Fireball [Import]

Matrix Fan broke this flick down perfectly so I'll just toss in my two cents. Fireball is an entertaining gumbo with elements of Ong Bak, B-13, Rollerball, The Venoms Series, and other fight films tossed in. The action scenes are very gritty and will have you on the edge of your seats. I didn't think the basketball/fight club combo would work but it is very convincing. To sum this all up, buy it if you collect Martial Arts films or rent it for a quick action fix. Offbeat goodies like this never end up on cable television's so-called action channels.

When I stepped into my local video store last week, I was looking for an action movie, but I couldn't decide what to choose. About halfway down the shelves, my eyes settled on this movie's cover and I saw the words:

"Basketball as an Underground Blood Sport"

Basketball _and_ Thai Boxing? I couldn't think of a better combination since Reese's combined chocolate and peanut butter! I had high hopes that I would be watching an epic brawler - and I was not disappointed in my choice.

PLOT:

We start off with the main character, Tai, getting released from prison. His twin brother, Tan, put up a sizeable amount of money to make this happen. Tai soon learns his brother earned this money by playing an illegal sport called Fireball - and Tan is now in a coma from being beaten within an inch of his life.

In order to raise money to get his brother a life-saving operation, Tai slips into his brother's identity and joins one of the Fireball teams, with the goal of reaching the finals to win a sizeable cash prize. Tai also learns his brother's would-be killer is playing on another team - so he's got some revenge to dish out before the tournament is over.

Each team has 5 players. Whoever scores a point first is the winner. However, if no one scores, the team with the last man standing is the winner. Whether it's the first game or the final tournament match, there are no replacements...no fouls...no referees...and no mercy.

From the second the basketball was thrown onto the closed court, I knew I was going to enjoy this rental. Forget throwing elbows, these guys were throwing HAYMAKERS! As soon as someone attempted a layup or an alley-oop, I knew an axe-kick or a body slam would be sure to follow...and they did! Flying knee kicks to the chest and head, foreign weapons thrown in, kicking a guy when he was down, fighting in the rain, I never knew what was coming next!

Now with every film, there is some down time...and Fireball is no exception. There are moments off the court where we see small glimpses into each player's life and why they need to win the tournament. Most of the acting is pretty hammy, they all want to solve their problems by winning money - similar to the plot of 13: Game of Death, another Thai film. I was itching for the next action scene to kick in, and thankfully I never had to wait very long.

As good as the fight scenes were; some of the visuals were choppy. A Steadicam was being used but sometimes it looked like the camera was shaking during the fighting. I couldn't decide if this was purposeful or accidental..try to imagine a Thai version of the fight scenes in the Jason Bourne series and you've got the general idea. The lighting was well done so you could always see the action, a huge plus!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The special features are pretty skimpy, but there's enjoyment to be had:

(1) Behind the Scenes:

This is a 12-minute featurette with interviews with the director Thanakorn Ponguswan, Preeti Barameeanant (who played Tai/Tan), Sam Kasem (who played Zing) and Archua Tosawat (who played Tun). Each person offers thoughts on the film and their individual character. Each cast member enjoyed making this movie and it shows in their enthusiasm! I really enjoyed the segments with Archua because he talked about doing action sequences for up to 7 hours and being completely exhausted...and he had a smile from ear to ear.

(2) Fireball movie trailer

(3) Also From LIONSGATE

These are 5 movie trailers with everything an MMA fan wants...fighting, fighting and more fighting!

Jackie Chan's Wushu
Death Warrior
Four Dragons
Bodyguard - a new beginning
Never Surrender

This movie can be watched with English or Thai language, and subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. It was a great rental, and I definitely recommend it to other action movie junkies or fans of Thai films. Though the plot was flimsy and the ending was somewhat disappointing, I was looking for an adrenaline-packed action movie - and I got one!

I hate when you watch a film that not only feels like a waste of time but when you lament that time could have been spent elsewhere from watching a better film or cleaning the toilet. I knew not to expect an Ong Bak or a Chocolate. Also, I recently enjoyed the Legend of the Tsunami Warrior which was not a great film, but you can see the maturity of the Thailand popular cinema in terms of special effects and film techniques so I was curious on this film. Sometimes curiosity is dangerous.

Many times when you are watching a martial arts film (sometimes this goes with musicals as well) you can forgive an inane plot, idiotic characterizations and pretty much everything else if the fight scenes are sagacious. Usually when they are not it is because you are presented with actors (and/or choreographers) who know nothing about showcasing the proper aesthetics and the artistic ability to convey the beauty that makes martial art cinema great. Sometimes, like in this film, the actors have the martial arts ability, but it is the director, editor and cinematographer that help make this film an irritable exercise in how long can you sit at a time while watching this before you change and watch something else. I can forgive the film quality which has the feel of a low budget TV movie. I cannot forgive (besides the plot) the elliptical editing, the cinematography which seems to be done by a 300 pound ex-alcoholic after running a mile who is suffering delirium tremens, and the soundtrack with exception of the cool Thai rap heard early in the film. Honestly, I have no idea what they were trying to accomplish with the editing. Were they trying to outdo Michael Bay?

The plot was not much better. Here we have Tai (Preeti Barameeanat) a criminal who was set free because of his twin brother's Tan's (same actor) cash contributions that left Tan in a coma. Tan was making money with the underground basketball game called Fireball. Tai takes his identity and gets back into the game to find out who was responsible for his brother's condition as well as try to make money to pay for an operation for his deteriorating brother. In the meantime he is falling for his brother's girlfriend. I like the idea of having an underground basketball game featuring Muay Thai and run by drug lords. But the execution of it could have been better. Allowing weapons to be used really made it silly and stupid. I know I should not be thinking, but who would put themselves into that situation without much money or without having their family held hostage? Ultimately the best situation for this type of game where you win by scoring once (or dispatching all of your opponents) would be to hire very fast players who could score right off of a fast break (even with individuals trying to beat you up) since a good basketball player should be able to do a layup/dunk even with two or three guarding and not getting hit. With full disclosure I am a basketball fan - I have no idea whether that would predispose my thinking one way or the other for this movie.

One of the benefits of lower budget films is that much is done on location. You get to see a lot of city life and as a byproduct of the frenzied fight scenes I found myself enjoying the surroundings more (it is usually a bad sign for a film when you start paying attention to things like background people, possibly product placement and anything but what you are supposed to be focusing on). The attempt at creating a commentary on the social-economic conditions of these youths ultimately did not work because of a few plot threads that either made you to hate the drug lords yet put your sympathy on the one upcoming drug lord who recruited the protagonist and a few others who you get to see a bit of their daily lives.

The Lionsgate release had no issues though it does seem that there are dubtitles - so there is an English dub along with this as well. Special Features include a trailer for the film, additional Lionsgate trailers (Wushu, Death Warrior, Four Dragons, Bodyguard: A New Beginning, Never Surrender) and a Behind The Scenes which lasts around 11m 44s. The Behind The Scenes is in Thai with intercut scenes of the movie in English dub and even has some outtakes and behind the scene footage (where wires are shown). It has the director Thanakorn Pongsuwan talking about the origin of the story, the plot of the film and choice of actors. Also featured are: the producer Sangar Chatchairungruang (can't believe he stated that goal of the film was creating fun), the lead actor(s) Preeti Barameeanat (from Clash Band), actor Sam Kasem (Zing; in real life he is a Thai boxer who fights in Japan) and actor Arucha Tosawat (Tun).