreeman17 September 2007What are people whining about? Balls of Fury was quite funny! A few years ago, the people who are now trashing this movie would have been going gaga and adding a 100 million to its gross revenue...but that's part of the problem. Tastes have changed.
I'm going to go on the record as saying that this movie is at least as funny as anything Adam Sandler or Will Ferrel has ever made. Why is it doing worse then? People just don't want silly, stupid comedies anymore, which is why Superbad is doing much better instead.
Balls of Fury is a very funny movie with a wonderful cast (especially Christopher Walken and Thomas Lennon), and if some of the jokes fall flat, or gave themselves away in the trailer, the movie moves quickly enough that it doesn't matter. They're already onto another joke.
Times have changed, and unfortunately for the movie, so have tastes. These days, even silly spoofs are expected to meet a required level of maturity, and for those that were raised on Naked Gun, Hot Shots and Police Academy movies, that's a little sad.
Go ahead, say the movie is juvenile. Say it's stupid. Just don't say it isn't funny. There were at least three moments during the movie when the entire theater was rolling in the aisles. I've never seen a SNL alumni movie do that. -
unbrokenmetal26 August 2009In a time when we are mostly given the sequel to a rip-off of a sequel to a blockbuster, I'm grateful for any movie that is slightly original, and I haven't seen any other movies yet about a Ping-Pong tournament to the death - have you? Even if some elements were familiar like the secret agents and Asian villains and although a couple of jokes fell flat, "Balls of Fury" has enough fresh ideas to offer to work well as a comedy. It helped that the hero was played by an unknown actor instead one of the usual comedy stars because he plays a nobody - somebody who once almost became a hero at the Olympics but lost. He doesn't deserve a second chance but gets one, anyway - encouraged by his coach with words of wisdom like "believe in yourself when nobody else does... like now"! Maggie Q as his training partner is hot, and Chris Walken as Feng adds the eccentric element which fits the colorful scenery. I liked it.
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mandadexpunk17 September 2007I knew going into the theater after seeing the previews that this was going to be a stupid movie. How could one NOT know? Look at the title people! Don't go complaining about it if you're not smart enough to figure out a ping-pong comedy was going to be stupid.
What wasn't stupid, however, was Christopher Walken. He did an awesome job, though he always does an awesome job. I'm pretty sure all they did to get Christopher Walken to play this part was show him the wig he'd be wearing and an outfit or two and said "the movie is about ping-pong" and he went "Okay, I'm in!" That exactly how I image it, because Christopher Walken is awesome enough to do something like that and still do a great job at a stupid role.
My favorite part of this movie, however, is the panda bear. Christopher Walken as Feng takes the moronic hero into his den of evil ping-pong memorabilia then comments that he got a panda, but thinks it's dead, because he could not figure out how to feed it. Later one of the male sex slaves runs back into the soon to be exploded compound to save the panda, only to run out a few minutes later and comment that the bear was already dead, poor panda. -
JohnDeSando28 August 2007For a slacker comedy, one of the indexes I think I will use is how many times the hero is kicked in the groin. In Balls of Fury, ex-ping-pong Olympian Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) is kicked in the titular region at least three times, making this a pratfall-prone, intellectually-challenged comedy with enough low-level laughs to satisfy base cultural instincts. He is hired by the FBI to smoke out a world-class villain Feng (Christopher Walken) with an affinity for table tennis.
The echoes of Karate Kid and Enter the Dragon are fleeting, looking like great dramas next to this uneven revenge/kung fu comedy.
The laughs, especially those that have Randy bouncing his ball off an opponent's face (you have to see it in its context to enjoy), are enough for even my guest laugher, Patricia, to continue her mirth marathon with her son. But the jokes are usually base, elevated by the presence of Christopher Walken, who has perfected self parody to an extent that laughs abound before he says his first line. His fey Fang is amusing given his usually virile roles, but he makes credible the claim that he "dresses out of Elton John's garage sale." Maggie Q as Maggie is slender and charming, lending a martial arts aura to the proceedings, satirizing the genre with charm.
Def Leppard does its best to keep the action at least musically interesting, its "Pour Some Sugar on Me" rendition by the cast a high point, albeit in the closing credits. The revenge-themed dramas of this summer will not suffer by comparison. The superior summer slacker spectacles, Knocked Up and Superbad, are not in danger of competition from this lightweight fin de summer competitor.
Balls of Fury is just a slight amusement lacking the power suggested by its title. -
My Take: It's only occasionally amusing.
Will Farrell made my day with two really hilarious sports comedies, TALLADEGA NIGHTS and BLADES OF GLORY. He would have made his winning streak a little stronger if he starred in BALLS OF FURY, another sports comedy that follows the same formula, but then again, even he would have read the script. As written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garrant, which I learned are among the writers of the TV show RENO 911, BALLS OF FURY is packed with every single slapstick by the book. There's a lots of shots of a guy getting hit on the crotch, Christopher Walken on drag, complements about Maggie Q's sex appeal and every single joke these guys can think up (under the PG-13 level that is!). By this point, BALLS OF FURY is a train headed for disaster. But there's something that stops it from being a total train wreck. What is it? Some of it is actually funny.
Okay, I didn't laugh all the way, but being funny alone is worth a lot these days. I expected nothing from BALLS OF FURY except that it would suck. I guess it probably helps. I expected less and less is what I got. BALLS OF FURY never ups the ante for laughs as any of the better comedies these days, but being funny alone is worth the price of admission. Okay, there's nothing especially funny about Christopher Walken in drag, or several guys getting their crotch creamed , but the movie actually finds another way to be funny in just a few moments later. It ain't for everyone, and I probably shouldn't be recommending this.
Dan Fogler is not a big comedian and, as it is shown in the film, not an especially funny one. He plays embarrassed former ping-pong champ Randy Daytona who has since given up on his glory days, until an FBI agent who shares an uncanny resemblance with George Lopez, who needs him to help out on tracking down one of FBI's Most Wanted, a crime-boss named Fang (Walken in drag), who happens to be officiating the biggest and most outrageous ping-pong tournament ever. To get back on his own two feet after years of absence, Daytona aids the teachings of ping-pong sage Master Wong (James Hong) and his hot niece Maggie (Maggie Q).
It's all antics of course, with Christopher Walken in drag and redoing every role he does on every comedy he starred in. Some of the jokes even have predictable outcomes. You know this guy's gonna get his butt kicked. You know that this guys gay. You know that someone will kiss Maggie Q (and no question whoever gets it either). The whole thing is instantly forgettable. But compared to a few other contenders, this movie is slightly passable. If it's your thing, then see it.
Rating: ** out of 5. -
moviemaniac00829 August 2007I got a chance to see Balls of Fury in a premiere. It is hilarious! Let's start with the main actors: Of all of the main characters, I found Master Wong(James Hong) and Mr. Feng(Christopher Walken) really convincing. The others, such as Dan Fogler(Randy Detona), Maggie Q(Maggie Wong) and George Lopez(Ernie Rodriguez) were also convincing. The story seems like crap when you first read the synopsis, but believe me, it's actually Ping-Pong that makes us laugh for a whole hour and a half. If you saw it, and you liked it and you're actually reading this review, then you must know what I'm talking about. I highly recommend this film.
Why? Because it is unique. It's the kind of film that you might want to see over and over again, and, despite it's stupidity, will still like it -
dfranzen705 September 2007Balls of Fury is amiable to the point of being gregarious, but many of its jokes - verbal and visual - either just miss or misfire completely, and when it's over you start thinking of better ways you could have spent the previous ninety minutes. Highlights include Christopher Walken's waaaaay over the top performance as Feng, a mysterious, rich, eccentric ping pong fan; Thomas Lennon as an ubermean German Olympian; the luxuriant Maggie Q as a table tennis champion who dresses in skimpy short-shorts; and comically terrified male sex slaves.
Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) was once a promising young ping ponger. Back in 1988, he made the U.S. Olympic team and was all set (at age 12) to win against Lennon's Karl Wolfschtagg when he slipped and fell and couldn't return a serve, thus not only losing his chance at a medal but also sealing his father's fate, as the elder Daytona had bet heavily on the match. Years later, the adult Randy is approached by FBI Agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) to help the government nail the guy who had Randy's pop iced - a mysterious man named Feng, whose face no one's photographed or even seen. The feds know Feng's up to evil plans, but they need Randy to enter a private, super-secret ping pong tournament run by Feng at his undisclosed lair so they can get the goods on him.
Randy sucks at ping pong now, though, so he must undergo Karate Kid-like training under the wise tutelage of the blind Master Wong (James Hong). To make sure no stereotypes are left alone, Wong also runs a Chinese restaurant. Oh well, at least he doesn't say the whole training bit is an ancient Chinese secret. Anyway, Wong's got a niece, or daughter, I've already forgotten which, who is superdupercrazygood at competitive ping pong. She can even fend off four players while taking orders over the phone at the restaurant, she's that darn good. Of course, it falls to her - that would be Maggie Q playing (get this) a woman named Maggie - to train the living bejeezus out of Randy. It should be pointed out here that while Maggie is sensual, gorgeous, and overall wonderful, Randy is fat, slovenly, a little sarcastic. In other words, it's a typical movie love-match, isn't it? From the moment Maggie puts Randy's arm in a chicken wing, you know they're gonna hook up.
But the real fun comes at Feng's tournament. For one thing, Walken's Feng is wearing a different outfit every time you see him, seemingly; he's sort of like Ming the Merciless, only not as bland. Walken vamps like only Walken can vamp, but it's sort of easy to steal a movie from guys like Fogler and Lopez. Even so, it's hard to overstate how much Walken overacts, even for Walken. If you're not a Walken fan, that is to say, you'll find nothing to like about this movie. Sure, some may call it hammy acting, but it's acting... nonetheless... isn't it? Then there's the tourney itself - it's sudden death, you see, and that's meant literally. Lose, and you get a blowdart to the neck, courtesy of Feng's right-hand chica, played by Aisha Tyler. And of course, along the way the underdog Randy must face his old enemy Karl, who so gleefully ended Daytona's amateur - and professional - career nearly twenty years earlier. But Randy's not even sure he wants to stick around, seeing as how everyone's getting killed. He's funny like that.
Balls of Fury, brought to you by the guys behind Reno 911 and A Night at the Museum, does have its moments of funny, but by and large it suffers from a scattershot script and haphazard directing - it looks almost like it's some film student's final thesis project thingy. It's not quite as good as it should have been, and it's not nearly funny enough to be worth a theater ticket. -
bopdog30 August 2007This definitely comes under the heading of "Stoopid Comedies," which I happen to really enjoy. But the jokes are more wit than belly laughs. There isn't much outright slapstick--- which I would have liked. The funny parts are quiet, although not particularly subtle. The humour is more from the mild delight of seeing some old-time character actors like James Hong and Christopher Walken play out some long and slow bits over the course of the movie. Some of the humour also comes from a bit of satire--- although not of the outright "spoof" category. Mostly, it's just a series of improbable and goofy scenarios--- silly, whimsical, and with enough colour and dash to be enjoyable. If you want laugh out loud comedy--- you'll be disappointed, although I, and the audience, chuckled out loud. If you want a pleasant enough folly, then you'll probably be satisfied.
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kellyfacebook11 May 2008I had high hopes for this movie. I wanted to see another Dodgeball (one of my faves) or Blades of Glory but unfortunately this didn't deliver. Don't get me wrong, there are some quite funny moments in it (and one or two laugh out loud ones) but they are too few and far between. There are a number of reasons it disappointed but to be honest in my eyes the blame lies squarely at the door of Dan Fogler. I must admit I'm not hugely familiar with his other work but if this is anything to go by I won't be rushing to find it. This guy simply cannot carry a movie as the main character. In Balls of Fury never has the term "phoned it in" been more apt. He lacks charisma, warmth and above all comic timing. He did raise a few chuckles from me I must admit but only when he was on the receiving end of the joke and not the one who initiated it. I didn't care about his character which is never a good sign. I'm also sad to say that one of my favourite actors, Christopher Walken, also fares quite badly. I just don't think comedy is his forte but in his defence he was giving it a bloody good shot, unlike Mr Fogler. However, there is one saving grace and that is James Hong as Master Wong. Hilarious. He gets all the best lines and deservedly so as it is he who stops this movie getting three stars. In all this might raise a few laughs if you're watching it with mates and having a few drinks otherwise wait till it comes on TV.
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For the most part, "Balls of Fury" is an excuse to be silly. It could just as easily star Adam Sandler. Clearly the point of the movie is just to have a good time, and the cast is certainly doing that every step of the way. It's not rip-snorting humor by any stretch, but definitely a good way to enjoy oneself for two hours if there's nothing else to do. As can be expected, Christopher Walken is the best character in the flick. His role reminded me of Han in "Enter the Dragon" (or any James Bond villain, for that matter).
So, if you just want to laugh at something completely ridiculous for a while, this is the movie for you. Like "A Night at the Roxbury" and "Dude, Where's My Car?", it proves that movies can be funny and stupid at the same time. -
gwcohn-216 September 2007Saw this as a double feature with Superbad at the drive-in theater last night.
I kind of like Reno 911 and hoped that since Thomas Lennon, the writer of this film, was my favorite character in Reno 911, it would be pretty funny.
I suspect that the humor level is now written to appeal to the typical 12 year old loser. This movie was good for a few chuckles, the kung-foo was decent, and Maggie was well worth the view.
But it was was pretty lame by the standards of comedy movies when I was under 30. Movies like Animal House and Porky's were a gut-buster without having to resort to lame blind man walking into walls bits.
I hadn't realized how much the main character was a Jack Black wannabee and even commented to my wife during the movie that Jack Black could have pulled it off better, then I read all of the comments comparing him to Jack Black.
OK for a few grins but not something you would want to see over and over. -
FatMan-QaTFM16 December 2007This is a Thomas Lennon written comedy, so you know it's going to be a little abstract, and very pacing based. Balls of Fury really did a great job of keeping in the same humor vein of Reno 911, etc.
Yes, there are crotch shots and other typical middle school humor, but they happened so often and with such randomness that it went from stupid to hilarious.
A lot of the humor is based in uncomfortable moments. Not a lot of people enjoy being made uncomfortable by something they are viewing for entertainment, but if you like that style of humor, Balls of Fury is right up your alley.
This isn't for everybody, so it'll either be a 10 or 1 for you. Worth the rental just to see. -
Rogue-3230 August 2007So I went to see this yesterday - had a good feeling about it from the previews, with the clever title, all the furious ping-pong playing and of course Chris Walken in that hilarious get-up, figured it'd be worth a shot. Balls of Fury is a lot of fun, with a great central performance from Dan Fogler, who grows on ya with every scene. Walken and the rest of the excellent supporting cast contribute as well, with Maggie Q. being the stand-out she always is, although everyone is good here. The energy never lags, the jokes and the situations are funny without being seriously mean-spirited - it's just fun, plain and simple. You don't have to be a ping pong wizard to appreciate this film, you simply have to come with an open mind and a new cricket for the master.
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thinker169114 June 2010In 1973 the greatest martial artist appeared on the American silver screen in a film called ' Fists of fury.' His name was Bruce Lee. Since then dozens of martial art movies have followed. Some good, others fair, with the majority being mere imitations. Serious films involving the finest of oriental arts are rare, therefore the ones which capture American audiences today are often comedies. Here is one example. The film is called " Balls of Fury." If you have seen 'Fists of fury' you'll have no difficult seeing the parody in this movie. It's the story of Randy Daytona (Brett Delbuone), a young boy who's father Peter (Robert Patrick) was murdered by an Asian gangster, causing him to lose a Ping-Pong tournament. It's 19 years later and Randy (Dan Fogler) is sough-out and recruited by F.B.I. agent Rodriquez (George Lopez) to enter an international underground Ping-Pong tournament organized by Feng (Christopher Walken). Knowing he will need to be trained for the tournament Randy is given over a Master (James Hong) and his beautiful daughter (Maggie Q). With Jason Scott Lee playing Siu-Foo and other serious Hollywood actors, this is one movie which creates an assortment of slap-stick gags and amusing on-sight hilarity. It's fun to watch and with Walken playing the heavy sure to keep your funny bone active. Great movie and an honest comic tribute to the late Bruce Lee. ****