Balls Of Fury

"Balls of Fury," a comedy in the spirit of "Dodgeball," is a good choice if you need to squeeze in one last comedy this summer. Starring Dan Fogler as Randy Daytona, Christopher Walken as Feng, George Lopez as Agent Ernie Rodriguez, Maggie Q as Maggie Wong, and James Hong as Master Wong, it's sure to deliver what it promises to the kind of person who would consider watching it based on the trailer (which, admittedly, is not everyone).

Randy Daytona was a 12-year-old ping pong prodigy, America's golden boy at the 1988 Olympics. But his father was so confident in his abilities that he made a bet he couldn't afford with the wrong people. When Randy choked under the pressure and became the laughing stock of the Olympic Games, he retired from competition and resigned himself to a seedy life on the Vegas strip. But now it's two decades later, and Randy's country needs him.

Mr. Feng, one of the FBI's most wanted men, is up to his old tricks and can only be stopped by infiltrating his secret underground ping pong tournament. Under the tutelage of Master Wong, the Mr. Miyagi of ping pong, Randy must get into the best shape of his life to be invited to Feng's tournament and survive deathmatches against the best players in the world long enough to take down Feng with help from Agent Rodriguez and Wong's hot niece Maggie.

Randy endures intense confrontations with The Dragon, Freddy Fingers, a blast from his past, an unexpected opponent who's forced to make an impossible choice, and even a final showdown in electrified vests that dole out increasingly deadly shocks, in the manner of Largo's "Domination" game in "Never Say Never Again."

This movie is packed with plenty of humor, albeit sometimes a bit lowbrow and inconsistent, especially towards the end. They managed to save it with a great line which, without ruining the ending, comes right after "What does that mean? I have no honor?" It's definitely not as good as the classic and very similar "Dodgeball," but it's a quite decent summer comedy.