Ready to Rumble

Two goofy kids who worship their wrestling hero as a god believe themselves to be his savior when their great champion falls from his reign.

Stupid, crass, loud, juvenile, exploitative and most importantly…pretty darn funny! No offense to any morons out there, but if you actually go into this movie expecting anything but cool wrestling scenes, rockin’ songs, girls with big boobs, and another awesome shot of Scott Caan’s ass, then you’re a bigger moron that anyone in this film. If on the other hand, you liked Beavis & Butthead, you liked Bill & Ted’s, and you liked, well, Rocky…you will most likely enjoy this passable update of their respective themes. That being established, let’s see what was good and bad about the movie. Good: The story is cute and actually convinces with a little heart in the end. Good: The soundtrack is kickass, although whoever decided that it was a better idea to play the remake version of Twisted Sister’s classic anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, as opposed to the original, should literally be slapped silly. Good: Arquette, Caan and even the wrestlers all come out smelling like shit, which in this movie…is a good thing! You’ll get what I mean by the 12th caca joke in this film. Honestly though, they were all pretty good in their respective roles.

Good: The wrestling scenes were really cool, only I wish they had included more of them…pretty exciting stuff! Ultimately, the last twenty minutes of the film packed the most punch. Good: Martin Landau’s cameo as an old time wrestler. Damn funny! Bad: Not enough Rose McGowan! It’s one thing to include her and the Nitro girls as blatant exploitative fodder, but at least if you’re gonna go that far…let’s see more of them, dammit! Bad: Some jokes work, but others fall flat. It’s up and down on that count, with no major laugh out scenes either. Bad: I did enjoy Oliver Platt’s drunken Elvis performance, but I generally love his humor, so felt a little disappointed in that he didn’t get many better lines. Having said all that, this film is not to be taken seriously. It does provide a small emotional touch in the end, which I thought was nice, but I seriously doubt any movie critic (or adult for that matter) over the age of 40 will enjoy any of this shite! Unless of course, you don’t mind seeing an umpteen set of people getting kicked in the groin over and over, enjoy loud rock music, don’t mind watching two morons prance around the big screen, and…yes, of course…love that rassling!!

Incidentally, I’ve always felt like wrestling fans and soap opera fans had a lot in common. They both enjoy watching over-the-top spectacles, most never admit to being an actual fan and they all seem to get really involved in the most absurd plot twists, no matter how ridiculous! The only difference that I’ve noticed between the two is that wrestling’s got more sweaty men…but even that, is pretty similar.

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian