YMMV / Rumble

• Adaptation Displacement: You might not know it, but this film is based off a graphic novel called Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell. Good luck figuring the connection out.
• Awesome Art: The kaiju designs are quite impressive.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Stop us if you heard this one before: A quirky underdog nobody believes in except for his trainer works himself up the ranks of [insert sport here] until he finally faces the lauded champion and secures a victory against all odds. Add a rather cookie cutter Saving the Orphanage motivation and you have... pretty much every underdog sports story ever. Critics were not amused by just how predictable the movie's plot was and cited it as one of it's biggest weak points.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many people have stated that they couldn't care less for the plot and are only planning to watch it for the combination of Kaijus and Professional Wrestling. It's even this trope literally for the former.
  • You could also watch it for Terry Crews playing a wrestling shark squid hybrid.
• LGBT Fanbase: Even when only the teaser trailer was released, both Steve and Tentacular proved to be quite popular with gay men.
• Popular with Furries: Unsurprisingly, the monstrous Big Fun Steve and the muscular shark/squid Tentacular got quite a bit of praise from some furry communities.
• So Okay, It's Average: While critics admitted to liking the general premise and praised the monster designs for being actually creative and fun, many were disappointed by the rather paint-by-numbers plot and the disappointingly flat characters that kept the movie from standing out in any way. General opinion on the film appears to be that it's a fun little flick to watch with your kids but not much more.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Rayburn and Jimbo Coyle both died at sea. The movie's Big Bad is Tentacular, a marine-themed monster who is jealous of Rayburn's legacy. Coincidence? Yes. Tentacular is never stated to have anything to do with the leads' fathers' deaths, which many viewers felt was a wasted opportunity to make the fight between Rayburn Jr and Tentacular even more personal.
  • A common critique of the movie is that while the world it takes place in seems incredibly interesting not much is done to flesh it out beyond wrestling. What kind of accomodations in architecture, transport or education would have to be made in a setting where humans and giant monsters share a planet? What does it cost to care for and train a professional monster athlete? Are there monsters with other jobs than wrestling? All very good questions - that the movie isn't remotely interested in answering.

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