Tyler Mane’s outing here as the large and extremely intimidating man with a soft side, Axe was very enjoyable, too. Keegan is hilarious as is John Leguizamo. I don’t know why but extremely fit guy who takes himself too seriously but does silly things is a trope that really works for me. Cena is legitimately funny with a charming personality so it is always great to see him get to do his thing in films like this. John Cena excels best in films where he gets to play up his comedic side. It’s hard to pick out just one stand out actor in this film as it such a great cast. The group of jumpers is made up of extremely ambitious, goal driven Superintendent Jake Carson (John Cena), the hulking mute Axe (Tyler Mane) who carries an axe with him everywhere, overly sensitive Mark (Keegan Michael-Key) and the My Little Pony obsessed ex-con Rodrigo (John Leguizamo). Playing with Fire is about a group of four Smoke Jumpers who fight wild fires and their rescue of three children who teach them that fires aren’t the only thing that can be a real handful. I didn’t know exactly what to expect or what I was getting into other than knowing the film starred John Cena (WWE) and Tyler Mane (AJPW, WCW, CMLL) and that it was a comedy. Starring John Cena, Judy Greer, and Keegan-Michael Key.Almost a month ago this movie came to my attention when I stumbled across a poster for it while searching for movies that star wrestlers, after that I watched the trailer and knew I had to see it. With its predictable plot and one-note characters, not only can’t it start a fire it can barely light a spark. Ultimately, however hard this movie tries to tug at our heartstrings, its own mediocrity works against it. It also manages to promote positive messages around the importance of making family a priority and working together. There are some moments of extreme peril, but with such uninteresting characters, it’s hard to get too emotionally invested. On the plus side, Playing with Fire has very little in the way of content issues, aside from the aforementioned potty humor. The kids practically have to prove their worth and value to adults, and that’s simply sad. Parents will also be disturbed by the attitude – pervasive in the film – that children are an inconvenience who prevent adults from doing more important things. Key is the only consistently funny part of the movie, with fine comic timing and highly expressive facial expressions. He is easily upstaged by his sidekicks, played by Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo. John Cena is painfully wooden and his attempts to look rigid and uptight come across as bland and boring. Not only will adults wince at the jokes, they won’t be moved by either the story or the acting. For adults, it’s about as funny as watching crazy Uncle Fred tell the same jokes every year over the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. For kids, the comedy probably rates about an 8 out of 10. The youngsters in the screening I attended were laughing out loud, and the hilarity peaked with a scene involving an explosive diaper change. That’s because they’re having a blast with the nearly non-stop poop jokes. But the target audience – kids – isn’t going to complain. If that sounds predictable, you’d be right. Mouthy, precocious kids and clueless adults produce comic mayhem mutual respect develops and a happy ending ensues. Think Daddy Day Carewith fire extinguishers and you’ve figured out the rest of the story. The parents can’t be located, so it falls to the firefighters to look after the kids until the parents return. An elite crew of firefighters (known as fire jumpers), led by Jake Carson (John Cena) rescues three youngsters (one teen and two younger siblings played by Brianna Hildebrand, Christian Convery and Finley Rose Slater) from a burning cabin. Playing with Fire, a completely pointless piece of children’s cinema, fits these criteria to a “T”.Īnyone who’s watched the trailer can figure out the story behind the movie. If you want to watch actors flex their muscles instead of actually emoting, you have really struck gold. If you consider potty humor to be the pinnacle of wit, this is your lucky day.
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