By Hannah Gill
Time to clear off the Solo cups and beer cans! The ping-pong table is returning to its heyday in the world of underground table tennis, as portrayed in the new sports-comedy, “Balls of Fury.”
Enter Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler), a child ping-pong prodigy. Randy learns the brutal pressures of being a professional athlete when he loses both his father and the national ping-pong title of ’88.
National embarrassmentkeeps 12 year-old Randy from the public-pong circuit for 19 years.
Randy later emerges as a cheap entertainer in Las Vegas. There, Randy is tracked down by FBI agent Ernie Rodriguez (George Lopez), who’s seeking a man of Randy’s unique talent to help with a top-secret mission, apprehend the underground ping-pong Lord and gun trafficker, Feng (Christopher Walken). Randy apprehensively accepts the mission.
A tad rusty with a paddle, Randy soon finds himself getting back into the swing of things, with the help of the blind, ping-pong connoisseur, Master Wong (James Hong), and his niece, Maggie Wong (Maggie Q).
Though the story of ultimate ping-pong is original, the storyline is a parody of “Austin Powers,” “Matrix,” and even “Scarface.”
“Balls of Fury” proves to be well stocked in the sports department, as it features obscure athletes, questionable uniforms (wrestling singlets?), and its very own Mr. Miyagi. Aside from a Def Leppard sing-along and the witty Master Wong, the comedy of the film can’t quite swing it against “Dodgeball,” “Talladega Nights,” “King Pin,” or even “Blades of Glory.”
Despite the recent reign of sports-comedies at the theatres, be wary of this bench warmer, good for no more than a few laughs.
