After my recent review of Kung Fu Joe, I got an email from a member of Ball’s Out Films asking if I’d like to give their movie a shot.
Now, let’s make something clear, I got as far as “Balls Out Films”, and immediately decided that I would watch anything they had to present. The actual content of the film was unimportant.
With an estimated budget of $1000, according to their IMDB page, I’m absolutely positive that this is going to be awesome.
Ball’s Out! is a short, independent, action film, roughly 30 minutes in length, presented in three parts on YouTube. You can check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 by clicking on the links in the beginning of the sentence you’re currently reading.
Ball’s Out! is a story about a man named Frank Ball, formerly involved with “the mob”, trying to escape his old life and rescue his friend, Cal Cozy. During his adventure he meets many colorful characters, all of which he beats the shit out of.
The fight scenes are well done, the special effects are decent, and the acting is surprisingly good. I’m not used to seeing this level of quality in a lower budget project like this. Hell, if you’ve seen Jack and Jill, you know that having millions of dollars doesn’t guarantee a quality film. My only (small) gripe is about Frank’s deep, guttural “I’m the Goddamn Batman” voice, but it’s easily overlooked.
At times, Ball’s Out! “looks” like an independent film. The highest quality available on YouTube is 480p, but it doesn’t really take anything away from the rest of the movie. Also, due to it’s short duration, there isn’t much time to build up a real “story”, per se. It’s presented very bluntly, as in, “here’s a guy who’s pissed off, here are the people who pissed him off, now he’s going to beat them up.” We know Frank is the protagonist because the movie tells us this, not because we’ve been given a reason to root for him.
Overall, this is a pretty solid movie. I do wish it were longer and had a bit more substance. However, after watching Ball’s Out! I can confidently say that I’d watch a full length feature film from this team.
If you need a quick dose of gritty, “beat ’em up” action, go watch “Ball’s Out!”.
