A long time ago, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is the epitome of sport entertainment thanks to its riveting story arcs, compelling character developments, and surprising twists and turns; wrestling was never just men fighting over belts -- its a narrative and a brutal one.
Today, WWE is seen crossing a different path away from what it is before to cater to the younger audience, especially in the emergence and growing success of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), abandoning the old fans that wanted all-out extreme acrobatics from superstar wrestlers, redemption stories and carnage in every duel. Ultimately, this leads to more kid-centered films evident by the upcoming family sitcom "The Big Show Show" starring The Big Show and this family movie "The Main Event" starring Seth Carr and directed by Jay Karas.
The gist, "The Main Event" is about an aspiring 11-year-old wrestler Leo (Carr) who enters pro-wrestling after finding a magical mask that can grant him super strength.
Of the many questions, I have, the first one that pops into my head is, why does Leo want to pursue wrestling above any career? For sure, a child would venture to anything that looks awesome and cool but I supposed, wrestling is more than that for Leo. The guy is a fanatic! With a lot of memorabilia and posters to show but the question 'Why is he like that?' was never answered.
One hour and forty minutes long and not a minute of it was dedicated for the viewers to understand why wrestling, like basketball and football, is a sport that matters and we should care for. Of course, WWE has some good fellows to lead as an example; John Cena is inspiring beyond the ring as he goes the extra mile to visit hospitals and schools to meet children and Dwayne Johnson is funny and talented but a good person above else. These are what is missing in this movie that kids need to see. The acts that show humanity despite the fame and the glory. A message that will say "wrestling can make you a better person", but it did not appear like that.
The family drama that casually revolves around the main story while it unfolds, didn't help as well in putting a heart in this hollow art as it comes out as unnecessary and silly. The whole premise is all sort of absurd already and the inclusion of an uninspiring narrative in between didn't create that much needed emotional gravity to pull audiences in; it instead pushes them away because it presented no clear message about being family.
Sadly, this movie is just one of the propaganda movie by WWE to entice younger viewers to watch the sport because it's like watching superhero movies -- it's dangerous but it's fun
Beyond the many blunders of this movie, "The Main Event" mortal sin is depicting wrestling as a real violent sport, which we all know, as adults, is not. However, the movie made it look real and amazing that it may affect how children depict violence and might inspire them to hurt other people because the movie sees it as a "courageous" thing to do. "The Main Event", in summary, is just misleading and watching this movie with your kids would really require you to do a lot of explaining afterward.
Nevertheless, Seth Carr and Tichina Arnold is a tag team worth watching and the other technicals of the movie are not that bad actually. Probably, the only problem of "The Main Event" is its story. Although, beyond its silliness and screw-ups there are a few lessons that the viewers can pick up from its narrative. But honestly, there are plenty of movies out there that can deliver its message more effectively, so it might be better to skip this movie for now.
1.5/5
