“Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” was officially released in 2004. (same year: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy came out) It received positive reviews from critics and movie goers alike. Plus, it made enough money at the box office. Recently, Vince Vaughn confirmed he’s working on a script for a sequel. In response, I wanna share my thoughts on one of my favorite comedies growing up.
It doesn’t matter if SPOILERS are listed. A lot of us often quote Dodgeball or look up memes.
Victory & Defeat Aspects
Victory: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Alan Tudyk, Stephen Root & Rip Torn all did a great job for their respective performances.
In addition to playing White Goodman, Ben served as a producer courtesy of his production company Red Hour.
Fun Fact: This isn’t Ben’s first rodeo as a villainous fitness guru. He played Tony Perkins in “Heavyweights.” An underrated Disney movie.
Rawson Marshall Thurber (We’re the Millers, Central Intelligence) did a solid job directing. He also wrote the script.
Hank Azaria makes a brief appearance as a young Patches.
Gary Cole & Jason Bateman appear as announcers at the tournament. The latter provides non-sequiturs.
Humor’s filled with memorable dialogue, getting hit by dodgeballs and wrenches. “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” There’s a few jokes I didn’t get as a kid. Now that I’m older, I understand why.
Patches is my favorite character. My favorite line from him is, “You’re as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop!” My other favorite line from White is, “Joanie loves Chachi!”
Don’t forget Patches five rules of Dodgeball. Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive & Dodge.
William Shatner, David Hasselhoff & Chuck Norris make cameo appearances.
White’s one of the best movie villains of 2004 alongside these baddies.
- Syndrome (The Incredibles)
- Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man 2)
- Plankton (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie)
- Fairy Godmother (Shrek 2)
- Regina George (Mean Girls)
- Hector (Tory)
- Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
You cannot skip a Post-Credits Scene with a morbidly obese White playing with his man boobs singing Kelis’ “Milkshake.” The song was also used in “Mean Girls” that same year.
If you own a DVD/Blu-Ray copy, Ben provides audio commentary sharing his thoughts on making the movie.
A test screening originally ended with White winning the tournament. Negative reactions from the audience hated it. So, the ending was changed with Peter defeating White, wins the prize money and takes over Globo Gym.
Defeat: Lance Armstrong’s cameo appearance giving Peter advice didn’t age well. This is before he admits he cheated.
Product Placements featuring brands such as Pepsi, Yoo-hoo, Budweiser, Nike, Dodge & Marriott Hotels. I’ll let this con slide, because I couldn’t find any other brand to shove down my throat.
The Final Verdict: A-
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story still holds up. A near-perfect sports comedy that’ll keep you laughing so hard. If you wanna introduce your pals to this gem, give this one a shot. It’s gonna be tricky for a sequel to top the original. I’m setting my expectations super low.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 