The Main Event
THE MAIN EVENT - NETFLIXOne of the latest entries into NETFLIX’s catalog of family-friendly options, The Main Event begins with a dream sequence of protagonist Leo (Seth Karr, who may look familiar from his role as a young Erik Kilmonger in Black Panther) performing a diving elbow drop on Mike “The Miz” Mizanin as upbeat hip-hop music plays and the crowd goes wild for his high-flying move. This opening serve to illustrate the rush professional wrestling gives to its fans and its performers with visuals alone. The audience is whisked back to reality in Leo’s suburban superfan bedroom, with his grandmother (played by Tichina Arnold) trying to wake him up before he ends up being late for school.
Directed by Jay Karas, whose directing credits include episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks and Recreation, Disney Channel originals, and NETFLIX stand-up specials. It takes less than 3 minutes to know exactly what you’re getting with The Main Event, a kids’ comedy. The film is the latest in the never-ending typhoon of “young person getting into a fantastical situation” films that has been raging since Back to the Future, but this time presented with the sheen of the high production values and high-octane action of the WWE. 11-year-old Leo is a WWE superfan with high aspirations of making it into the squared circle one day. Until then he must deal with bullies, crushes, and a drastically changing life at home. Leo, his grandmother, and his father Steve (Adam Pally) are all struggling with Leo’s mother abandoning the family. Steve’s inability to cope healthily starts to drive a wedge between himself and his son. Leo finds himself having to grow up fast as he learns of his family’s dire financial situations. During all this he stumbles upon a vintage wrestling mask that grants a worthy wearer unimaginable speed, strength, and charisma.
Viewers will definitely have deja vu with the film’s premise being similar to David F. Sandberg’s Shazam. With themes of family, abandonment, and inner strength being more powerful than outer strength, but with a much more groan-worthy comedic style and battles taking place in a wrestling ring rather than the city streets. The comedy is relatively harmless, usually not going past cultural references, slapstick humor, and a flatulence joke emphasized with terrible CGI. However, there is a very tasteless joke about wrestlers possibly dying in the ring that only brings up painful memories of the tragedies that befell Owen Hart and Perro Aguayo Jr. The beat of the story feels like checking off the boxes from a list of tropes, but the film does a very good job with its more serious moments involving the struggles of Leo’s family. Tichina Arnold, no stranger to comedic roles or dramatic roles, is the MVP of the movie with her range from the most charming character on screen being a warm, sturdy parental figure for both Leo and Steve. The film’s storyline may lack a lot of excitement for anyone tired of trope-filled family comedies, but the storytelling is so genuine and heartfelt that not even the coldest critic cannot deny its emotional warmth.
The superhero craze does not end with parallels to Shazam, as the film paints the world of pro wrestling as an action-packed battle of superhumans. The portrayal of pro wrestling is ripped right out of the 1980s, with colorful characters such as the monstrous Samson (played by up-and-coming NXT wrestler Babatunde) and his loudmouth manager Frankie (Ken Marino) who live their villainous gimmick inside and outside the ring. The film is loaded with roles for WWE Superstars such as Sheamus, Otis Dozovic, Keith Lee, Corey Graves, Mia Yim, and Kofi Kingston and the high production values WWE is known for in their weekly television shows is on full display with the set design. The wrestling matches are short and fun highlight reels and Leo’s matches have the same grin-worthy charm as the viral match between Kenny Omega and 9-year-old Haruka. Although matches usually follow the same “David versus Goliath” formula in the story department, nothing comes close to the great match between Zak and Saraya from Fighting With My Family that illustrates the internalization of the characters through suplexes and sleeper holds.
The Main Event is not shy about proclaiming who it is aimed for: families that love to come together every Monday night for Monday Night RAW. There is no reason for readers looking for something the whole family can watch together to hesitate to try it and fans of sports entertainment will get a kick out of how the film tries to recapture the 1980s Golden Age where cartoonish stars like “Macho Man” Randy Savage and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper would duke it out. It is a well-made film with a lean runtime, but the Disney Channel sitcom comedy and paint-by-numbers screenplay make it a very hard sell for anyone outside the target demographic. Hopefully, The Main Event is a taste of better and better content for families rather than outlier for worse things to come.
THE MAIN EVENT is streaming exclusively on NETFLIX
