This fantasy tale pushes the boundaries of disbelief – but is a perfectly inoffensive way for kids or young wrestling fans to while away an hour and a half.
Struggling with his Mum having left his Dad (Adam Pally) – who is working double shifts to pay the bills – bullied 11-year-old Leo (Seth Carr) discovers a vintage (and very smelly) luchador mask, that gives him super-human abilities inside the ring – as well as the ‘gift of the gab’ which he uses in attempts to swoon school ‘crush’ Erica (Momona Tamada).
But when WWE wrestling developmental territory NXT comes to town, huge fan Leo – under the masked-alias of ‘Kid Chaos’ – enters a competition (which boasts a $50,000 prize to help his Dad keep the family home) to become the next superstar, he starts dispatching wrestlers five times his size with minimal ease – including the likes of current WWE stars Keith Lee and Otis – and this unbelievable ability is never questioned.
Despite the movie pushing the realms of reality to the absolute max and it blatantly adhering to telegraphed stereotypical kids tropes – don’t bully, don’t let your ego get in the way of friends, be respectful etc – there’s still an air of likeability to make this wholesome fun.
This is one occasion where the low mark simply reflects the lack of ingenuity – as opposed to the effort of all the combatants (led by Leo’s Grandma played by Tichina Arnold) at hand, as The Main Event lays a harmless elbow drop from the top rope.
ESP Rating: 2.5/5
Gavin Miller
Cast: Seth Carr, Adam Pally, Tichina Arnold, Momona Tamada, Ken Marino, Glen Gordon, Aryan Simhadri, Keith Lee, Babatunde Aiyegbusi, Josh Zaharia, Stephen ‘Seamus’ Farrelly, Mike ‘The Miz’ Mizanin, ‘Otis’ Dozovic & Kofi Kingston
Running Time: 1 Hr 43 Mins
Director: Jay Karas
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