Review by Nathan Chandler for The Mungles on Movies

  Riding the coattails of Dodgeball and Blade of Glory's success, Balls of Fury follows the dejected ping-pong phenom Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler), a former Olympic hopeful who is now forced to use his paddling skills to entertain avid buffet-eaters in Reno. Recognizing a talent gone to waste, FBI Agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) coaxes Randy to join a very dangerous ping-pong tournament to help take down criminal mastermind Feng (Christopher Walken) who among many terrible deeds is responsible for the death of Randy's father. With the help of the blind Ping-Pong sage Master Wong (James Hong) and Wong's cunning niece Maggie (Maggie Q), Randy must overcome overwhelming odds and former foes to get even with the man who took away his pride and confidence.

  Most of the humor that I found funny in Balls of Fury wasn't due to the extravagant ping-pong battles, but to the comic timing and delivery from its characters. The relatively unknown Dan Fogler proves that he has the comedic acting chops to stand up to other funny leading men like Jack Black, bringing a new ferocity to his Average Joe looks and facial features. But James Hong steals the show as the blind mentor, convincingly using every joke and physical gag to his advantage. Other one-liners and huge set-up gags are performed to as much perfection as a comedy like this can provide. Thomas Lennon (from Reno 911! fame) brings a perfect intense characterization of the German villain, Karl Wolfschtagg, while Christopher Walken is, well,the Christopher Walken we have come to love. One usually doesn't equate comedy with special effects, but I was very impressed by the crispness and smoothness of the ping-pong action. It really took you into the intenseness of the ping-pong games (I can't believe I just said that) and it truly looks like every actor has mad table tennis skills.

  The downside to Balls of Fury is that the jokes are sometimes so rampant that it forgets that it has a story to tell, so it drags at certain plot points. Although well done, the ping-pong action does get tiresome after a while, and like watching your friends play while you wait your turn, you get a little bored. There is not much adult language in the movie and though there are a few heavy-handed sexual jokes here and there, none are quite as bad as the title and some of the posters suggest. So, if you can look past some of that humor, it's one of the cleaner PG-13 comedies I have seen in a while. Balls of Fury is no comic masterpiece, but if you laugh at the trailer and enjoy "stupid comedies" it might be a good way to close off your summer. I give Balls of Fury 3 out of 5 Def Leppards.

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Nathan Chandler is a video producer and editor who lives in the heart of Dallas. He has a knack for making awesome mix CDs and has a vast knowledge for movie trivia. When Nathan isn't writing or producing short films on the side, he is wishing he was on Survivor, rooting for the Cowboys, or making sweet tea runs to Chick-fil-a. You can reach Nathan at his blog. Nathan also co-hosts The Film Alcove Podcast. Check it out!