Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Crass esports comedy has language, drugs, and alcohol.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
1Up
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In 1UP, V (Paris Berelc) and Sloane (Hari Nef) are best friends who are teammates on their college's esports team, the Betas. While V is attending Barrett College on an esports scholarship, she and Sloane are perpetual benchwarmers due to Dustin, the team captain, being an obnoxious jock who doesn't think women can compete with the men in esports. Tired of Dustin's attitude, V and Sloane quit the Betas and decide to start their own team: The 8-Bits. Their coach, Parker (Ruby Rose), a video game history professor at the school, must find a way to make this team of quirky misfits work together. When V learns that the school is planning on keeping only one esports team for next year, she must find a way to take the 8-Bits all the way to the national championships, even as Dustin and the other Betas are determined to stop them by any means necessary.
Is It Any Good?
You can't break stereotypes and clichés while also heavily relying on stereotypes and clichés. And yet, 1Up tries to do just that. It champions diversity and inclusion in an arena (esports) that has had its share of controversy concerning the overall culture, even as countless individuals have found a sense of belonging and community in that culture in ways they may not experience in the off-screen world. The movie does its best to address and confront these aspects to gaming culture, but it's also trying to be a kind of coming-of-age college comedy with bawdy language, dorm room 'shroom trips, and awkward first dates.
It doesn't work, mostly because it's trying to break the mold while remaining firmly entrenched in the mold of the "scrappy misfit" sports movie. Besides those stereotyped jocks, there are also the clichés of the "nice guy," the middle-aged administrator trying to remain relevant to "the kids" by using the parlance of today (in this instance, "cancel" and "my pronouns are..."), and the blissed-out roommate fond of yoga and hallucinogens, among other beyond exhausted character types. Also, 15 minutes into the movie, you can easily guess who the team of scrappy misfits will play in the movie's climactic scene and how that will turn out for them. Ultimately, as a movie that's trying to be a comedy, in spite of any good intentions, it's not all that funny.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how gaming and esports are represented in 1Up. Did it accurately portray gaming culture? Why, or why not?
How is this movie a version of the "scrappy underdog" movie? What are some of the clichéd storylines and characters?
Why is it important to have greater diversity in movies? How does this movie show the ways in which gaming can be inclusive to all?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : July 15, 2022
- Cast : Ruby Rose , Paris Berelc , Hari Nef
- Director : Kyle Newman
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Transgender Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Buzzfeed Studios
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 100 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : Sexual material, some language and drug use.
- Last updated : August 2, 2022
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