A comedy movie without a lot of comedy.

Rating: 6/10 (19 November 2012)

Here Comes the Boom
Starring: Kevin James, Salma Heyek and Henry Winkler
Synopsis: When budget cuts threaten the music class and music teacher (Henry Winkler), Scott (Kevin James) a lazy biology teacher at the same school decides to help out by trying to raise the money by fighting in mixed-martial arts cage matches for the prize money.
Review: The film opens with under-achieving biology teacher Scott hardly finding the energy to make it to the school on time let alone to teach and inspire his students. When budget cuts threaten the extra-curricular music department and the last inspirational teacher Marty, Scott although with ulterior motives showing off to school nurse Bella (Salma Heyek) he stands up for Marty and soon realizes he's the only one willing to help. This movie is advertised as a comedy however you'll struggle to laugh more than a hand full of times through the duration. I found it constantly struggling with what style of comedy it was aiming for with some gross-out humor and then some subtle humorous moments. Kevin does take to the fighting scenes very well and I believe him to have lost weight and bulk up during the film as the story lines plays out.
As Scott settles in with training and the occasional victory in the ring he also learns to become a better teacher in the process and quickly becomes favored by the students. It's a very predictable movie seen hundreds of times before but a strength this film has is that the fights are not predictable and are played out incredibly well. Henry Winkler gets a lot of laughs playing a mild mannered music teacher, whose eyes are opened when introduced to the world of mixed-marital arts. Many of the laughs do come from Niko a fun loving Dutch MMA and gym instructor however and unfortunately written with a lot of stereotype. The next 'Rocky' movie it won't be however an enjoyable movie that will keep you entertained throughout.
Watch this if you liked: King of Queens, Zookeeper or Grown-ups.
Verdict: Enjoyable movie with great fight sequences shame the comedy is not polished and the story is predictable.