AllMovie

Battlefield Baseball is probably the first (and possibly the last) zombie baseball movie, but contemporary Asian cinema is chock-full of unlikely brews. Battlefield Baseball goes mostly for laughs, not genuine horror, and it's neither as funny and expertly staged as Shaolin Soccer, nor as unexpectedly involving as Fumihiko Sori's Ping Pong. In fact, with its egregious overacting (particularly in supporting roles), crude comedy (including annoying sound effects to nudge the audience), and cheesy low-budget gore effects, the film is pretty much a mess. Fans of Ryuhei Kitamura's work may be drawn in by the personnel involved, but they're going to be extremely disappointed in Battlefield Baseball's fight scenes, an amusing number of which take place offscreen, while the camera focuses in on the (over)reactions of horrified onlookers. There are a few likeable elements. While most of the lowbrow humor falls flat, the more offbeat elements, such as the poorly staged musical number, the sudden, unexplained appearance of an applauding crowd after every big dramatic scene, the equally unfathomable transformation of the film's villain, and the jaw-droppingly goofy revelation of the narrator's identity at the end of the film have a certain non sequitur charm. But these don't compensate for the film's biggest flaw, which is its near total lack of anything to do with actual baseball. The rival teams in the film never actually play anything resembling the sport against each other. "Baseball Field Battle" would have been a pretty dumb title, but it would have been more appropriate for this film.