Playing with Fire

...and he fails miserably, yet again. I genuinely like Jon Cena and from what I have seen he appears to be an all-around pretty great guy. I just don't think the whole film thing is going to happen for him and it isn't necessarily his fault. The problem with Playing with Fire is that it is just a really stupid concept for a film and while it is definitely meant for a child audience, I can't really imagine it working for that demographic either. This film is, plain and simple, really stupid.

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The good news for Cena is that this film turned a pretty fantastic profit. The bad news is the other, more gritty films that he has been in either completely flopped or he played only a minor role.

I'll briefly tell the story behind this turd of a film.

Cena plays the role of Jake or "Supe" and he is known as that because he is the supervisor of an elite "smoke jumpers" squad that airlifts into forest fires to perform rescue missions. This is a real group of people and yeah, they are rare and I am quite sure they do some pretty amazing stuff.

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What the actual smoke jumpers do is probably extremely dangerous and definitely worth admiring, but "Supe" and his crew perform these tasks in a whimsical way that is almost certainly because the film is produced by Nickelodeon and they have to seriously tone down the violence in order to get their PG or G rating, whatever it was. It doesn't matter, this is a kids film

The film doesn't actually focus a great deal on fire-fighting but instead ends up being a family movie about how Supe and his crew initially don't want this group of orphans staying in their base station but just as you can predict as soon as it happens, the crew eventually comes around and grows to love them.

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They basically tick all the boxes in a "feel-good" family movie category.

Seemingly rebellious teenager who turns around by the end? check
6 year old (or so) that is much smarter than a 6 year old should be? Check!
Very young child who wears diapers so they can have poo jokes? Check!
A dog that doesn't like outsiders but takes to the kids right away? Check!
A very gruff firefighter that never talks but reveals his true softie side in falls in love with the kids? Check!
An innocent and budding romance that the kids help to make happen for the main character? Check!

There is also the fact that the kids are in fact orphans that aren't just waiting for their parents to come back from vacation and now Cena and the rest of the crew must fight for custody of them and of course this works out for them even though the actual process of adoption is an extremely complicated situation.... but i suppose we don't need to let the mostly child audience be aware of this.

I can't really see this film through the eyes of a child because I am not one. I only watched the film because I would really like to see Cena succeed. However, I think that even Jon himself realizes that he is not going to get serious roles and there really isn't room for another action star in Hollywood at the moment. The Rock and Jason Statham have cornered the market on that.

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They use music to try to get at your emotions but the entire thing is just too far fetched for me to feel anything about these situations other than disdain. Kids must have liked the film and forced their parents to take them to go see it because it ended up making nearly $40 million in profit. This is a blessing and a curse for Cena because he is likely going to be subjected to more roles exactly like this since all of his other projects haven't really worked out for him.

Should I watch it?

If you have small kids that will laugh at anything slapstick then yes, maybe. But you need to realize that this will be for their benefit, not your own. I would actually be very interested to see what kids have to say about this movie because I think that for anyone over 12 years old this one is going to be a hard pass.

_{I intentionally didn't include a trailer because it really isn't worth your time}

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The screenshots in this post were taken directly from the movie by me

Although it may seem like a joke, for a few days I have been following John Cena's career closely, his recent appearances in Fast Nine and The Suicide Squad (where apart we could say that he is one of the best parts of the film) have made me feel quite fascinated with the ex-wrestler / actor. He appears to have made very good decisions today that could considerably raise his status in the movie world, putting him alongside other figures like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

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Don't get me wrong, he is far from being a perfect actor and the projects he has participated in are not exactly masterpieces, but at this point his ability to entertain is undeniable.

So, I gave a chance to Playing With Fire, a rather unknown 2019 film that was produced by Nickelodeon and has Cena as the protagonist.

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In Playing With Fire we follow a group of iron firefighters, led by Jake Carson, one day they must go to a forest fire where they save 3 boys and must take care of them until their parents appear.

There can hardly be a more generic plot than this, its development is quite predictable and creative decisions are far from risky, the question is, is it worth it?

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Playing With Fire is silly but accepts its own nature, it is a light hearted and childish comedy that lives comfortably in its own confines, to seek more would be to fall into absurd pretensions.

His whole plot is nothing more than an excuse to put John Cena and the rest of the cast (Surprisingly relevant): John Leguizamo, Judy Greer and Michael Key in a series of funny situations without worrying too much about narrative coherence.

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The main focus is on the development of the leader of the firefighters group and how he must learn to put aside excessive restrictions in certain situations, is a warm film that manages to connect him in a very organic way with the children they must protect.

Although the twist that closes the film is extremely predictable - I already said it before -, it is executed with enough decentness, the film closes without wobbling too much and it manages to be an entertaining and moving journey.

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Of course from the technical point of view it is nothing to write home about, nor did we expect it to be.

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Las capturas de pantalla fueron tomadas directamente desde la película por mi

Aunque pueda parecer una broma, desde hace algunos días he estado siguiendo desde cerca la carrera de John Cena, sus recientes participaciones en Fast Nine y The Suicide Squad (Donde aparte podríamos decir que el es una de las mejores partes del film) me han hecho sentir bastante fascinado con el ex-luchador/actor. Aparenta haber tomado muy buenas decisiones en la actualidad que podrían elevar considerablemente su estatus en el mundo del cine, poniéndolo junto a otras figuras como Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

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No me malinterpreten, dista de ser un actor perfecto y los proyectos en los que ha participado no son obras maestras precisamente, pero en este punto es innegable su habilidad para entretener.

Así, le di una oportunidad a Playing With Fire, una película bastante desconocida del 2019 que fue producida por Nickelodeon y tiene a Cena como protagonista.

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En Playing With Fire seguimos a un grupo de férreo bomberos, liderados por Jake Carson, un día deben acudir a un incendio forestal en donde salvan a 3 chicos y deben cuidarlos hasta que sus padres aparezcan.

Difícilmente pueda existir una trama más genérica que esta, su desarrollo es bastante predecible y las decisiones creativas distan de ser arriesgadas, la pregunta es, ¿Vale la pena?

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Playing With Fire es tonta pero acepta su propia naturaleza, es una comedia Light hearted e infantil que vive cómodamente en sus propios confines, buscar más sería caer en pretensiones absurdas.

Todo su argumento no es más que una excusa para poner a John Cena y el resto del cast (Sorpresivamente relevante): John Leguizamo, Judy Greer y Michael Key en una serie de situaciones divertidas sin preocuparse demasiado por la coherencia narrativa.

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El foco principal está en el desarrollo del líder del grupo de bomberos y el como debe aprender a dejar a un lado las restricciones excesivas en ciertas situaciones, es una cálida película que logra conectarlo de forma muy orgánica con los niños que deben proteger.

Si bien el twist que cierra el filme peca de extremadamente predecible - Ya lo dije antes -, es ejecutado con bastante decencia, la película cierra sin tambalear demasiado y logra ser un viaje entretenido y conmovedor.

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Por supuesto desde lo técnico no es nada del otro mundo, tampoco esperábamos que lo fuera.

Twitter/Instagram: Alxxssss

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