Here Comes the Boom

This has real charm, motivation, comedy, and a superb Henry Winkler and Selma Hayek - and a very good Bas Rutten as the coach who will be getting a ton of work based on this - all in all this is a surprise from beginning to end - and James finally seems to have learnt to rein it in and learnt that OTT all the time is just deadening.

So, a confession - Mall Cop, not my favorite movie, just OK, the one at the zoo, definitely not my thing (or my kids), so I had very low expectations indeed going in to see Boom - but what a difference! The plot is simple: loser teacher seeks to raise school funds by becoming a MMA fighter. And it works. The surprise is how inspirational this is - the school aspect is a really smart move - and totally lifts the movie.

If you want a pizza movie you could do much much worse, this is a well-made, well-judged, and fun movie. One strongly suspects that James found a character he could totally connect with and it gives him what he does best - heart.

High art this is not but anyone that expects high level stuff from a movie with this premise is not watching it with the right frame of mind. It's a good old fashion feel good film with a message. Dare I say Capraesque? I wouldn't even classify this as a comedy. It's a fantasy of goodwill film that induces plenty of smiles and packs heart. Kevin James is perfect in the lead and his common man qualities play extremely well here. They lean on the Rocky formula a lot but that's not necessarily a bad thing. One thing is for sure, Salma Hayek is the hottest "Adrian" type love interest to ever play in this type of film. She's amazing throughout. A warm shout out to Henry Winkler who is also perfectly cast as the somewhat eccentric music teacher with the heart of gold.

A wonderful surprise that I enjoyed very much.

The King of Queens is at it again and he hit this one out of the park! Salma Hayek also put in a fun performance as did Henry Winkler. Kevin's real life brother offered up some of the funnier moments dealing with domestic realities. Every character in this film made me laugh until it hurt. This film is a sure crowd pleaser as it has the Asians, Hispanics and the white crowd both old and young covered quite well. Most of the comedy is from the older actors in this film so I think the older crowd will appreciate this film as much as teens will. At times you know you are watching a comedy. At other points you know there is good heart touching drama added in with a comedic touch. And then when the fighting kicks in you feel like you are watching a real fight. If you have a heart for music studies you will cheer these characters on! If you enjoy the UFC/MMA fighting then you'll have a blast watching Kevin James dive into this world and get/give a good whooping! A lot of the real players/announcers/refs from UFC are in this film adding to the feel of a real UFC match. It's a smart film in it's comedic moments. On the other hand, as contrived and predictable as many elements in this story are, you will still find yourself cheering the players on and maybe even feel your eyes water due to feelings from either end of the emotional spectrum. I had given up on comedy films in recent years as most of them our just way too raunchy. But the PG rating on this film...I applaud all those behind this production. This movie works and it will make anyone laugh!

I would like to start off this review by saying that I was expecting to hate this movie with a burning passion. Kevin James seems to be on this trend of being in movies with a ridiculous plot line in hopes to attract the youth audience.

"Here Comes The Boom" was a refreshingly good movie that may not have provided me with gut-wrenching laughs throughout the movie, but left me in a great mood and happy I watched it. I feel that it was put in a difficult spot by being labeled a "comedy" movie because I feel it wasn't aiming to be the most humorous movie out there. I think it would have been better labeled to be a "feel-good inspirational" movie.

"Boom" may not be your traditional comedy, but it was a fun ride none the less. Give it a chance, but don't expect to be rolling from laughter. View it as if it was an inspirational movie, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I have to admit I am a sucker for Kevin James, ever since King of Queens was broadcast in the UK I have loved the persona he plays as the 'average joe' he typifies what most of us guys do in life or would like to do and that is to act like a kid, never grow up and do as little as possible!! His transposition to the big screen has not been without troubles and whilst this is a bit kitsch, borrows from other movies, I still will forgive his choices as he is, like Simon Pegg, so likable that watching him gives a warm feeling like a mug of cocoa on a rainy day. Not an Oscar winner but an above average afternoon movie that is easily watchable