''Rumble'' is a 2021 American

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

sports comedy film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the spor ...

directed by Hamish Grieve with a screenplay by Grieve and Matt Lieberman. Loosely based on ''Monster on the Hill'', a graphic novel by Rob Harrell, the film stars the voices of Will Arnett,

Geraldine Viswanathan Geraldine Viswanathan ( ; born 20 June 1995) is an Australian actress. She gained attention in the role of Kayla in the 2018 film '' Blockers'', for which Refinery29 referred to her as "the film's breakout star". Viswanathan starred in the 2019 ...

, Terry Crews,

Stephen A. Smith Stephen Anthony Smith (born ) is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. He is a commentator on ESPN's ''First Take'', where he appears with Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an N ...

, Jimmy Tatro, Tony Danza,

Susan Kelechi Watson Susan Kelechi Watson (born November 11, 1981) is an American actress. She is known for her work on the television show ''Louie'' and for her role as Beth Pearson in ''This Is Us''. She was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Be ...

, Tony Shalhoub, Bridget Everett,

Greta Lee Greta Jiehan Lee (born March 7, 1983) is an American actress. Early life Lee was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are Korean immigrants. While attending Harvard-Westlake School, she became interested in the performing art ...

Ben Schwartz Benjamin Schwartz (born September 15, 1981) is an American actor and comedian. He has guest starred as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' and Clyde Oberholt on the Showtime series ''House of Lies''; voiced Randy C ...

, Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch. Produced by Paramount Animation, WWE Studios, Walden Media and Reel FX Animation Studios, the film was released in the United States on December 15, 2021 on Paramount+. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics with criticism for its writing, characters, and pacing, although the animation and voice acting received some praise.

Plot

In a world where giant monsters and humans coexist, monsters compete in a popular professional wrestling global sport known as monster wrestling, with each city having its own monster wrestler. After the current wrestler for the small town of Stoker, the shark-like Tentacular becomes the new world champion, he announces he no longer wants to represent Stoker. The townspeople are later told if they do not find a new wrestler, they will lose the town's stadium and its revenue, which prompts wrestling enthusiast Winnie Coyle to search for a new monster representative for her town. Winnie heads to an underground fight and finds Rayburn Jr., the son of the famous late Stoker champion Rayburn Sr., fighting under the name of "Steve The Stupendous". Winnie interferes in the match and causes Steve to win instead of taking a dive, as the underground arena employer wanted. Steve is confronted by his employer and threatened unless he can get the owner back the money she just lost. Winnie tells Steve she can help him get the money by training him to fight Tentacular. Realizing he has no other way to make the money, Steve agrees to be trained. Steve initially is uninterested in learning how to fight properly and wins his first match by evading his opponent. Steve later tells Winnie he left Stoker because everyone saw him as an extension of his father and could not live up to his name. Winnie learns Steve loves dancing and decides to train him using dance moves. As they progress up the league's rankings, Tentacular announces he and his agent have bought Stoker's stadium and wants to demolish it as Tentacular sees it as a reminder that he will be always compared to Rayburn. Even though Steve manages to repay his underground arena employer, he decides to help Winnie, reveals his identity as Rayburn's son and challenges Tentacular to a match for the stadium. During the fight, Steve avoids most of the hits by Tentacular in the first round, but Tentacular counters his dance moves in the second round. After convincing Winnie not to give up, Steve, in the third round, manages to not only use dance but land several hits. Winnie tells Steve to use Tentacular's suckers to stick him to one of the corner posts. When Steve goes in for the final move, he and Tentacular collide and are both knocked out. Tentacular gets up first but is too rattled to end the match. The crowd gets Steve back up by clapping a salsa beat and he is able to defeat Tentacular, becoming the new monster wrestling champion and saving the stadium.

Cast

* Will Arnett as Steve/Rayburn Jr., a giant red reptilian monster and

amateur wrestler Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

with a passion for dancing ** Gracen Newton as young Steve/Rayburn Jr. *

as Winnie Coyle, an aspiring monster wrestling trainer and Jimbo's daughter ** Kaya McLean as young Winnie Coyle * Terry Crews as Tentacular, a shark-headed and tentacled monster who is the reigning Monster Wrestling champion and is jealous of Rayburn Sr.'s legacy * Fred Melamed as the Mayor * Charles Barkley as Rayburn Sr., Steve's late champion father * Chris Eubank as King Gorge, a horned bulldog-like monster who is a former champion * Bridget Everett as Lady Mayhem, a toucan-like monster with manicured nails who runs the underground wrestling matches *

as Jimothy Brett-Chadley III, Tentacular's agent * Brian Baumgartner as Klonk, a warthog-like monster * Jimmy Tatro as Lights Out McGinty/Mac, an

anglerfish The anglerfish are fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes (). They are bony fish named for their characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified luminescent fin ray (the esca or illicium) acts as a lure for other fish. The luminescence ...

-like monster and wrestling commentator * Becky Lynch as Axehammer, a reptile-like monster from the underground wrestling * Roman Reigns as Ramarilla Jackson, a gorilla-like monster with horns * Tony Danza as Siggy, Tentacular's elderly coach who was Jimbo Coyle's former assistant and

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

as Maggie Coyle, Winnie's mother and Jimbo's widow * Carlos Gómez as Jimbo Coyle, a legendary monster wrestling trainer and Winnie's late father *

as Marc Remy, a monster wrestling commentator * Michael Buffer as a Stoker announcer * Tony Shalhoub as Fred, a man who owns a

diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a com ...

in Stoker *

as the Councilwoman * John DiMaggio as Tattoo Guy and Betting Guy * Jamal Duff as Denise * Carlos Alazraqui as Nerdle, a spider monkey-like monster * Chris Anthony Lansdowne as Farmer *

Christopher Knights Christopher Knights is an English voice actor, film editor, and cinematographer. He is best known for providing the voice of Private the Penguin in the ''Madagascar'' film franchise. He worked on several DreamWorks films ''Shrek'', ''Shrek 2'' ...

as King Gorge's Coach * Fred Tatasciore as Referee

Production

On February 18, 2015, Reel FX Creative Studios announced an adaptation of the 2013 graphic novel ''Monster on the Hill'' by Rob Harrell, to be written by Matt Lieberman. On April 25, 2018, Paramount Animation announced that joined the film as a co-producer, with Walden Media, at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. DisneyToon Studios vet Bradley Raymond was originally going to direct the film, but due to unknown reasons, he was eventually replaced by

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

veteran Hamish Grieve, head of story for films such as '' Rise of the Guardians'' and '' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'', thus making his directorial debut. On June 12, 2019, the title was changed to ''Rumble''.

Casting

The first casting announcement consisted of

, Will Arnett, and Terry Crews. Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns,

, Jimmy Tatro, Tony Danza,

, Carlos Gómez, Charles Barkley, Chris Eubank, Bridget Everett, Michael Buffer, and

, revealing their involvement in the film.

Release

On September 19, 2019, the film was scheduled to be released on July 31, 2020. On November 12, 2019, the release date was pushed to January 29, 2021. On October 27, 2020, the release date was then moved to May 14, 2021, and moved again on January 27, 2021 to February 18, 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 26, 2021, the film made one final move to December 15, 2021, as a Paramount+ exclusive, cancelling its theatrical release altogether.

Home media

''Rumble'' was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on October 18, 2022 by Paramount Home Entertainment.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on reviews from 15 critics, with an average rating of 5.20/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on reviews from 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * {{WWE Studios 2020s American animated films 2020s sports comedy films 2020s monster movies 2021 films 2021 comedy films 2021 computer-animated films American animated comedy films American computer-animated films American sports comedy films Animated films about friendship Animated films based on comics Animated sports films Anime-influenced Western animation 2020s English-language films Films based on American comics Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films scored by Lorne Balfe Giant monster films Kaiju films Paramount Animation films Paramount Pictures animated films Paramount Pictures films Paramount+ original films Professional wrestling films Reel FX Creative Studios films Walden Media films WWE Studios films