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.