Week of Hong: Balls of Fury

Title: Balls of Fury

Director: Robert Ben Garant

Released: 2007

Staring: Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, George Lopez, Maggie Q, James Hong, Terry Crews, Robert Patrick. Thomas Lennon, Aisha Tyler, Jason Scott Lee, La Na Shi, Patton Oswalt, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Plot: After losing the world Ping Pong championship as a child prodigy, the Def Leopard loving Randy (Fogler) has spent the last two decades peddling his skills on the Vegas strip to pay the bills with his former glory days now nothing but a distant memory. Now hired by the FBI to enter an underground Ping-Pong tournament in a bid to expose the elusive Feng (Walken), the criminal overlord who was also responsible for the death of Randy’s father (Patrick)

Review: On paper this film seemed to have pretty much everything I could want cast wise, I mean not only does it feature our man of the moment Mr. James Hong who we have been looking at over the course of this week as part of the Week of Hong Blogathon, but it also has Dan Fogler, an actor who I’ve become kind of obsessed with since first seeing him as the Rush obsessed “Hutch” in the Star Wars inspired comedy “Fanboys” aswell as more recently in the equally amusing “Take Me Home Tonight” and I was relishing the chance to see him in a leading role, rather than his usual portly sidekick persona. Sadly this film would prove once again that just because you have all the perfect ingredients it doesn’t always mean that you’re going to come away with a tasty dish of a movie.

Opening at the 1988 Olympic table tennis finals, were the twelve year old Randy is not already working his Def Leopard obsession but also seen as a child prodigy of the sport. However thanks to his father (in a whopping ten minute cameo by Patrick so get your fill X Files fans) betting everything they own on him winning, he soon finds the pressure getting to him and while facing the German champion Karl Wolfschtagg (Lennon) manages to knock himself unconscious, meaning he forfeits the match as a result, while at the same time causing his father to be murdered by Feng’s henchmen (Tagawa) due to not being able to pay his debts and sending Randy’s career into a nosedive as he turns his back on competitive ping pong. It’s during this opening that the tone is really set for the film, as this is anything but a serious look at the world of competitive ping pong (incase you hadn't realized), as it opts for the same surreal look at the sport that both “Dodgeball” and “Beerfest” brought to their sports and things only really get wackier as it continues, hence we get Randy turning the sport into what is possibly the worst cabaret act ever, while numerous demonstrations of super human play, as characters play with lightening fast reflexes and frequently keeping multiple balls in play.

The cast all pretty much play their various roles well, with Fogler embodying the overweight slacker Randy, who despite his obvious lack of any form of athleticism still manages to play the role of this superhuman player convincingly enough, while gaining support on his journey back to his former via the blind ping pong master Wong (Hong), whose training methods are almost as suspect of those used by Xian Chow in “Kickboxer”, as he has Randy trying to hit balls using a wooden spoon and more sadistically locking him in a freezer full of angry bees with possibly the worlds smallest flyswatter. 

Joining Randy on his quest for revenge we also have the questionable FBI agent Rodriguez (Lopez) who it would seem has confused the FBI for the CIA / MI6 seeing how he bases his inspiration for joining on fantasies of James Bond exploits. Randy also more surprisingly even gets a love interest in the form of Wong’s niece and protégée Maggie (Maggie Q) who also gets a chance to show off her kung fu skills at various points of the film which is always welcome.

Sadly the weak link in the cast is also one of the biggest draws, as Walken seems to be purely going through the motions with his performance as Feng and while he occasionally shows moments of his normal brilliance, he never seems to know exactly how to play the role, which also brought to mind an interview with Walken I read a few years back, were he admitted to only reading his own lines whenever he was sent a script rather than the whole thing, which might go away to explaining the confused performance here, as well as why he also showed up in “The Country Bears”. The role of Feng, had also originally been the screenwriter Thomas Lennon for him to play, until it was given to Walken while he took on the role of Karl Wolfschtagg, though it only begs the question if this character would have been stronger had Lennon played the role as he had originally intended, even though Lennon is still great fun as the egotistical Wolfschtagg.

Still while Feng might not be the greatest of villains, but he does atleast have some decent support from his lead henchman known simply as Mysterous Asian Man (I’m not kidding they didn’t even bother to give him a name) which see’s Tagawa reusing his epic performance as Shang Tsung from “Mortal Kombat” which works really well and frequently to the point were he is often more intimidating than Feng, so it only makes it more of a shame that like Patton Oswalt he is so underused here and while Feng’s henchwoman the blow pipe welding Mahogany (Tyler), steps up to fill the void it is a presence which is sorely missed once he is removed, though Tyler is not especially hard on the eyes it has to be said and makes more of what would have no doubt otherwise been a less noticeable role.

The Comedy for the first half of the film is solid enough before it hits a horrible lull around the halfway point, from which it never truly recovers. Still with enough jokes being thrown at the screen, it does ensure that the majority of the comedy is more hit than miss, with Fogler proving to be a natural comedic talent, while Hong even manages to make his largely comedic role more enjoyable than you would expect, especially when it plays heavily on the fact his character is blind and hence has him facing the wrong way to talk or just walking into walls, let alone the fact that the film also features a joke based on him not releasing that a Love Courtesan was actually a man, making it only more of a credit to Hong that he manages to make this character work so well. The majority of the comedy here though can be found with Randy’s wacky opponents, which he has to face on the path to Feng, which include a psycho little girl named “Dragon” (Shi) and local champion “Hammer” (Oswalt) who not only can’t break through his own paper banner, while also has an arsenal of confusing hand gestures, though despite his scenes being amongst the funniest this character is bizarrely never seen again after the initial confrontation, frustratingly adding to ongoing list of underused characters within this film. 

Even now reflecting on my viewing experience of this film, I can't decide if really enjoyed it enough to watch it again and while it's certainly has it's moments, it's one that's best watched with friends and a laid back atmosphere of low expectation, though it's safe to say that ping pong has never looked cooler....shame the same can't be said for Def Leopard.

Week of Hong: Big Trouble In Little China

Title: Big Trouble In Little China

Director: John Carpenter

Released: 1986

Staring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton, Donald Li, Carter Wong, Peter Kwong, James Pax, Suzee Pai, Albert "Al" Leong

Plot: Jack Burton (Russell) is a wisecracking truck driver making what should have been a regular drop off in San Francisco, only to find himself in a whole heap of trouble when his best friend Wang Chi’s (Dun) fiancée (Pai) is kidnapped, by the 2000 year old magician Lo Pan (Hong).

Review: Seeing how this week is the “Week of Hong” blogathon being run by “Lost Video Archive” paying tribute to the living legend James Hong, who has over the course of his career amassed (as of the time of writing) 366 credits  as an actor, so I thought I would revisit one of his few roles which allowed him to step outside of his usual supporting character roles and instead cast him as the central villain.

Another big film in my childhood celluloid memories, it’s one of the few films from that period which still stand up to those happy early memories when revisited years later, while also certainly being one of my all time favorite John Carpenter movies, in what would be sadly his sole jaunt into the Martial Arts genre, something which had long been a desire for Carpenter before he returned to the horror genre once more. Still any movie which reunites Carpenter and Kurt Russell, can never be a bad thing, especially with Carpenter being responsible for pulling out some of Russell’s most memorable performances, with this film being yet another example of this great working relationship that they have together, especially as Russell was suffering with the flu during filming, yet under Carpenter he still pulls off another amazing performance.

Originally intended to be a western much like Carpenter’s “Assault on Precinct 13”, it was during the rewrites of the original script that the action was shifted to modern day San Francisco, while retaining the Chinese fantasy elements. To enter into this film blind though it starts like nearly every other 80’s action movie with Wang Chi’s fiancee being snatched by the Triad gang “The Lords of Death” at the airport, setting both him and Jack on a mission to get her back. It’s only during a gang fight which Wang Chi’s and Jack suddenly find themselves in the middle off, that things suddenly take a supernatural turn with the sudden introduction of Lo Pan’s henchmen “The Three Storms” (Wong, Kwong & Pax) , which honestly had I not known what sort of film this was in advance, this would make for a surprising change of direction, especially with no hint of this change being given in advance of it happening. Needless to say though that when Carpenter does unleash these supernatural elements he goes the whole hog and hence why we get lighting bolts being welded, a giant centipede monster and insane midair sword fights to name but a few of the delights contained within, as Carpenter once again showcases the excess of 80’s action cinema, while clearly having fun playing with the elements of Hong Kong cinema he chooses to homage here.

“Big Trouble In Little China” is a true memento of 80’s action movies with it’s outlandish action scenes and wisecracking hero in the form Jack Burton who is the quintessential 80’s action hero model, for Jack is a blue collar, sexist and egotistical truck driver with strangely cat like reflexes, who when not giving broadcasting his own personal life philosophies over his truck’s CB radio and chowing down on submarine sandwiches, he can usually be found drinking hard and gambling harder with the local Chinatown traders. Still why he might seem like a jackass, he is still fiercely loyal to his friends, though it’s a loyalty which could also be linked to the fact that those same friends owe him a lot of money which he fully intends on claiming. Still this is essentially were Carpenter throws us abet of a curve ball for while Jack is portrayed as the hero, he is actually more of a bumbling sidekick to Wang Chi, who is much more of the hero here, something especially highlighted when during one of the climatic battles he manages to knock himself unconscious and misses the whole thing.

James Hong is fantastic as the big evil of the film, in what would be a rare lead role for the man who seems to be eternally set to play memorable supporting characters and here he relishes the opportunity, whether under layers of heavy make up as the old man form of Lo Pan, or as his fantastical Fu Manchu form he is brilliant in every scene he appears, while portraying Lo Pan as a man so assure of his own power and ability that he never appears flustered by what is happening around him, to the point were he seems genuinely surprised when he is taken down by Jacks boot knife. It is equally great to see Victor Wong being given more of a role as the Magician and local tour guide Egg Shen, who not only has some of the best lines in the film, but also gets to kick all kinds of ass with his urban ninja army and like Hong it was great to see him getting a more meaty role, as extended screen time for either of these actors is always a welcome thing.

Carpenter’s love of Kung Fu movies is clearly on the screen here, especially with “The Three Storms” being almost a direct copy of “The Lords of Death” from “Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx”, much less how he chooses to shoot these elements of Hong Kong cinema he chooses to incorporate into the film, which is was almost identical to how they would have been shot in those same movies it sets out to homage, with extensive wire work especially being used during the fantastical sword fight during the climax and in doing so gives them a welcome similar sense of style. Needless to say the action is completely over the top, with Carpenter keeping the action constantly moving, making full use of his cast many of whom were genre veterans, with Carter Wong also working as a Martial arts trainer for the Hong Kong Police and it’s an advantage we see used to full effect by Carpenter, while he also pulls out more than a few tricks to surprise even the more established Kung Fu fans and it’s scenes like the ones we see here, which only make it more of shame that he has not since made another movie like this.

Tanking upon it’s initial release, thanks largely to poor marketing by the studio, which would also lead to Carpenter leaving the studio system to concentrate on more independently released films. Needless to say since then it has truly found it’s audience on VHS and later DVD, truly becoming the cult classic it deserved to be and a film which fans still argue over whether it works best on it's own or if it's long overdue a sequel, though personally I'd love to see another Jack Burton adventure, though for now this remains another great one shot adventure.