Balls of FuryMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Balls of Fury."

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Avg. Critic Score: 38 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 63
    Boston Globe |

    The movie flaunts its ridiculousness and offers a relentless string of jokes about blindness, groin-bashing, and bodily odors. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The first movie combining Ping-Pong and kung-fu and co-starring Maggie Q. How many could there be? Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Sheri Linden

    The good news is that Christopher Walken, resplendent in purple silk, isn't the film's sole redeeming element. The bad news is that even his arch-villain can't save Balls of Fury from losing bounce as the story proceeds. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Brian Lowry

    Relentlessly silly in spoofing martial-arts movie conventions, Balls of Fury has roughly enough laughs for a first-class trailer but wheezes, gasps and finally goes flat through much of its 90 minutes. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    A lifeless pingpong comedy that ricochets from one flat gag to the next. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Walter Addiego

    The real trouble is that it's supposed to be an outrageous comedy, but in fact it's fairly tame and not all that funny. Read full review

  • 40
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    The nicest thing is the Asian American actress known as Maggie Q. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Balls of Fury makes "Dodgeball" look like high art. It'll be tough to crack a smile, let alone laugh, during this uninspired and sophomoric satire of sports movies. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    Raunchier and somewhat more imaginative than "Hot Rod." Read full review

  • 0
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    A joke of a title in search of a movie with a single good joke. Read full review

View more reviews for Balls of Fury on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says 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
  • message true0 Positive 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
  • violence false3 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.
  • sex false3 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.
  • language false3 Language: Fairly mild: "ass," "bull-poop," "bitch," "hell," "snot," etc.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: ESPN clips; mentions of the Olympics; references to Def Leppard and the band's hit songs.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some drinking and smoking in gambling dens and bars.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

0.5

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… full of dead space … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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