Review of Here Comes the Boom (2012) by Liam C — 14 Jul 2014

With a name like this there has to be at least one song they have to play... and they didn't do it! However, they played another song with the same name that I didn't know about so at least there was a song. Here Comes the Boom is a very good offering by Happy Madison productions that is actually more heartfelt and nice than the usual typical offering from them.

First off, every character is likeable, besides the over the top Principal who is very clearly supposed to be cartoonish just so this story exists, there's no one that's supposed to be the annoying one of the group or one that does a lot of gag humor, everyone is pretty much likeable in there own way. Yes, there is one major instance of a gag joke but it fits the story well and given how the characters talk about it after, it is quite funny. Kevin James makes for a very likeable hero here, he's not doing what he's doing for himself, he doing it for an equally likeable character played by Henry Winkler, he gave a pretty funny performance here and he is quite talented. Bas Rutten is good too and actually has a few things to do and isn't just there to make foreign jokes or get in the way and looked like a bald Colin Farrell at some points; strange.

Secondly, it just felt different. I don't think I've seen a movie like this before, a teacher gets into the ring to win money for a teacher to keep their job? Certainly is strange. It keeps an upbeat tone throughout and offers quite good comedy too. I found myself laughing quite frequently through the hour forty running time. The fights are well filmed and aren't just a bunch of shaky cam shots. Of course Kevin James wasn't actually getting hit over and over but it really looks like it and because of how much he is being hit, you really get into it and feel bad for the guy.

The only thing I can really say might be a negative is that one of the characters has to pass a test to be an American citizen and they show progression with this plot point throughout the movie but at the end he just gets it anyway because, hey, the movie is starting to wrap up now. It ended a little abruptly but it doesn't really detract from the whole thing. One very minor complaint though is that one of the characters gets a yes to having more study time and his dance goes on a bit, that was the only instance where I was thinking, 'oh that darn Happy Madison humor!' It's really nothing bad at all, doesn't take away from the whole thing.

This director is all over the place, he made Click which didn't have absurd amounts of annoying humor but then made Zookeeper! It's not deep or anything but for a happy Madison production it's pretty damn good and even by the end, dare I say, a little emotional? It's very predictable but it's still fun getting from a to b, one of the 'bad guys' of course turns around at the end and everyone has a good laugh about it, it's a fun, feel good movie that doesn't take anything away from anyone, it's just a positive experience.