Parent reviews for Rumble

just fine of a movie, typical loser-based movie that finds themselves and becomes better.

The problem with the movie is the level of sarcasm and cynicism. I know it’s hard to watch a family movie these days that isn’t going for cheap laughs and Rumble has plenty of those, it’s just the overall mood of the film because it’s contentious almost throughout. But what else would one expect in a movie called Rumble? It’s a fight movie for kids. I don’t mind the violence. I think many times we are oversensitive to violence, it’s just the approach to violence that I’m more concerned about. When it’s in a ring, it’s almost a partnership of violence, you know? It’s the fighting outside the ring, or the motivating factors for fighting that are more important IMO. In my family, we try to avoid entertainment that is overly divisive or sarcastic. I wish we had skipped this film. But I am pretty conservative with the sort of thing and I don’t find it awful. And I know some people like stories with diversity, but I’m pretty annoyed by them. Easy drama. Non-white girl with difficult upbringing… Are you yawning yet?… Struggling with confidence and friends… Finds a way “outside the box” to feeling important by identifying her inner strength and nontraditional courage…. Are we still telling the story? Yes we are. Yes we are.

There may be something good somewhere in this movie for older kids, but we had to turn it off after 20 minutes. The premise is that monsters wrestle as a form of entertainment — just like WWF, a concept with its own innate problems especially for the youngest audiences. The monsters are extremely violent, rude and worse, taunting and bullying. Phrases like “you suck” are also clearly heard. I’m sure there’s a good message in here about a young woman being a leader, but too much surface level issues exist to get through this with young children. Finally, some of the monsters are downright terrifying. Expect nightmares.

Definitely enjoyed watching this with my kids. Fun with a good message about being the best you you can be.