The Main Event
Netflix ’s larger scheme for staying ahead of their competition in the streaming war seems to mean making every kind of musical style picture show that ’s out there , in an effort to offer something for ( somewhat literally ) everyone . In late week alone , they ’ve premiered newfangled throwback brother action - comedy , multilingual arthouse dramas , zany rom - coms , psychological thrillers , and , well , whatever you callCoffee & Kareem . And while they have n’t shy away from kinfolk films ( seeShaun the Sheep 2 ) , their latest liberation , The Main Event , sees Netflix essay their hired man at a weird ill-tempered - promotional movie aim firmly at younger audiences in the vena ofSpace Jamand , more specifically , 2002 ’s NBA phantasy - comedyLike Mike . Both amusingly ludicrous and completely by the numbers , The Main Eventmakes for generally watchable ( though very disposable ) kid - friendly fluff .
The picture show rotate around Leo Thompson ( Seth Carr ) , an eleven - class one-time WWE fiend whose home life is n’t going so well ; his female parent of late left him and his father Steve ( Adam Pally ) , and while Leo ’s grandmother Denise ( Tichina Arnold ) is stay with them to help with the transition , Steve is usually officious work two jobs to pay up off his debt - and whenever he ’s not , he move out of his way to head off speak to Leo about his ma . However , when Leo trip up upon an enchanted wrestle mask which , when he puts it on , transform him into a wrestling superstar , he settle to apply it to contend in a local WWE NXT contender offer a cash prize large enough to get him and his dada back on their feet . But first , he ’ll have to process his way through a whole pot of wannabe WWE athlete and prove he ’s got what it takes to become a title-holder where it really counts : in his idea and heart .
concern : Netflix : The Best New video appearance & Movies This Week
If that plot of land sounds a snatch like it was conceived by a kid , it ’s becauseThe Main Event(which is credited to four different writer ) often feel like it was too . That ’s also part of the celluloid ’s appeal and what makes it far more entertaining than its premise ( it ’s basicallyLike Mike , only with professional wrestling ) would suggest . Far from sweep up any mother wit of real - world system of logic , The Main Eventtakes place in a reality where Denise scantily nictitate an eye at con Leo has a magical wrestling masquerade party and nobody seems to realize he ’s an eleven - year former boy when he couch it on . Story - wise , the moving-picture show is as formulaic and predictable as one would expect from a glorify youngster commercial for the WWE ( that ’s not hyperbole either ; it was produced by WWE Studios ) , but it also serves up worthful biography lessons for the juice box bunch about forcible strength and how it means nothing without emotional intelligence operation . It also has a bonkers fart muzzle to rival the ending toDolittlebecause , y’know , kids love fart liquid body substance .
Behind the camera , music director Jay Karas draws from his twelvemonth of take TV sitcoms to cocksure upshot and keepsThe Main Eventrolling at a stiff pace , never pause too long in - between jokes and get decent manipulation of every trick in the sports movie playbook ( rest assure , there are multiple montage ) . He and his cinematographer Karsten Gopinath similarly refrain from doing anything fancy with their camerawork ; the picture show typically appear about as polished as a tv set show , sure , but it also knows how to properly showcase the natural endowment of the various WWE athletes ( Otis , Mia Yim , The Mix , and many more ) who pop up , often as themselves . The other characters are typically as cartoonish as actual wrestling personas , be they the boys who bully Leo at schooling or Ken Marino as Frankie , a connive manager find out to turn his monosyllabic client , Samson ( Babatunde Aiyegbusi - yes , that one ) into a champ . Fortunately , Carr is absolutely magnetic as Leo , as are Arnold as his zany , but supportive , grandma , Aryan Simhadri and Glen Gordon as Leo ’s flakey friends Riyaz and Caleb , and Momona Tamada as Leo ’s sorta - crush turn pal Erica .
As much asThe Main Eventplays out like it was developed from a tick - list of what a kids movie require to be to have broad appeal in the current marketplace of home amusement , the moments where it fully institutionalize to the ludicrousness integral to its premise service to offset its more reckon elements . There ’s still not a pile of reason to check it out unless you have child ( and even they may favor something more sophisticated ) and/or a soft speckle for goofy family - well-disposed films of a gone epoch a laLike Mike ; even WWE fanatics would probably be better off catch up on or rewatching something likeFighting with My Familyinstead . But who know : perhaps kids of the 2010s will one day look back on Netflix ’s latest with the same fondness their parent have for the whacky sports comedies they grew up on .
NEXT : Read Screen Rant ’s Trolls World Tour Review
The Main Eventis now streaming on Netflix . It is 101 minutes long and is rated TV - G.
Aryan Simhadri, Momona Tamada, Seth Carr, and Glen Gordon in The Main Event
