Plot: A martial artist enters a bloodsport tournament called "Fire Ball" in order to avenge his brother who was left in a coma during the last tournament.

Review:

Generally, I use the opening paragraph to discuss my expectations of a film based on who made the movie or the country/studio it came from, but I can't think of anything interesting to say at all. "Fireball" is another martial arts film from Thailand, made by people I know nothing about, whose names I am unable to spell or pronounce. So I guess I'll just skip to the plot. Tai (Preeti Barameeana), our fighter protagonist, is released from jail only to discover that his brother Tan (also Preeti Barameeana) was beaten so badly that he's stuck in a coma. Tai decides to investigate his brothers attack- and by investigate, I mean stand around until the plot comes for him- and discovers that Tan was injured during a game of Fireball. Fireball is pretty much a mix between Basketball and Muy Thai kick-boxing, and there are no real rules besides "win", so people get killed and injured all the time. Tai becomes a member of the "loser" team and spends the bulk of the movie participating in the fireball tournament, while also seducing his brothers girlfriend, Pang (Khanutra Chuchuaysuwan).

"Fireball" has not earned very good reviews and I can see why, although I found myself enjoying it more than most did apparently. It does a lot of things right, but also makes some pretty daft mistakes. Whatever side grabs you will determine your feelings about the film. Some might look at the plot and dismiss it as stupid, but the concept of the film isn't THAT new or unique. We've seen films combines sports with martial arts before, the last one probably being "Shaolin Soccer", a light hearted (and superior) film that combines Soccer with Kung Fu. If you think the concept is too stupid for you, then you won't like it. The script also has many areas where it's just downright stupid or lazy. Everything is kind of rushed and while the film does occasionally benefit from it, there is something...wrong, with it. I can't explain it, but there is. On the other hand, the film goes down paths that I did not expect it to go down. I expected something more conventional and it is often pretty conventional, but it's as if the movie knew of our expectations and decided to beat those expectations into a pulp. I was often startled and shocked, which is always a good thing and while everything might be a bit too hurried, this at least meant that the movie never became boring.

An example of the films script working both for and against it is how it uses its characters. After the first fight, one scene is dedicated to each of the characters so we know who they are and understand why they are doing what they are doing. One kid wants to buy his house so he can take care of his Family, one guy is trying to establish a life for his pregnant wife and another seems like he isn't sure whether he wants to be a thug or an honest worker. He is the only one with a normal job and works hard at it, but he's also competing in these battles and this conflict takes the form of a prostitute whom he's dating (but doesn't want to kiss). The final teammate has a dark and dirty past, being more mysterious as we don't know if we can trust him or not. As I said, the movie only shows us all of this in one scene each, but you can see all the personal drama in every one of their actions and words. Few movies pull that off effectively. The only one who needed to be fleshed out more was the team owner. Ironically though, where the film fucks up royally is with its protagonist. He is pretty one dimensional, only wanting to avenge his brother, but even that is lost when he starts making out with his brothers girlfriend. It undermines everything they've gone through and makes them both pretty detestable. As I said, there's good and bad.

But you all are more interested in the films action, aren't you? The good news is that the choreography is pretty slick and the technique used generally looks genuine. They use its fighting/sports concept creatively so there is a lot of action with the ball. Furthermore, you can see different kinds of styles among the fighters. One guy appears to use actual Muy Thai, one guy is more athletic, one guy is more of a tough brawler, one is more of a basketball player and the protagonist is a little of everything. Unfortunately, the director nearly derails the film with how he decided to shoot these fights. He uses way too many close ups, which means the action is often not in frame, and continuously zooms in and out which is totally disorienting. Then he decides that is not enough and is sure to edit everything so tightly that I'm surprised that any of the action remained on the screen. So with the good aspects of the action fighting the bad, which side won? Eh, the directing kept "Fireball" from being a Thai classic. But the film never seemed to lose its energy and the brutality of it never lost its impact. I liked all of the ideas found within the action scenes and eventually I grew to adapt to the directors annoying style. Still, the fights never seem to achieve a flow because the camera doesn't ever want to stay in place. The films style can be summed up as this: What if "Ong Bak" was shot like it was "Cloverfield"? That's the action in "Fireball".

But generally, I think I appreciated "Fireball"'s strengths more than its weaknesses. I was constantly entertained because the movie moves smoothly and I actually cared about what happened to the characters. The acting is surprisingly good, with Preeti Barameeana delivering a stand out performance as the lead. He was naturally tough, delivered his kicks and punches with conviction but also managed to have a vulnerable side. It's just too bad that the writers had to screw everything up by throwing in that awkward love triangle and the director had to make things worse by not having a clue how to shoot or edit an action scene. "Fireball" isn't "Ong Bak" good. Hell, it's not even "Ong Bak 2" good. It's more on par with something like "Raging Phoenix". It's an okay movie that could've been better, but I managed to enjoy it anyway.

Violence: Rated R worthy. Pretty hardcore and brutal.

Nudity: You see a pair of breasts, as well as a scene of a couple making out and a more erotic scene where a woman appears to be performing oral sex on a guy.

Overall: Go ahead and check out "Fireball" if you're into action films from Thailand, but keep your expectations a little low.

2.5/4 Stars