Author Archives: Jonathan Williams

Tyler Perry’s the hero, but not the true star, of “Alex Cross”

The big question most people seem to have about Alex Cross is, “How will Tyler Perry do as an action hero in a movie that doesn’t feature him dressed in drag to play an elderly woman?” And since he’s the star of this movie, portraying a character from James Patterson‘s novels previously portrayed by Morgan Freeman in the film adaptations of Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, that is a legitimate concern going into this film.

Tommy (Edward Burns) and Alex (Tyler Perry) investigate a crime in "Alex Cross."

But it doesn’t take long for the focus to be taken off of Perry, though I don’t think that is intentional. As Alex and his partner Tommy (Edward Burns) track a methodical serial killer, we find out that Alex has an unexplainable sixth sense for things. In an early scene with his wife (Carmen Ejogo), for example, Alex is able to deduce within a few seconds the details of her day (things like the smell of gas fumes and sanitizer on her hands). It’s these same skills that have made him one of Detroit’s top detectives, earning him a lucrative job offer from the FBI in D.C. He’s considering the job, especially now that his wife has revealed that she is pregnant. But first, he has to track this mysterious assassin’s next target.

That’s the first act of Alex Cross, which is filled with unconvincing dialogue, cop drama clichés and the attempted comic relief of an overbearing grandmother (Cicely Tyson). But it’s not until Alex and Tommy cross paths with the killer (Matthew Fox) that things begin to get intensely interesting. Having already seen the chilling results of this killer’s first sadistic act, they know they’re dealing with a trained professional. But what they don’t realize is that by disrupting his pattern and preventing him from killing his second victim, this killer will now turn his attention towards Alex and Tommy’s families in order to get revenge.

Matthew Fox's villain is the most interesting element of "Alex Cross." Photo by Sidney Baldwin.

In its second half, Alex Cross takes on a bit of the dark psychology of Seven (ironically, yet another crime thriller starring Morgan Freeman), though it never gets nearly as deep as that film did. Though Perry is still the hero of the movie, Fox becomes the real star of the film, portraying the killer known as Picasso as a psychotic (and oddly admirable) man of integrity, talent and unstable determination. The questions of who this killer is, who hired him and how he’s become so hardwired that he can snap a man’s arm, shoot innocent civilians and find pleasure in methodically cutting off a beautiful woman’s fingers (rather than accepting her invitations for carnal enjoyment) become far more interesting than anything going on in the lives of the heroes.

While investigating the killer’s first murder, Tommy jokingly says he wishes Alex could be wrong about something for once so Tommy would know Alex isn’t always right. Later in the film, as both men are commiserating the loss of their respective loved ones at the hands of this killer, Alex says to Tommy, “I was wrong” about the killer turning his attention to them rather than carrying out his mission. Those three words carry more weight than anything else in this movie. Perry does well with what he’s given to work with in Alex Cross, as does the rest of the cast. But overall, the movie doesn’t give us enough to be emotionally invested in any of these characters. Which is probably why Fox’s emotionless assassin becomes the easiest element for viewers to attach themselves to.

www.alexcrossmovie.com

Gail Kim returns to the state where she became the first TNA Knockouts Champion

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Courtesy TNA Wrestling

As one of the most accomplished female wrestlers of all time, Gail Kim has consistently been at the top of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling‘s Knockouts Division since its inception. She was the first ever TNA Knockouts Champion and has held the Knockouts Tag Team Championship with Madison Rayne. This weekend, Kim returns to the state where she first won the Knockouts Championship as the Impact Wrestling World Tour stops at the Macon Centreplex Coliseum on Oct. 20 and the Savannah Civic Center on Oct. 21. Though she’s scheduled to face Miss Tessmacher at each of these events, Kim recently told new Knockouts Champion Tara that she would come for her title if Tara defeated Tessmacher at last Sunday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view. Before things combust this weekend, Kim shares her thoughts on the entire situation with Wrestling with Pop Culture.

Miss Tessmacher is the one who took that title from you a few months ago, and you haven’t had the best luck in your subsequent rematches. What are your expectations for your matches against her this weekend?

She’s improved over the last few months, so I guess I just underestimated her. Now I’m going to be back on my A game.

I think a lot of people underestimated her, but apparently Tara figured out a way to get under her skin.

Courtesy TNA Wrestling

She worked with her for a long time and they were [Knockouts] Tag Team Champions together. It’s always the ones that are closest to you that you know best.

You’ve had your share of run-ins with Tara, especially with her recent gloating about her celebrity boyfriend being better than your celebrity chef husband Robert Irvine.

Yeah, I’m not impressed at all. She was making fun of my husband, who she called my boyfriend. It’s funny that she made that reference to my “cable star boyfriend,” yet she made an appearance on his show last week. It was actually pretty funny. I haven’t met her boyfriend yet, but he already looks like a loser to me. What was he on, Big Brother or something like that? Did he even win?

I’ve never watched that show, but I have seen Jessie Godderz in Ohio Valley Wrestling and didn’t realize he had a reality show background.

Oh, OK. Neither have I. I’ll give him one thing, he looks like he fits the role of a wrestler in terms of his physique. He must have put some time into that.

Any idea if you might get a shot at Tara for the Knockouts Championship anytime soon?

Courtesy TNA Wrestling

Well, I hope that’s very soon. She and I have both been around for a really long time and the one positive thing I can say about her is that the fans do love watching us wrestle against one another. So I’m really looking forward to it. I got a little taste of it in my debut match back at Impact Wrestling, then we had a match maybe a month or so ago. But I would definitely love to get back into the ring with her because I think we’re the best at what we do and I just want to see who’s better right now.

You were the very first Knockouts Champion and you won that title in Georgia. Does returning to Georgia have any special meaning to you based on that milestone?

Of course. That was the number one moment of my career to be the very first Knockouts Champion. We fought so hard for that division to even happen and to be the first champion is something I’ll never forget, and it’s something that no one can take away from me. It’s all a blur now, but it was probably the most emotional moment of my career. It was such a great time and to have all those girls come in at once – I mean, we literally went from five girls to ten or more overnight – and it just became this huge success. From that point on, this company has been known for having good women’s wrestling and I love being part of it.

We’ve talked about this weekend’s house shows, but do you know what’s in store for you at tonight’s Impact Wrestling?

I’m not sure if I’m on Impact Wrestling tonight, but I am making an appearance on the British Boot Camp series that airs in the U.K. on Challenge TV. It’s a reality show competition and Madison Rayne and I are facing the Blossom Twins, the two girls that are competing on the show. That will be taped before Impact Wrestling and it’s interesting because the British talent doesn’t always get a chance to be seen my major promotions over here. It’s a great opportunity for them to be seen and show what they’ve got. I’ve heard about these Blossom Twins for many, many years, so they’ve been around. They’re nice girls, but Madison and I are going to have to kick some booty and show them what they’ve got to strive for.

www.thegailkim.com

Wrestling with Pop Culture has three pairs of tickets to this Saturday’s Impact Wrestling World Tour stop in Macon. Comment below with the name of your favorite female wrestler of all time to be entered to win a pair of tickets. Winners will be chosen by 5 p.m. EST Oct. 19.

“Tai Chi Zero” takes viewers on a crazy kung fu journey

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The fast-paced action of classic kung fu films has clearly influenced countless video games. But with Tai Chi Zero, Chinese director Stephen Fung reciprocates that influence by adding health meters, pop-up information and other video game elements to the frenetic fight scenes that dominate this film. Clearly trying to reinvent the kung fu genre, Fung fuses Eastern filmmaking with other Western influences to create a unique beginning to a planned trilogy (the second of which, Tai Chi Hero, was filmed concurrently with this first installment).

We’re informed via subtitles that Yuan XiaoChao, who plays Lu Chan, is an Olympic champion. As new characters are introduced, we get similar pop-ups informing us of their kung fu credentials, which, I guess, adds more legitimacy to the otherwise cartoonish antics. But Tai Chi Zero still pokes a lot of fun at itself by adopting elements of American silent films to help further the subtitled story and help the viewer keep better track of the frenzied action.

Set during the Industrial Revolution, all this action is centered on Lu Chan, who was born with the gift (or is it a curse?) of the Three Blossoms of the Crown. Basically that means that he has a small horn on his forehead that gives him powers that most martial artists spend their entire lives trying to attain. But the more he uses his kung fu abilities (and the darker his horn becomes), the closer he comes to using up his life force. And if anyone punches his horn, he is temporarily given even more power, but also uses up more of his life force.

The only cure is for Lu Chan to learn Chen style tai chi, and the only way to do that is to travel to the remote Chen Village (a journey that is displayed by an overhead video game-like graphic). Only problem is, the Chen Villagers don’t traditionally teach their tai chi to outsiders. Too bad Lu Chan doesn’t find that out until he makes the treacherous journey.

But when another vengeful outsider arrives in this gigantic steampunk tank thing and threatens to build a railroad through the village, it’s Lu Chan who ultimately helps strategize a plan to defeat the mechanical monster. Despite their alliance with Lu Chan, the villagers (including a potential romantic interest) are still sticklers for their tradition and refuse to teach him tai chi. But just as he and an old village laborer have done with their fight against the steam-powered threat, Lu Chan finds a loophole in the village’s rules just in time to prepare for the impending challenge that awaits in Tai Chi Hero, due out early next year.

Between the pop-ups, subtitles and on-screen fight scenes, it’s often difficult to keep up with all that is going on in Tai Chi Zero. But it’s that same frenzy and stylistic inventiveness that makes the film so much fun to watch. And I, for one, am excited to see where this journey goes in the next film.

www.wellgousa.com/theatrical/tai-chi-zero

“Girls Gone Dead” slays with cheesy ’80s gore and T&A

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When I was in Miami for WrestleMania XXVIII earlier this year, I walked by an old Art Deco movie theater one night called the Colony Theatre. The theater’s retro stylings and bright white lights were enough to catch my eye, but when I looked closer I realized had I arrived in Miami the previous night I could have attended the world premiere of Girls Gone Dead, a Girls Gone Wild spoof that incorporates cheesy ’80s slasher horror with the cheesy ’80s T&A comedies from USA Up All Night. It looked great on its own, but then I realized the WrestleMania weekend tie-in was that it starred Jerry “The King” Lawler as a sheriff, a perfect fit for such a campy boob-fest since he has a reputation to uphold (he would often express his excitement for “puppies” when doing wrestling commentary during WWE‘s Attitude Era).

Even when he's doing his sheriff duty, Jerry Lawler can't help but be distracted by some puppies.

Aside from Lawler, Girls Gone Dead stars Beetlejuice and Sal “The Stockbrocker” Governale from The Howard Stern Show, Penthouse Pets Ryan Keely and Janessa Brazil, and the relative unknown Katie Peterson, with cameos by Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, veteran character actor Asbestos Felt, adult film stars such as Jennifer Worthington and Ron Jeremy, and scream queen Linnea Quigley. Following the exploits of a group of spring break-bound girls who end up facing a masked killer out for gore, Girls Gone Dead has all the makings of a cult classic. Thankfully, an Unrated and Exposed edition with lots of extras was recently released on DVD, with plans to release an R-rated version as WrestleMania XXIX approaches next spring. A full-time film editor for Bongiovi Entertainment by day, Michael A. Hoffman co-directed, produced and edited Girls Gone Dead, living out a teenage fantasy of combining schlocky gore with gratuitous nudity. Hoffman talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about the filmmaking process and having Lawler involved in the film.

The title Girls Gone Dead, and the DVD cover art featuring a sexy girl removing her bikini top with blood on her hip, confuses my libido. What was your intention when making this movie?

It’s a throwback to those T&A flicks I grew up with in the ’80s and it’s got a lot of references to those movies, including a lot of the cast members from those movies. If you don’t know about that stuff or like it, you’re not going to like this. I’m surprised how well it’s done. Supposedly the horror/comedy/slasher thing is dead, but we’ve sold out at Best Buy twice and we’ve been a top rental. I think the title helps. The idea was someone could go, “I could watch Girls Gone Wild or rent this, that has something of a story, and still see the boobs and gore.”

You mentioned that this film features appearances by some of the cast members of the films that inspired it, but it also features a lot of other odd cameos. Why did you choose to cast such a variety of cameos?

Linnea Quigley was the biggest scream queen of that era. She starred in all the David DeCoteau and Fred Olen Ray movies, and she’s the bartender at Wyld Wylee’s. The guy who does the “Hammer Smash” rap at the bar is Asbestos Felt. He raps in a classic cheesefest movie called Killing Spree directed by Tim Ritter, who was one of the first people I worked for and made one of my favorite movies when I was a kid called Truth or Dare. It was a really huge hit and one of the first movies ever made directly for video back in 1985. Joel Wynkoop, who plays the TV evangelist, has been in God-knows-how-many of those movies, and he was just the star of H.G. Lewis‘ The Uh-Oh! Show. Jennifer Worthington, who gets sacrificed at the church, was in a lot of adult movies and did some modeling when she was younger.

Our casting director was Brad Davis and he cast half of those movies in that vein like Porky’s 2, Porky’s 3, Police Academy 5 and stuff like that, and a bunch of Corey Feldman T&A comedies like South Beach Academy and late-night USA movies. I wanted to put a lot of references and homages in there, so I did some subtle things like the Quigley Down Under joke where Linnea Quigley has a fake Australian accent. And at the beginning of her scene, the first thing she’s doing, before she turns around and walks up, is using the same lipstick and compact she had in Night of the Demons. There are some scenes that are direct references to things like Slumber Party Massacre, when the killer enters the house during that dubstep fight scene in the living room. I didn’t want to make a straight spoof, so what I wanted to do was actually write a film that knew it was bad, then deliver it pretty straight. If you choose to laugh at it, that’s awesome. If not, no problem.

Jerry "The King" Lawler as Jackson "The Sheriff" Cole.

I worked with Maurice Smith a couple of years ago on a film called Forget Me Not. He produced a ton of those low-budget Roger Corman flicks between half a million and five million bucks in the ’80s and ’90s. Then I got the biggest compliment when Maurice was actually in Florida and came by my house and watched Girls Gone Dead. He was like, “Oh, shit. For what you guys spent, you got a lot of content.” He was impressed with it, which is good because he gets it.

It’s kind of like Rob Zombie‘s movies, where he makes subtle references to all the stuff he grew up watching.

Yeah. He does these more hardcore grindhouse things, but he’s got Bill Moseley, Michael J. Pollard and the strangest cameos. But House of 1000 Corpses was a low-budget film, but it’s really polished for what it was. With Girls Gone Dead, my take on it is it’s something people can laugh at if they want to, or laugh with, which is what I hope will happen. If you rent this movie, you should expect cheesy gore and nudity.

How did Jerry Lawler get involved with the movie?

Jerry Lawler doesn't mind investigating crime scenes when they're at "Crazy Girls Unlimited" filming locations.

Executive producer Paul Tarnopol is friends with Jerry’s agent and we were looking for people for that role. We had actually looked at two bigger-name celebrity actors for the role, but when Paul mentioned he was friends with Jerry’s agent, I turned to my wife, who was writing it, and was like, “We’ve got to change the ending and put Jerry in there.” The way the movie is so random, with people like the drummer from Iron Maiden singing country, we were like, “This has to work.” When we first wrote this, we didn’t have any celebrities. For the Crazy Girls Unlimited emcee, I wanted somebody who had always emceed those parties, like a washed-up celebrity. I always wanted Ron Jeremy or Vanilla Ice. Vanilla Ice lives in Florida, so I was like, “It’s got to be one of those two. It’s got to be somebody you would see at that shit.” Vanilla Ice has done two Girls Gone Wild parties and Ron has done six. A friend of mine who is a makeup artist had just had Ron in his movie Bloody Bloody Bible Camp, so he called Ron and Ron was like, “Yeah, I’ll come down and do it.”

There are weird cameos that are just bizarre. [Al Spaienza], who plays Missy’s father on the split-screen phone call, the guy at the strip club, that’s Mikey from The Sopranos. He was on a Prison Break and he’s a pretty big TV actor and had a supporting role in Saw V. The girl who played the dumb one, Kelly, she was in Sex Drive. That’s the only other movie she’s been in and I was a big fan of Sex Drive because it’s a T&A comedy. Her casting agent had gotten her for Sex Drive, but she hadn’t gotten her SAG card yet, so her agent was like, “I think I can get her to do your movie.” And I was like, “That would be great if we could be her last non-SAG feature.” We wanted one Penthouse Pet and we ended up with two, and this has got to be the only movie with Beetlejuice, Jerry Lawler and a gorilla waiter ever made. That was my goal. I’ve worked on several films, but this one is so crazy compared to everything else I’ve worked on that I wasn’t sure how it was going to be digested. With all the horror movies coming out lately, we had to do something different and fun.

Is there any chance of it being released in theaters or was that only for the world premiere in Miami?

The King is determined to get to the bottom of this killing spree.

We never intended to go anywhere but straight to video and TV. We did a theatrical screening in New York sponsored by Fangoria the day before it came out in July. But the only thing I’d like to do is enter the film into some festivals and horror conventions because we never had a chance to play any. I’ve never worked on a film with any budget that had distribution before it was done being shot. We had foreign distribution locked the week after we finished shooting, then we had our domestic distribution confirmed either weeks into final post.

Do you think the film lends itself to a sequel or do you have any other plans to continue this story in any way?

I would love to flesh it out more. The initial idea for the movie was to be a Crazy Girls Unlimited type of thing about the company. But we ended up taking that concept and working it into a script we were already in production on, which was a throwback to Slumber Party Massacre. I need to see how it ends up performing, but I would love to do something bigger with this film. But producing and directing is something I would never do again. Even if I developed the project, once it turned over to production I would either not direct the sequel to this, if we do it, or I would drop off producing once we started to get into severe pre-production. I know guys do that all the time, but they must be doing it with studio resources. We don’t have that structure, so it’s a nightmare when you’re directing a film and not sleeping for 30 days.

As you know, Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on Raw recently. Are you still in touch with him at all since the film has come out?

Jerry Lawler saves the day (and provides some comfort).

Paul, our executive producer, has been talking to his agent. I’ve been trying to promote the movie, but the last thing I’d want to do is exploit that situation at all. The day he had the heart attack, he had randomly contacted our executive producer and said, “Hey. A ton of people have walked up to me and said they really liked the movie. Would you send me a copy of it? I don’t have one.” Then he had the heart attack that night. I know WWE has moved more family friendly, so as much as Jerry wants to support this, I don’t know how much he can. I was really excited about the fact that he was excited about it because at first I think he was a little concerned. I know Jerry likes the puppies, but I certainly didn’t want to get him into any trouble. He was so awesome to us and it was such a relief that day to get that phone call that he wanted a copy of the movie. Then that happened later that night and I couldn’t believe it.

And it happened on live TV.

Now he’s going to have two notorious TV moments between Letterman and the Raw broadcast. But it’s so good that it happened on TV because if it had happened to Lawler in his hotel room and he couldn’t get to a phone, he’d probably be dead. It was a blessing in disguise. But Jerry’s a super tough guy. When we’d go out for beers, he was like, “I don’t drink alcohol, I’ve never smoked.” We were originally going to have him smoking cigars, but he wouldn’t even do it.

www.girlsgonedead.com

Georgia Wrestling Now welcomes PWR Heavyweight Champion and PWA Tag Team Champion Rick Michaels

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He’s the current Pro Wrestling Resurrection Heavyweight Champion and one half of the Peachstate Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Champions. He’s a Georgia wrestling veteran who has helped turn many up-and-comers into some of today’s top wrestling stars. He’s had his ups and downs, but this week Rick Michaels is our guest on Georgia Wrestling Now. Listen in as Team All You Can Eat’s Matt Hankins and Wrestling with Pop Culture talk to Michaels about his NWA Wildside days, his work with newer promotions like Platinum Championship Wrestling, his ongoing rivalry with former Exotic Ones partner Simon Sermon and more.

Wrestling veteran Rick Michaels battles former Exotic Ones partner Simon Sermon at PCW's Sacred Ground: Chapter Three (photo by Harold Jay Taylor/Headlocks and Headshots)

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History repeats itself as “The Cowboy” James Storm heads to Bound for Glory

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Courtesy TNA Wrestling

This time last year, “The Cowboy” James Storm had been edged out of the Bound for Glory Series by his friend and tag team partner Bobby Roode. Though Storm showed his support for Roode, who challenged Kurt Angle for the Total Nonstop Action World Heavyweight Championship, Roode came up short. Just days later, Storm got a shot at Angle and won the title, only to lose it the following week when Roode broke a beer bottle over his head in Macon, Ga. Almost a year later, Storm looked to be on track to win this year’s Bound for Glory Series to face the champion at this Sunday’s Bound for Glory. But history repeated itself and Roode in Storm’s match, causing Storm to be eliminated from the tournament and resulting in their match against each other at the pay-per-view. With TNA returning to Macon a few days after Bound for Glory again this year, one has to wonder how much history might repeat itself yet again for Storm. As he prepares for this Sunday’s Bound for Glory, Storm talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his ongoing rivalry with his former Beer Money tag team partner.

Things are coming full circle for you heading into Bound for Glory. It was just after last year’s Bound for Glory that your former partner Bobby Roode turned on you. What are your thoughts about your match against Roode this Sunday?

Courtesy TNA Wrestling

It’s the same as any other time. I just take it one day at a time and see what happens. I don’t want to get ahead of myself and put the cart before the horse, as they say. You never know what the next day might bring, and with Bobby Roode it’s just one of those things where you’ve got to be on your toes. Right now, he’s one of the best in the business.

How do you think King Mo‘s role as special enforcer might play into this match? Do you expect him to get involved in any way?

To tell you the truth, I don’t care if he gets involved or not. It is one of them things where if he gets in my face I’ll punch him. I don’t care if he’s an MMA fighter or not. I’ve beaten people up in bars before, so he ain’t gone be no different.

TNA was in Macon for an Impact Wrestling taping just after last year’s Bound for Glory, which is where you won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Kurt Angle. You’ll be back in Macon for a house show right after Bound for Glory again this year. What are your thoughts on returning to the place where you won the title and had a beer bottle smashed over your head by Roode?

We try to hit each town at least once a year and definitely go to the surrounding towns. We were just in Atlanta, but we also went to towns right around the edges and now we’re working our way down to Macon. Hopefully this deal with Bobby will be over with. If not, maybe I’ll be facing him again in Macon.

You’ve been in and out of the title picture ever since he took the title from you last year. Are you looking to get back in the title hunt after Bound for Glory?

Courtesy TNA Wrestling

Yeah. I mean, anybody who is a singles wrestler always wants to be in the world title hunt. For me it’s more special because I actually won by points in the Bound for Glory Series and I feel like I should be going on to Bound for Glory to wrestle for the World Heavyweight title. But it’s one of those things where I’ve got to get my stuff done with Bobby first, then move on.

I was at last year’s show in Macon, as well as the recent shows in Atlanta and Gainesville. You seem to get a warm reception anytime you’re down South. How does that feel for you, being from Tennessee?

It’s great. To me, that’s what wrestling is all about – just going out and having fun and putting on the best shows I can for the people. I think that comes across to them and they know I’m there to have fun. Of course, you’ve got a ton of beer drinkers in the crowd, so that goes over good, too.

www.impactwrestling.com

“Here Comes the Boom” strikes with a few hard-hitting laughs

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Kevin James is good at being funny, but he’s probably not the first person you’d bet on in a mixed martial arts cage fight. But as the unmotivated high school biology teacher Scott Voss, James becomes an unlikely hero in Here Comes the Boom when he trains for MMA fights in order to earn enough money to keep the school’s music program (and it’s director, played by Henry Winkler) from being eliminated to cut costs.

Scott Voss (Kevin James) leads his crew to victory in "Here Comes the Boom" (photo by Tracy Bennett)

Relying solely on his collegiate wrestling background from 20 years ago, Scott meets Niko (former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion Bas Rutten), a Dutch immigrant looking to become a United States citizen. Niko agrees to train Scott to fight in exchange for Scott tutoring him on his citizenship test. Niko also gets Scott booked for some underground MMA fights, where Scott is quickly defeated a few times before landing a lucky punch to knock out one green-haired show off (then inadvertently throwing up on his downed opponent). Directed by Frank Coraci, who has directed Adam Sandler hits such as The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy, as well as last year’s Zookeeper (also starring James), Here Comes the Boom takes the high-school-teacher-fighting-on-the-side story of last year’s Warrior and combines it with the underdog sports comedy formula of The Waterboy to create a feel-good movie with a few gut-busting comedic moments.

Salma Hayek plays the Adrian to James’ Rocky, but it takes her a while (at least 18 attempts on Scott’s part) to warm up to the idea of having dinner with Scott. But as the school nurse, she finds herself spending more time than usual with Scott, who requires minor medical attention more frequently as he continues to fight (quite literally) to save his friend’s job. Along the way, he inspires his students and fellow teachers, while also becoming motivated to once again make learning fun for the kids. And he actually starts to get pretty good at fighting. Good enough, in fact, that UFC‘s Joe Rogan shows up to offer him an opportunity to fight on a UFC card, which, even if he loses, will earn him enough money to keep the school’s music program alive.

Bella (Salma Hayek) nurses Scott's (Kevin James) battle wounds in "Here Comes the Boom" (photo by Tracy Bennett)

Predictably, Scott is severely outmatched as he gets into the cage against one of UFC’s most aggressive fighters Ken Dietrich (UFC’s Krzysztof Soszyński), a chiseled and tattooed madman known for hitting his opponents with the Superman punch (a leaping blow that typically knocks his foes off their feet). Also predictably, Scott gets his ass kicked for a couple of rounds before getting a burst of energy late in the fight after a pep talk from Winkler. But you can’t really fault Here Comes the Boom for being a bit predictable. It is an inspirational sports comedy, after all, and there’s little to deduce other than what you’ve probably already seen in the trailers. So if you take it for what it is and don’t try to pummel it into being anything else, Here Comes the Boom is good for a few hearty laughs and some well-timed slapstick.

www.boom-movie.com