EnglishMovies - Rumble : Available on Paramount + from today
By Mulder, 15 december 2021
Welcome to Stoker, the birthplace of the greatest sport of all time: monster wrestling. But this once proud city has fallen on hard times, after their hometown champion decides his ticket to bigger and better things lies elsewhere. For Stoker to survive, a new champion must rise, and no one knows that more than Winnie, a tenacious teen with boundless energy – and a legacy that takes her on a journey to find the right monster, at the right time, for the right city. Enter “Steve,” who doesn’t look like much, but possesses, Winnie knows, the heart of a champion. Well, at least he’s a champion sleeper…sitter…and dancer. The diminutive teen and 50-foot titan may seem like a total joke, but Winnie believes in Steve, and she is determined to whip him into shape and give him a monster makeover. Together they embark on a journey to defeat the world’s biggest, baddest, slimiest monsters – and reclaim the title and glory for their family and hometown.
Indeed, for writer-director Hamish Grieve, Rumble is above all a story of underdogs and family. “It resonates with things in my own life,” he states, “and offers a new take on the classic underdog/sports movie – but in a crazy setting of kaiju [monster] films. It’s big, cinematic, and slightly goofy, but still takes itself seriously. I knew I could have a lot of fun with it and be true to the genre.” The film’s presentation of monsters as superstar wrestlers adds to the fun. “I grew up in England, and wrestling on English television was quite a show, featuring enormous and unfit ‘athletes,’” Grieve remembers. But his appreciation for the sport really took hold once he began work on Rumble. “I took a huge deep dive into wrestling, watching WrestleMania matches and endless YouTube videos. It was insane! Suddenly, I realized I was now a fan.” “Wrestling works on so many levels,” he continues, “including storytelling, athletics, and the ‘meta’ of turning heroes into villains; it’s almost a mythic kind of storytelling.”
The theme of family and legacy also resonated with the filmmaker. Rumble’s young protagonist, Winnie, is determined to carry on the tradition of her late father, who was the greatest monster wrestling trainer of all time. His champion was the fabled Rayburn, who was undefeated and an endless source of pride for their hometown of Stoker. “That connection to family was my gateway into the movie, and my north star to keep it on course,” Grieve shares. “It’s about honoring your legacy and where you come from but still finding your own way. That became the film’s emotional weight.” That theme also played into an unexpected personal connection for Grieve. His father was a director in the UK, largely for television, but made his feature directorial debut at age 47 – the same age at which Grieve took on his feature helming debut on Rumble. Moreover, the younger Grieve’s film is based on a graphic novel entitled Monster on the Hill – and the title of his father’s film was…On the Black Hill.
Much of the film’s fun, heart, and soul stems from the pairing of the teenage trainer, Winnie, and her new monster wrestler hopeful, Steve. When they meet, Winnie is scouting prospects in the shadowy world of underground wrestling matches. She’s determined to find a new champion for Stoker but comes up empty – until she sees a towering figure and his signature “moon boom” move turn a match he was supposed to have thrown, into an unexpected victory. Despite Steve’s slothful ways and complete disinterest in winning, Winnie sees something special in him, which she soon learns comes from a powerful familial connection. Can they together pull off the greatest upset in monster wrestling history?
To voice the role of Steve, Grieve turned to a towering figure in the world of voice work, Will Arnett, whose unforgettable work in animated features includes the starring role of the Caped Crusader in The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie. “Will has a unique gravelly voice that could exist in our world of 50-foot monsters,” says Grieve. “He’s nothing less than a master at voice acting. I’m also a huge fan of his live action work on Arrested Development. He has amazing comedy chops and is completely believable as a 50-foot monster.” Arnett professes a passion for animation and for working in the genre. “It gives you the time to continue working on a role, sometimes over the period of a few years,” he explains.
The character of Steve provided Arnett with much to explore. “This is a guy with a big legacy and he’s not living up to it,” he notes. “His self-esteem and confidence have taken a lot of hits, and it takes this teenage girl, Winnie, to convince him to believe in himself. They’re both underdogs who have these moments where they pick each other up and it’s really sweet.” To find Steve’s voice, Arnett says being sensitive to the material was a priority, as was looking at the artwork of Steve and the other characters. “That material gives you the scale and feeling of what it would be like to be a huge reptilian monster. I always want to find a voice that feels authentic to all those things. It’s quite a journey for Steve – at first, he just wants to make a little money throwing some matches and doesn’t want to make any waves. But you peel that back and learn there’s something rich there, a vulnerability.”
The series of recording sessions, which can stretch over a couple of years, is another resource for the actor. “I love finding a character’s voice and riffing in that space,” says Arnett. “It’s critical in understanding who Steve is and what he sounds like. Having Hamish in the room and improvising with him was invaluable. I’d return to the room six months after a previous session and see those riffs incorporated into the film.” Due to scheduling requirements, cast members in an animated film are rarely able to record together. But both Arnett and Geraldine Viswanathan, who voices Winnie, were pleased when they came together for a memorable and productive recording session.
“I enjoyed watching a young actor – Geraldine – with a really interesting point of view and then taking my cues from her,” Arnett recalls. “Geraldine’s electric and engaging manner raised my performance.” Viswanathan, in turn, calls their joint recording session “amazing,” adding, “I’m a huge fan of Will. He’s such a seasoned actor and voice actor, and I learned a lot in that session and recording a scene with him.” The session was just as valuable to Grieve, who relates, “I was pretty insistent on getting Will and Geraldine together for the key comedic and emotional scenes. It was wonderful to watch them work opposite one another.” In those and in her recording sessions with Grieve, Viswanathan worked to bring Winnie’s compelling underdog story to life. “Winnie is super-cool and strong,” she comments. “I loved that she had a heartfelt core and love for her late dad. She’s also very funny and a really cool heroine.”
Winnie has boundless energy; she’s always in motion – running, jumping, dancing – because, says Viswanathan, “Winnie lives in the world of wrestling. She needs that tomboy energy and is always sporty and very alive.” Rumble marks Viswanathan’s feature animation debut, and she observes that, “It was an adjustment allowing myself to sound more animated. I’m always trying to be naturalistic, so Hamish pushed me to be more out-there and expressive with my voice. It became a fun opportunity to become bigger and take more swings, vocally.” Another significant draw for Viswanathan was the story’s exploration of different kinds of families. “Winnie’s family is centered on wrestling,” she notes, “and the city of Stoker is like one big family united by its love of wrestling. The connection between Winnie and Steve is familial – they had met as kids, and she immediately recognizes his true identity after watching him in an underground match. So, there are all kinds of familial bonds in Rumble.”
Interestingly, the film is not her introduction to the wild world of professional wrestling. Viswanathan had starred opposite former wrestling legend and now top-tier movie star John Cena in the raucous comedy BLOCKERS, where he had regaled her with tales from the ring. “The world John described had a Shakespearean element to it, and we see that in Rumble,” she recalls. “Then, I learned a lot about the moves and techniques.”
In this world of big-time wrestling – emphasis on the big – one of the most impressive larger-than-life athletes is Tentacular, a shark-headed tentacled monster with pulsating pecs, who is the reigning Monster Wrestling champion. When we meet Tentacular, he’s triumphing, once again, in Stoker’s lavish stadium, in front of his legions of devoted fans. But their cheers soon turn to disbelief, when Tentacular betrays his hometown, announcing that he’s leaving them for the more lucrative opportunities at Slitherpool. Stoker is devastated; without monster wrestling, it’s nothing. But according to Terry Crews, the bigger-than-life actor who voices the traitorous Tentacular, the champ is no villain. “Tentacular is trying to do what he knows, and everything he can to win,” says the former NFL star. “Sometimes his morals get mixed up and he’s super-selfish, but as any professional athlete will tell you, you don’t win without that selfishness. Remember, even Shaquille O’Neal is a villain on an opponent’s home court.”
Crews was thrilled to be a part of Rumble, having been a longtime and fervent fan of the animation genre. Prior to becoming an actor, he even had artist’s portfolios of his own artwork at DreamWorks Animation and Disney. Moreover, this film, he explains, reminded him of his first job in Hollywood. “It was on a reality television series called Battle Dome, in which ‘warriors’ fought contestants on different obstacle courses; it was American Gladiator on steroids, and a mix of wrestling with sports competition,” Crews tells us. “Tentacular reminded me about everything on that show, including giant ‘monsters’ wrestling on behalf of their home cities.”
Crews also got a kick out of seeing how Grieve and the film’s animation teams imbued Tentacular with some signature Crews traits, including his eye-popping pecpopping antics. “Yes, there’s a little bit of me in the role,” he says with a smile. Little touches like that – and so much more – lead Crews to call Grieve a “master of his craft and Rumble his labor of love. Imagine building the Empire State Building out of tiny bricks; his work on the film is that intricate and labor-intensive. I’ll go to the mat for Hamish because he never quits!”
Big-time sports matches wouldn’t be the same without broadcasters offering commentary, analyses, and endless opinions. Opining on Rumble’s monster matchups are Marc Remy and Lights Out McGinty, played by, respectively, famed ESPN host Stephen A. Smith and comedy actor / YouTube sensation Jimmy Tatro. Both sportscasters are, at least initially, unimpressed with Steve’s monstrously outrageous antics on the mat, which include employing dancing moves to evade his opponents. “It’s embarrassing nonsense and an affront to the sport!” they bemoan from the booth. But Steve’s heart and potential to pull off the greatest upset in monster wrestling slowly begin to win over even these hardened sports savants. “The character of Marc is Stephen, who is such a pro,” says Grieve. “Stephen didn’t have to ratchet it up to play Marc. He nailed it straight out of the gate; he knows the character.”
Smith is no stranger to the world of wrestling and is a longtime fan of the WWE and its predecessors, the WWF and NWA. “I grew up with it, watching the wrestling greats of that era,” he remembers. “I could never get enough of it.” Still, Smith’s love of the sport was a secondary reason he joined Rumble. “I wanted to be a part of this movie because I was really excited to be playing a role that kids would enjoy,” he shares. “I always wanted my two daughters to hear my voice in an animated film. I was thrilled to do Rumble for that reason alone.”
Smith shares his on-screen counterpart’s initial skepticism, if not horror, at Steve’s ring behavior. “Marc takes sports very seriously, and he’s definitely not happy that Steve doesn’t seem to,” he explains. “Covering sports the way I do, that was easy for me to relate to. I think any competitor should take their work seriously. You’re always supposed to go out and give your all. What would I say if I saw someone not give total effort? I’d call it out!” As Marc Remy’s associate, Lights Out McGinty, Jimmy Tatro has, says Grieve, “the comedic chops and requisite deep voice. In fact, he has one of the most insane voices I’ve ever heard. I never thought Will Arnett’s deep baritone could be topped, but Jimmy did it. At one recording session, he went so deep he got lightheaded!” Also taking on key voice roles are acclaimed actor Tony Shalhoub, as Fred, an avuncular figure to Winnie; This is Us’ Susan Kelechi Watson, as Winnie’s mom, Maggie; Tony Danza as Siggy, Tentacular’s trainer; singer/actress/comedian Bridget Everett, as Steve’s fearsome patron and boss in the underground wrestling world, Lady Mayhen; character actor Fred Melamed, as Stoker’s mayor; Michael Buffer as the Stoker ring announcer; comic actor Ben Schwartz as Tentacular’s new benefactor, Jimothy Brett-Chadley III, who lures him away from Stoker; Brian Baumgartner, as Lady Mayhen’s lackey, Klonk; Greta Lee, as an officious councilwoman who plans to turn Stoker’s beloved stadium into a parking lot; John DiMaggio, as a Betting Guy / Tattoo Guy, whose markings change with their arrivals and departures from Stoker; and top WWE stars Becky Lynch and Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai as, respectively, formidable monster grapplers Axehammer and Ramarilla.
Grieve and his department heads have built a world that no one has experienced before, eschewing the rules of the genre, and dropping audiences into this novel and unexpected universe where monsters are sports superstars. “We wanted to ground this crazy world as much as we could,” he notes. To that end, the filmmakers focused on creating relatable relationships between the principal characters and making their home base of Stoker feel recognizable. “Stoker is like Green Bay Wisconsin; the team is the town,” Grieve points out. “It also resembles hardscrabble New England towns in the U.S.
“At the same time, many of our characters are, literally, monsters, so we also wanted the world to feel a little strange,” he continues, “so Stoker has elements of Art Deco and a futuristic look. It’s our world, but one step removed. We wanted to sell the scale of the characters, and make sure they feel huge in the world, but we didn’t want to overwhelm the human characters.”
It’s truly a life-changing adventure for Winnie, who leaves what Grieve terms, the “hominess of Stoker” in search of a monster wrestler she can train. Her quest takes her to the “grungy vibe” of the underground wrestling base of Pittsmore (a combination of Pittsburgh and Baltimore). Says Grieve, “It’s Winnie’s first step into the ‘dark forest.’” The film’s journey began with the graphic novel upon which it is based: Monster on a Hill. Says co-screenwriter Matt Lieberman, “The book is so sweet and has a great world and a great idea, that each town has its own monster that defends it.” Upon that premise, Lieberman and Grieve built the idea of monster wrestling, and from that, says the former, “came the character of Winnie.” Now, with the film nearing its debut on Paramount +, the cast and filmmakers offer some parting thoughts on Rumble. Says Stephen A. Smith, “Family has never been more important than it is now, and it’s never been more important for families to come together. Rumble gives us a reason to simile, laugh, and cheer. Any time you have something that accomplishes that, I think it’s a beautiful thing.”
Terry Crews echoes that thought, calling the film “an experience for the entire family. You’ll cheer, laugh, and be inspired, because it has a great message about using what you have and doing the things you love. And I love that we can provide kids with something fun they can enjoy with their parents.” For Geraldine Viswanathan, Rumble is all about the underdog in each of us. “Families will have a great time rooting for these underdogs,” she states. “I think they’ll experience that same sense of togetherness in their homes that the characters do when they come together to experience the monster wrestling matches in the stadium.” Will Arnett expects audiences to laugh and be entertained, “and be part of a story for the entire family. I hope they say, ‘We watched Rumble together, as a family, and had an awesome time.’”
Finally, the filmmaker who brought it all together, writer-director Hamish Grieve, says, “The film is really going to surprise people. It’s a feel-good family movie that has something interesting to say. It’s also fun and silly – a perfect holiday treat that will draw audiences into Winnie and Steve’s journey.” And now, in the words of legendary ring announcer and film cast member Michael Buffer, “Let’s get ready to Rumble!”
Synopsis:
In a world where monster fighting has become an international sport, ultra-popular with its global mega-stars, Steve, a lazy monster, as endearing as he is clumsy, is no champion. Yet it is him that young Wendie chooses to train: the daughter of a legendary coach, she intends to follow in his footsteps! The challenge is big... will their unlimited friendship allow them to take it up?
Rumble
Directed by Hamish Grieve
Screenplay by Hamish Grieve, Matt Lieberman
Based on Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell
Produced by Brad Booker, Mark Bakshi
Starring Will Arnett, Terry Crews, Geraldine Viswanathan, Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'I, Tony Danza, Becky Lynch, Susan Kelechi Watson, Stephen A. Smith, Jimmy Tatro
Ben Schwartz
Cinematography : Keni Seki
Edited by Matthew Landon
Music by Lorne Balfe
Production companies : Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, WWE Studios, Walden Media, Reel FX, Animation Studios
Distributed b Paramount+
Release date : December 15, 2021 (United States)
Running time : 95 minutes
https://mulderville.net/images/Movies/Rumble/Rumble_014.jpg
(Source : press release)