Here Comes the Boom

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UK Release Date: November 9th 2012

A high school biology teacher looks to become a successful mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to prevent extra-curricular activities from being axed at his cash-strapped school.

Director: Frank Coraci (Zookeeper, Click, The Waterboy)

Starring: Kevin James, Selma Hayek, Henry Winkler, Bas Rutten

Any film starring Adam Sandler or Kevin James is usually a Happy Madison Productions film. Director Frank Coraci has worked with both before, so what does Here Comes the Boom bring to the table? It's got a high feel-good factor which you'd think wouldn't go well with MMA fighting. Just when it gets too serious, Kevin James and co. (but especially James) bring it back down to an equal level with slapstick humour. Projectile vomiting after a fight isn't something you see every day.

HCTB may bear cliché characters and a predictable storyline but it is an above average film that's full of warmth. James is the one to connect with. He fills his life with ambition, no matter how small. He's a biology teacher with little motivation, living in past successes. A meeting with the other teachers turns sour when budget issues are raised and jobs are at risk. Henry Winkler's lovable but slightly irritable music teacher is one of those. Scott Voss (James) takes it upon himself to raise the money they need by becoming a mixed-martial-arts fighter. 

It sounds ludicrous but it truly works. The thought of winning money even if Voss loses a fight has him believing he can complete his mission. 

Here Comes the Boom wouldn't be as entertaining as it is without it's characters. Amongst the Kevin James's, the stereotypical head-teacher and fighting coach, you'll find some greats, including Selma Hayek's school nurse who constantly declines Voss's dinner invitations, and Bas Rutten's Niko, Voss's comical friend and trainer. 

Taking the best bits of Rocky and 2011's Warrior, Here Comes the Boom doesn't show anything we've seen before. It is however, worth watching James take a hit or two, as the fight scenes pack a punch.