Balls Of Fury: "I'm going to Disneyland"

I use to see sneak previews all of the time. It felt like I was going every week. Somehow I got too busy working out, taking boxing lessons, or just sitting at home doing nothing, that I forgot how much fun they are. You can say, “I saw movie x and it was pretty good”. When they say, “Is that out already?” you can say, “No! It’s not out yet” with a smile on your face, leaving them a little puzzled as to how you saw the movie. Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a sneak preview of the new comedy Balls Of Fury.

BOF is a tale about an ex ping-pong champion Randy Daytona (Dan Folger) who is brought out of retirement by FBI Agent Rodriquez (George Lopez) to catch a dangerous criminal, Mr. Feng (Christopher Walken).

After being out of the game for so long Daytona is trained by a blind man Master Wong (James Hong) and his niece Maggie (Maggie Q). They both put Daytona through grueling training to get him ready for Feng’s tournament. Maggie Q is the “eye candy” for the movie. She’s definitely going to be bumped up on next year’s Maxims Hot 100 after her roles Live Free or Die Hard and BOF.

This movie has so many comical references to Enter The Dragon. The group travels to Feng’s island compound which is very reminiscence of Mr. Han’s compound in Enter the Dragon. Even down the scene in ETD where all the fighters are practicing, there is a scene just like it in BOF put instead of martial arts, it’s ping pong.

BOF has some great characters Mr. Wong is funny and there is a lot of subtle jokes they use about him being blind. Him not facing people while he’s talking, and asking “What just happened? What am I missing?”

Daytona’s nemesis is German Karl Wolfschtagg (Reno 911’s Thomas Lennon). He beat Daytona back in the ’88 Olympics and has showed up at Feng’s tournament to win it all. Karl is extremely sarcastic, rude and hilarious all at the same time.

Walken is great as Feng. He has great timing with his jokes in the movie, not to mention all the ridiculous outfits and sunglasses he randomly shows up in. I can’t tell if he’s a alien or a vampire. The first time I can remember seeing Christopher Walken was when I was a kid in that movie The Dead Zone. He was pretty creepy in that. Who knew that 24 years later I’d be laughing at him in comedies.

My Suggestion: BOF is a great comedy. May not be the funniest movie I’ve seen all year, but worth the matinee price for a good laugh. If not for the great ping pong scenes, see it for Christopher Walken and his futuristic vampire outfits.

My grade: 3.0- Not the best student, but it pays to show a little effort when nobody else is.