The first part is an introduction to the movie’s key players. Peco (Yôsuke Kubozuka) and Tsukimoto (Arata) have been best friends since the day Peco saved Tsukimoto from a gang of bullies and introduced him to the world of ping pong. Peco is a fiery, aggressive player who, on the surface, appears to be the better player. However, we soon find that Tsukimoto, who is nicknamed Smile since he never does, is a prodigy at the sport who holds back in the name of sportsmanship and a lack of confidence.
Under the coaching of Butterfly Joe, the two enter a competition. Here, Smile begins to show his true skill against China (Sam Lee), a foreign star who is able to tell his opponent’s style just by the sound of their paddle, until he realizes that he is doing well – at which point he returns to his sheltered style. At the same time, Peco’s overconfidence leads to his downfall at the hands of a lesser opponent, Demon.
The second half of the film finds the two in very different circumstances. Smile has managed to unlock his true style and is the star of the team. Meanwhile, Peco has left ping pong behind and spends his days thrashing people in Virtua Fighter 4 and eating potato chips. After a meeting with Demon, Peco realizes his true calling and decides to return to the sport in time for the final tournament.
Although the entire movie is in its original Japanese with English subtitles, that shouldn’t deter anyone from watching. First time director Fumihiko Sori does a masterful job of showing his character’s personalities through their actions; more is learned about characters through their actions than their words. Smile never portrays emotion, even while in the heat of competition, while Peco, even when down on his luck, is always bursting with confident energy. At the same time, both characters show off depth and come off as extremely likeable. The same goes for minor characters like Dragon, China and Demon; though they only show up in certain scenes, their actions build them up into deep characters. A lot more can be said about the characters, but it is best to discover those on your own.
Another aspect worth mentioning is Ping Pong's cinematic direction. The movie is based off Taiyo Matsumoto’s manga of the same name and, through use of tricky camera angles, subtle CGI and slow motion, the entire film feels like a frame-for-frame adaptation of the series. Even more mundane scenes have an odd energy about them. The ping pong scenes are the more exciting parts of the film. Early matches are toned down, making the final matches something to see – Just imagine Neo and Smith playing ping pong…
Subtitles can’t be turned off, which only becomes bothersome the few times subtitles are used in the movie, causing the English titles to stack on top the other ones.
The highlight of the second disc is the "Making Of..." feature. The feature clocks in at about an hour in length and only makes the movie look that much better. In addition to interviews with the director, Sori, and other members of the cast, the feature also shows how some of the ping pong matches were shot. Watching how things were done was a real eye-opener -- especially since there were some shots that I was sure was CGI that weren't (or, at least, didn't contain as much CGI as I thought). Another feature is the short film "Ting Pong," which is a mildy amusing parody of the film. Finally, the last feature shows some of the basics of ping pong.
Ping Pong takes a little while to get going, but is an overall great film. Though ping pong matches are where most of the action takes place, the character’s performances really make it shine. Even if you’re not the type to watch subtitled films, Ping Pong is highly recommended. Check out the DVD.
