Ping Pong's storyline was very cliche as most "sports" movies: The value of friendship. It potrayed hardcore ping pong players who eat, sleep, and sweat ping pongs and the friendships between them. Of course there's always that lame "playing for the love of the game" feeling that seems to sweep over the latter part of the end of the movie.

The flaws lay in the characters. The range of characters ranged from really interesting to just plain boring. Smile is supposively the best ping pong player. Too bad his character could have been played by a cardboard cutout. He probably had about no more than 20 lines. Smile was really out of place for a fun and enjoyable movie. Despite his emotionless nature, the movie was uplifted by a really outgoing and fun character Peco. Peco was probably the only "comedy" of the whole dry movie. Although Peco had enough flavor to carry out the movie, the movie was not centralized on him. Instead we are lead to believe that Peco and Smile are somehow best friends despite the apathetic and negative undertone of Smile's character. The friendship chemistry between the two was just not convincing.

The ping pong matches were the best features of this movie. Although too far and too few in between the action choreography was decent when visible. The rest of the other action scenes consisted of too many ping pong matches that immediately cut to the end of the match to view the results. Lazy Or Lousy?

Nevertheless, I'm recommending getting this movie just so you can finally see if you wasted your money or not.

This is basically a story about friendship, with the game of table tennis as the basis. The film did a great job at portraying how important the game of table tennis is to the Japenese culture. Here in the States, we see, football, basketball, baseball, all taken so seriously; and yet in this film we see the rigorous training, mental, emotional, and physical exertion it takes upon the athletes. And yes, that is what these guys are in this film: Athletes.

Now about the actual Ping Pong playing. The cinematography was execellent, the use of fast cuts really enhanced the speed of which table tennis is really played at. The CGI was great, it did not detract from the film at all.

The film is a good look into a very underrated sport. With the excellent cast of charcters and combination of a good story and special effects, this film is a "can't lose" purchase.

To be quite honest, these characters could be playing football, baseball, tennis or soccer and the tale of Smile and Peco's friendship would bleed through with just as much clarity. So, while ping pong does take a prominent stage, (I mean check out the title, for instance!) it is not the spine of the film.

Films like Remember the Titans have portrayed much of what there is to say about sports and athletes in general. The passion and sometimes obsession of the players, the sacrifices they often make, the pain they endure, and their place as role models in society. Ping Pong not only covers some of the ground other sports films have, but it also shows other aspects that make it a worthy edition to the sports film canon.

For example, Ping Pong shows the isolation that some players experience. Smile got his name from his refusal to smile. He is soft spoken when he actually speaks (which is rare). And he often pulls himself out of life by concentrating on his Rubic's Cube. Kazama hides himself in a bathroom stall before tournaments, and he spends his spare time practicing. Meanwhile, Peco wears his headphones a lot, and ditches practice whenever he can.

Don't let me fool you into thinking this is high drama. Far from it. These things are just there for whoever wants them. If you simply want a fun, I mean FUN, film, then you have got to get this film. Somehow the filmmakers were able to pull off a film that really entertains! It made me want to know more about the game of ping pong. Just check out www.butterflyonline.com to see how much there is to it.

Enough discussing. Just go get it! Pay any price! You'll be glad you did!

I had my doubts about this one because the director comes from a CG background with little to no experience directing, but after seeing the slick film I'm convinced he's tapped into something totally innovative. It makes perfect sense to use CG expertise in the seemingly unexciting field of ping-pong because it is, purportedly, the fastest reflexive sport in the world. There're no car bombings or hijacks, just some quirky high school kids playing ping-pong...and still it's infinitely more entertaining. The movie's based on a hugely popular comic book series by Matsumoto Taiyo, and the casting of Kubozuka Yosuke in the central role of Peko no doubt contributed to its sold-out success in Tokyo for the past month or so since it opened. Ping Pong is a perfect example of how CG can effectively create an alternate reality in film that doesn't stray too far from our own. You don't have to go to Mars to benefit from its subtleties.