Rumble is an American computer-animated sports comedy film directed by Hamish Grieve, released to Paramount+ on December 15, 2021.
Plot[]
In a world where giant monsters are tamed and monster wrestling is a popular sport, Winnie (Geraldine Viswanathan) seeks to follow in her father, Jimbo (Carlos Gómez)'s footsteps as a manager by turning an inexperienced monster named Steve (Will Arnett) into a contender.
Summary[]
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.
She heads to underground fighting and finds the son of the famous late Stoker champion Rayburn, fighting under the name of "Steve". Winnie interferes in his 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 and realizing he has no other way to make the money, agrees to be trained.
Steve initially is uninterested in learning how to fight properly and wins his first match by evading his opponent. He later tells Winnie he left Stoker because everyone saw him as an extension of his father and could not live up to his name. Winne learns Steve loves dancing and decides to train him using dance moves. As they progress up the league, 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 Jr. and challenges Tentacular to a match for the stadium.
In the fight, Steve avoids most of the hits by Tentacular in the first round, but in the second round Tentacular counters his dance moves. In the third round, Steve brings the fight and is able 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 but 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 finally able to defeat Tentacular and save the stadium.
Cast[]
- Will Arnett as Steve/Rayburn Jr., a giant red reptilian monster and amateur wrestler
- Gracen Newton as young Steve/Rayburn Jr
- Geraldine Viswanathan as Winnie Coyle, an aspiring monster wrestling trainer
- Kaya McLean as young Winnie Coyle
- Terry Crews as Tentacular, a shark-headed tentacled monster who is the reigning Monster Wrestling champion
- 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
- Ben Schwartz 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-like monster and wrestling commentator
- Becky Lynch as Axehammer, a reptile-like monster from the underground wrestling
- Roman Reigns as Ramarilla Jackson, an gorilla-like monster sporting ram horns
- Tony Danza as Siggy, Tentacular's elderly coach who was Jimbo Coyle's former assistant and protege
- Susan Kelechi Watson as Maggie Coyle, Winnie's widowed mother
- Carlos Gómez as Jimbo Coyle, a legendary monster wrestling trainer and Winnie’s late father
- Stephen A. Smith as Marc Remy, a monster wrestling commentator
- Michael Buffer as a Stoker announcer
- Tony Shalhoub as Fred, a man who owns a diner in Stoker
- Greta Lee as a Councilwoman
- John DiMaggio as Tattoo Guy and Betting Guy
- Jamal Duff as Denise
- Tara Strong as Winnie mother
- Chris Anthony Lansdowne as Farmer
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 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 Geraldine Viswanathan, Will Arnett, and Terry Crews. Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy Tatro, Tony Danza, Susan Kelechi Watson, Carlos Gómez, Charles Barkley, Chris Eubank, Bridget Everett, Michael Buffer, and Stephen A. Smith, revealing their involvement in the film
Releasing[]
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, canceling its theatrical release altogether.
Reception[]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 29% of 7 reviews are positive. On Metacritic, the score is 43 based on 4 reviews.
Videos[]
Trailers[]
Trivia[]
- Rumble is based on Monster on the Hill the novel book