Sidewalks On The Corner

Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, the creative minds behind "Reno 911: Miami," brings the wild comedy, "BALLS OF FURY".

Follow up:

The new film is a zany, wild, slapstick laugh fest about the world of extreme table tennis, staring Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, Thomas Lennon, Maggie Q, George Lopez, and an all-star supporting cast.

Back in the 1980s, Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) was a ping-pong phenomenon. In fact Daytona was the reigning world champ until he met his match -- the cocky Karl Wolfschtagg (Thomas Lennon), who beat Randy with one swift stroke of his paddle and knocking him out of the competition. Flash forward years later; now a down and out player doing small Las Vegas stage shows, the ex ping pong champ is approached by an FBI agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez) for a secret mission to draw out a cunning mastermind behind an underground extreme ping pong crime syndicate. In the middle of the investigation, Randy discovers that this crime boss named Feng (Christopher Walken) is the one who murdered his father. Randy is ready, willing and able to jump back into the world of paddleball to help put a stop to this fiendish criminal. There's just one thing, he hasn't played the game in 20 years, and he's a little rusty. To help Daytona get back on his feet, agent Rodriguez enlists the expertise of a blind ping-pong master and restaurateur Wong (James Hong) and his foxy niece Maggie (Maggie Q), who is also a master ping-pong player. Once his training is complete, Randy must face his old opponents, Wolfschtagg and Feng, for a final showdown.

"Balls of Fury" bares the type of silly comedic antics you would find in a Saturday morning cartoon, and it tops “Reno 911: Miami” only by a slim margin. There are moments of sidesplitting laughter as it poked fun at films like "Karate Kid," "Enter The Dragon," and even "Star Wars" as Hong's character spouts out the line "he is too old to begin training" as made famous by Jedi master, Yoda. However, the sporadic humor is a little dry in certain places, and there just wasn't enough good jokes to keep me laughing through out. When it comes to the physical acting, some of the best parts of the film are the ping-pong tournaments and the martial arts scenes. Later in the film, the comedy got funnier and the action got more intense, redeeming the films humble and silly beginnings. There where explosions, guns going off and a ping pong death match that took on a "Pirates of The Caribbean" swash buckling style.

The actors created a great illusion as they pretended to hit that little white ball as fast and as furious as if they really could. The characters were likable enough, as the actors did their best to provide the comic relief, and with some notable performances by Lennon, Fogler, and Walken. Lennon is a true comedian in every since of the word, simply because he has the ability to blend into his hilarious characters. Lennon never breaks away from his German player character for one second and really hams it up with his over the top, loud mouth, cocky personality. His comedic timing and styling makes him believable as the egotistical, testosterone driven Wolfschtagg. The "Tony" award winning actor Fogler channeled a low budget Jack Black as he shouted some of his lines and threw fits just like Black. Think of him as Jack Black's younger brother. But Fogler’s energy levels were just right for the role and his chemistry with the rest of the cast worked well. Walken is known for playing spooky, quirky parts, and his character Feng is no exception. Walken summons Robert De Niro meets Elton John, as he talks with a Brooklyn accent and wears flashy, flamboyant clothing. Remember Robert De Niro in "Stardust"?

James Hong is an underestimated funny man, who practically stole the show, as he spewed one-liners, one after another. Maggie Q scales down the "Terminator" like tough girl persona and plays things lightly and more feminine like. She's tough at first but quickly melts into a sweet, caring woman, who is supportive of Randy. Usually she takes on roles where she's a cold blood killer or a heartless sidekick to an even more evil crime boss, so it's nice to see her in this character.

Good overall performances by the supporting cast, who are too many to list. Although I would have expected more out of Aisha Tyler’s character, Mahogany, who was Feng’s servant, it would have been nice if she broke out into some comedic routines typical of her style, but instead she's this drab almost zombie-like, blow dart shooting lackey. Mahogany was a waste of her talent.

I felt "Balls of Fury" was satisfying enough, as it picked up the pace towards the end of the film. It resulted in a somewhat charming comedy, despite some underdeveloped jokes, and cheesy physical comedy routines. Those who are hardcore fans of the Reno 911 TV series and the big screen version will definitely spend the money to see this one. "Kung Fu Hustle" was ten times better and funnier. I would wait a little while until it hits DVD.