WWE Studios and Netflix have partnered up and have lately brought some interesting content to the streaming world. They have launched The Big Show Show earlier this month starring The Big Show and since April 10th, they have released their new movie The Main Event starring Seth Carr, Tichina Arnold, Ken Marino and Adam Pally. It also has some interesting appearances from the WWE and NXT stars such as The MIZ, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Otis, Mia Yim, and Babatunde as well as Corey Graves, Renee Young and Keith Lee. It is directed by Jay Karas and was written by Larry Postel. Does the movie have what it takes to entertain us during this period of world confinement? Lets find out !!!!
Overview
The movie is about Leo Thompson (Seth Carr), an eleven-year-old who is a WWE super fan who finds, or should I say stumbles by accident across a magical mask that gives him some special powers and places him on a journey to become a WWE Superstar. Through this journey Leo is going through some tough times (mother left him with his Dad (Adam Pally) and grandma (Tichina Arnold) for another life in New York; he gets bullied daily at school all resulting in him looking for his own self-confidence). Despite his hardships, by the end of the story, the lesson he learns is that your mind and heart is what that is important. Your authentic you is what counts.
Impressions
First and foremost, I have to mention that this is a WWE production, which implies that the movie will fall inline with its WWE product. That is exactly what you get, some entertainment for a couple of hours. If you are a wrestling fan, you will like the movie. Many critics have been quite critical of the movie saying that the story line is flawed and simply not believable. That no one is questioning the fact that a childlike person with a mask is beating up men that are the size of gladiators. This describes the wrestling industry. Critics that wrote this have missed the point and what wrestling is all about. It is all about storytelling, fantasy and memorable characters. This movie meets all these criteria.
What I really liked about the movie is how they portrayed the super fans. I was a super fan many moons ago and pretty much stayed away from the WWE after the attitude era because I felt at the time the characters portrayed were very similar, no diversity. However, seeing Leo and his grandma watching Raw or his friends talking about Raw the day after it aired just brought me back to when I was that age. We were acting the same way speaking about Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and Roddy Piper. The movie nailed that aspect for sure.
The obscure star of the movie is the NXT Wrestler Keith Lee, who plays Smooth Operator. In my opinion, he might have a movie career if he desires to have one. He simply steels some scenes with Leo whether he is giving him a pep talk or singing his way through a wrestling promo. The man is definitely charismatic on screen.
The movie could come off as being silly, but it is definitely entertaining. There are some good laughs in this movie. The same type of laughs than when you are watching professional wrestling. Otis, which normally does a lot of silly things in the ring, tries to finish off Kid Chaos with a massive fart. Yes, it is childish and teenage like however, it got a laugh out of me.
Bottom Line
This is a movie for the entire family. There are some tender moments, however it is well balanced with some humor and over the top, choreographed fight scenes. You must keep in mind that the movie was made for entertainment purposes, not to win the Oscar of the year. If you look at the movie in this perspective, you will definitely enjoy it, especially in these times that parents are starting to run out of ideas of what to watch with their kids.
I give this movie 8.5 on 10, a movie for the entire family to enjoy.
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