powermandan
I am a huge wrestling fan. Heck I am a pro-wrestling addict! I know them all from Gorgeous George to CM Punk, I know how the moves work, and I can predict match cards and winners. My vast knowledge of theatrics helps me understand aspects that other passionate wrestling fans hate. I am also a massive movie fan. I love watching TV shows, but I find movies to be superior entertainment. Combine my two loves, and outcomes Ready to Rumble. I know some people hated it, but due to my love for wrestling and movies, I loved this movie.In the 1980s and early 1990s, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) were blasts to see. Because WWF had Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and more celebrity endorsements, it was more popular than WCW, but WCW was still a huge success. When money-hungry Eric Bischoff entered the scene, he wanted to compete with WWF's flagship show, "Monday Night RAW" by creating "WCW Monday Night Nitro." The first year (1995) saw parallel streaks, then the introduction of the anti-heroes, nWo caused WCW to dominate the ratings war for 85 straight weeks. Due to poor management and WWF's newfound success with the heavy adult-oriented "Attitude Era," WCW was desperate for ratings to increase. So desperate that they decided to make a movie about it.Ready to Rumble is about two dim-witted septic workers, Gordie Boggs and Sean Dawkins (Arquette, Caan) who are hardcore wrestling fans who worship World Champion, Jimmy King (Platt). They witness King get screwed out of a title win against Diamond Dallas Page and fired by WCW's evil manager, Titus Sinclair (Pantailiano), who mirrors Eric Bischoff. Before knowing about the movie's intentions (which was to makes WCW more popular) I wondered why King just didn't sign a contract with WWF. King's loss, I'd say, is a parody of the infamous Montreal Screwjob back in 1997 when Bret Hart was supposed to have defeated Shawn Michaels, but didn't. Gordie and Sean embark on a mission to find King and put the wrong things right. King is given another chance to better himself, expand his horizon, and win his title back. We all know that pro-wrestling is fake, but Ready to Rumble treats it like a legitimate sport. King's first match with DDP shows how a typical match works: they are told backstage how the win will happen, and the wrestlers communicate in the ring about what moves they will do next. Afterwards, everything becomes legit. I'm glad they did this because it is fun to see a fake thing become real. It is also fun to see WCW's top talent in this. We see the real Rey Mysterio (unmasked), Booker T, Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, Bam Bam Bigelow, Van Hammer, Perry Saturn, Chris Kanyon, Sid Vicious, Sting, Billy Kidman, Disco Inferno, Juventud Guerrera, Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig and others, including a very brief cameo of John Cena lifting weights in the background. Since WCW no longer exists and most of its wrestlers are no longer wrestling, this movie is a perfect example of sports-nostalgia. To help with the movie's marketing, WCW used the triple-cage match used at the end of the movie for two events. But the biggest bone-headed move to help with the marketing was to make the film's star, David Arquette, a WCW superstar. They went so far as to make Arquette the World Champion on an episode of WCW Thunder. When that happened, the title lost all value and WCW was no longer worth watching. Arquette himself new that is was a bad idea and was even against becoming a full superstar. I thought it would have been better if they had Oliver Platt become the Jimmy King character. That would also have been a bad idea, but better than David Arquette. Coming from a hardcore wrestling and movie fan, I can assure that the aftershocks of the movie are the only bad things this movie has. The characters are funny, the wrestling is awesome, the messages are good. What this movie has is good enough for me.
justinclark
Ready to Rumble is a breakthrough in dumbass comedys. It's not too bad, but seriously, it was like the last movie David Arquette was ever in that I know of (Eight Legged Freaks doesn't count). The sole person that saved this movie from the $5.99 bin at Wal-Mart was Oliver Platt. It truly shows he can be serious and stupid at the same time. Okay, on to the plot (oh right, there wasn't one). Alright, I like this movie,I own this movie, so I should stop being a jerk. The story is about Jimmy King, a professional wrestler for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) whose loses a match and is fired. This is where Arquette and Scott Cann come in. They're both huge King fans and are ticked off that he got screwed by the president of WCW, Donald St.Claire (Joe Pantoliano). So they find the King, fix him up with some connections, have him train, and win a cage match at a major pay-per-view. Sounds pretty simple, right? Other than some minor story flaws, and an ass shot of Scott Cann half-way through, it was okay. It's a good thing WCW doesn't exist anymore, because more than likely, there would've been a sequel (which is not good at all). Two out of five stars.
