Iffy for 13+
Slapstick ping-pong comedy has very slight bounce.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that although this vapid slapstick comedy from the creators of Reno 911! will appeal to tweens and teens, its humor is tinged with a grim undercurrent: The main character is avenging his father's death at the hands of a murderous -- if seemingly ridiculous -- letch. There are also Chinese stereotypes (one character carries a lucky cricket and dispenses with enemies using chopsticks) and a fair bit of violence, mostly cartoonish and without blood. The movie clearly has its tongue firmly in cheek, which takes the edge off the crudest humor, but it's still sex-and-body-part based.
- Families can talk about the appeal of underdog stories. Why are films that depict a character's triumphant rise so compelling? In real life, do you think people are more interested in stories like that or in watching heroes crash and burn (the way young Randy fails at the Olympics)? What role does the media play in that process? Also, how does seeing sports on TV affect your perception of them? Do televised events overemphasize the drama, or are they merely mirroring what actually exist? Do you think ping-pong could be that hyper-competitive? What other sports looks calm when in fact they aren't?
The good stuff
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Messages: Characters, including Dayton's father, bet on ping-pong; Wong berates Daytona constantly; concubines offer themselves up for sex. Some jokes are based on Asian stereotypes; others are homophobic. But the main character, Randy, is a soft-hearted, genuine guy.
What to watch for
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Violence: Includes gunplay, electrocution, murder by poison dart, and even a bomb going off. But it's largely played for laughs, and viewers don't see blood.
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Sex: A couple kisses passionately, and she wraps her legs around him; in the scene in which male concubines are presented, one insists on spending the night; sounds of a couple having sex in another room. References to various characters' sexual preferences, though nothing really explicit is said. Plenty of scantily clad women. Men grope Maggie at the ping-pong training center, though she's able to fend them off with martial arts.
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Language: Fairly mild: "ass," "bull-poop," "bitch," "hell," "snot," etc.
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Consumerism: ESPN clips; mentions of the Olympics; references to Def Leppard and the band's hit songs.
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Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some drinking and smoking in gambling dens and bars.
Fan Reviews provided by
1
True Movie Review About The Creators and Hollywood in General by rogue savior
This movie is full of ***gotry and gay men content. The devil has truely entered the hearts of the creators. I hope Alah sends his Jihadists and suicide bombers to the place where they and their families congregate. This would be justice! Hollywood has gone too far and is really doing their best to taint American children's hearts with gay ***gotry. It is our civic duty to put an end to this!!! Let God intervene as he did in Babalon and destry all who are trying to contaminate his world! Let him protect his own people and shield them from the angels set forth to destry those who are going to continually contaminate his people and young. May the lord grant justice upon these sinners with destruction of their earnings and prevent them of producing such evil movies. May all hackers share this movie freely so they earn nothing in return for such sin.
5
Balls of Fury by HSBudinich
Laugh, laugh, laugh at bawdy humor. Laugh again. For mindless fun. Great costumes, from rejects sold at Elton John's garage sale to sexy dominatrix, to sexy, sexy, china doll.
'Booger' strikes again and George Lopez could have gotten more material but he plays the straight man wonderfully. Lots of gay humor so don't go if you're a Republican and/or homophobic.
1
Sucks. A waste of money. by bfxxcpoon
Not funny at all. I did not laugh one bit.
3
Balls just out. by Windwounder
Balls of Fury is a comedy based on the great Bruce Lee film, Fists of Fury and the Lee biopick Dragon. The comedy is uneven, the pace slows as some scenes run on without a big joke to finish them.
Dan Fogler does a great job as the washed up ping pong phenom. He can do the physical comedy and his reactions work to get laughs. Christopher Walken is wonderful as always getting more out the material than it deserves just by being Walken. James Hong steals the show as the Master. The old guy can still get a laugh.
Over 20 years ago A Fistful of Yen parody in the Kentucky Fried Movie got all of the comedy from the original in maybe 15 minutes and even that started to drag. The movie should have went beyond the original film and pulled comedy from other sources. They should have looked to Walken?s movies like the Deer Hunter for a start. As is the movie is a C+, it has some laughs and is amusing but not as good as it could have been.
5
Must see by selena00
A must see. It'll keep you laughing from the start.
5
Jason Scott Lee plays funny, very silly but well worth it! by actvid
I enjoyed Balls of Fury. As a table tennis player I knew the on-court action would not contain any technical scenes. But that is not why you should see this movie. See it for it's laughs! This movie played well and although the one-liners ranged in wittiness the overall laughs were good. Plenty of spoofs on various movies and physical humor.
I liked Jason Scott Lee as Siu-Foo, the Dragon's translator. He was a great surprise and came across intense and full of expression. Changing from almost serious to whacked out funny. Again great physical humor along with the gang. Plenty of mayhem in a ping pong match to the death.
My wife enjoys comedies and she liked this one. I felt George Lopez's characters was not up to his type of humor but Christopher Walkens characters role as Feng was diabolically as the villain. Check it out.
4
Definitely worth a look! by Katydid1592
I'm all about the spoofs and movies that make us laugh. I went into this one thinking that it would be a lot like the Scary Movie or Dodgeball. I was close - Scary Movie, yes. Dodgeball no...
This film is a great spoof on the sinister underground world of ping-pong. There are a lot of elements from old martial arts movies and TV, especially Bruce Lee films. I found myself laughing at the "painful humor" most. You know, when the guy gets hit 'down there', when the small pretty woman beats all the big guys with her kung fu. There is a lot of that and it's pretty funny. Christopher Walken is wonderful, of course. He makes it worth seeing.
All in all, I give it a thumbs-up. Just don't take it too seriously because they didn't when they made it...
5
Very Funny by amashenahan
This movie is hilarious - I just saw it. I really enjoyed Christopher Walken and was pleasantly suprised by Dan Folger's performance. For those wanting to see a great summer comedy, check this one out.
1
Don't waste your time on "Balls of Fury" by Nancie
We thought it would be for ping pong what "Dodgeball" was for that sport. Instead, this movie was dreadful from start to finish. Even my 11-year-old son thought it stunk! If you feel that you must see it, at least wait till DVD (and even then, rent a backup movie!).
From my 11-year-old son:
This kind of movie is usually my kind of humor, but even I thought it super-stunk.