Have you ever heard of Kidzbop? It's one of these seemingly weekly collections of pop music churned out for the masses, performed by nameless, cookie-cutter teens and pre-teens. It's like an intro to the scary world of actual music, but made safe by angelic, prepubescent voices. Also, all the naughty bits are scrubbed clean and made ridiculously innocuous. When I was younger, I would passionately berate these collections endlessly, lamenting that they suck and that they have no artistic value. Man, I was so cool back then.
The first movie in last Wednesday's family snow-day doubleheader was Kevin James' latest, Here Comes the Boom. While not the outright horror show of his last family outing Zookeeper [review], Here Comes the Boom is yet another family flick aimed solely at kids and old people. And while a part of me wants to cry foul at its simplicity and curse all the wasted talent!, I'm starting to understand that there's an audience for this kind of stuff. And that there's nothing really wrong with that, either. It's simple, momentarily amusing and ultimately forgettable. But it's also sweet and innocent, too.
Kind of like a bunch of twelve year old boys singing Gangham Style.
Anyway, not that the poster didn't spell it out for you already, but the plot is some pretty standard stuff. An uninspired teacher in an uninspired school, decides on a whim to raise money to save the school's music program. Of course, even though his heart is in the right place, seems Mr. Voss (James) also has some selfish reasons, too, namely impressing the impossibly gorgeous Ms. Flores (played by Salma Hayek [and the girls]). As these movies always go, the plan isn't something simple like washing cars and bake sales, no siree. Mr. Voss decides that, despite being old and out-of-shape, he's going to enter the world of MMA. Why would he do that? Well, here's where it gets extra kooky, they pay big bucks even if you lose. Zany, right?
Kind of like a bunch of twelve year old boys singing Gangham Style.
Anyway, not that the poster didn't spell it out for you already, but the plot is some pretty standard stuff. An uninspired teacher in an uninspired school, decides on a whim to raise money to save the school's music program. Of course, even though his heart is in the right place, seems Mr. Voss (James) also has some selfish reasons, too, namely impressing the impossibly gorgeous Ms. Flores (played by Salma Hayek [and the girls]). As these movies always go, the plan isn't something simple like washing cars and bake sales, no siree. Mr. Voss decides that, despite being old and out-of-shape, he's going to enter the world of MMA. Why would he do that? Well, here's where it gets extra kooky, they pay big bucks even if you lose. Zany, right?
