Fireball

Ong Bak, B-13, Rollerball, and The Venoms Series Combined
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.

Bring on the BASKETBRAWL!
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...

Abuse of Editing Makes This A Difficult Watch
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...

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