Let’s get one thing straight, Kevin James has not exactly had the kind of career that would inspire a lot of confidence in his abilities as an actor. Sure, The King of Queens had it moments (not to mention all that Leah Remini goodness), but there is almost nothing that James can do to repair the mental anguish and self-inflicted bodily harm that Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Zookeeper were responsible for across the globe. We knew he was a big MMA fan, and seems like a pretty cool guy when he’s not squeezing out such 90 minute abortions as Grown Ups, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and…*checks IMDB*…GROWN UPS 2?!!
(Oh, the horror…)
So you can understand our trepidation when we awoke this morning to find the first trailer for James’ upcoming MMA film, Here Comes the Boom, waiting for us to absorb and dissect. Because, if we’re being completely honest, there haven’t been many great (or even good) MMA films to be released since the “boom” of the sport. The fact that the latest one was staring an overweight sitcom star who is basically box office cancer didn’t exactly inspire much hope either.
And honestly, now that we’ve actually seen the trailer, we’re kind of relieved. Kind of.
Check it out for yourselves and let us know what you think.
In case the video doesn’t work for some of you, here’s the film’s plot, as scribed by ComingSoon:
In the comedy “Here Comes the Boom,” former collegiate wrester Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a 42-year-old apathetic biology teacher in a failing high school. When cutbacks threaten to cancel the music program and lay off its teacher (Henry Winkler,) Scott begins to raise money by moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter. Everyone thinks Scott is crazy – most of all the school nurse, Bella (Salma Hayek) – but in his quest, Scott gains something he never expected as he becomes a sensation that rallies the entire school.
The films stars such familiar faces as MMA legend Bas Rutten, recently released UFC fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller (who channels Louis Gaudinot before getting violently KO’d), and the recently retired Krzysztof Soszynski (who pulls off a Superman punch all the way from Krypton at the 2:07 mark). It even includes some footage of “The Polish Experiment’s” fight with Brian Stann at UFC 97. And like we said, based on the trailer, the film doesn’t look all that bad. Sure, it’s no Warrior (which I have still yet to see) or even Redbelt (which was pretty awesome), but at least it’s not James smuggling an ape into a TGI Fridays, so that’s something right? Plus, Salma Hayek.
I don’t know, perhaps I’m just trying to have a more positive outlook on life.
Here Comes the Boom is scheduled to hit theaters on July 29th.