Title: Queens of the Ring (AKA Wrestling Queens)
Image Entertainment
Director: Jean-Marc Rudnicki
Writers: Manon Dillys, Hélène Le Gall, Marie Pavlenko,
Cast: Marilou Berry, Nathalie Baye, André Dussollier, Audrey Fleurot, CM Punk, The Miz, Eve Torres
Running time: 97 min, Not Rated (partial nudity, sensuality & language)
Special Features: English dub track, Featurette
Available on DVD & Digital Download November 11th
In a desperate attempt to reconnect with her estranged son who is a passionate WWE fan, Rose (Berry) grabs his attention by joining a rigorous training program to learn to wrestle like a legitimate WWE Diva. The famed wrestler Richard “The Lionheart” (André Dussollier) runs a gym where Rose seeks him out to help her train to be a wrestler. He tells her she needs partners in order to bring fans to the forum. She convinces her bored fellow cashiers at the local supermarket to join her challenging new adventure and together they become the “Queens of the Ring.” There’s Collette (Nathalie Baye) the 50 year old mother of 3 with a cheating husband. Jess (Audrey Fleurot) the sexually adventurous one with an eye for the black boxer at the gym. Finally there’s Viviane (Corinne Masiero) the goth girl just looking for friends. Tonio (Jacques Frantz), a local promoter hears about the aspiring wrestlers and in order to make some money for everyone, sets up a match with the infamous Lucha Libre Mexican Divas – Goya Kong, El Canibal, Santa Demona, and Muneca de Plata. After being confronted with this news, Richard finally agrees to train them. The girls have to think up some characters to seal the deal. Corrinne comes up with a Wonder Woman persona, Jess becomes a gun toting Calamity Jess and Rose become a Lara Croft character. Viviane doesn’t want to be a bad guy character, but after a little balerina at the gym tells her she’s her hero, she accepts her bad-girl persona as Killy Billy the Froggy Butcher. The Queens begin to get some notoriety when a video of them taken at a dance club goes viral after they beat the crap out of a handsy creep. Rose can’t handle the pressure and bails on the queens the date of the event. Richard and Rose’s son find her and convince her that she needs to perform, not for her son, but for herself.
The Good: The story is fun. It’s kind of a female version of The Full Monty where it’s everyday people doing something out of their comfort zone.
The Bad: The English dubbing is terrible. Several of the voices are not age appropriate, except for the kid. The voice acting is awful, it’s almost like watching anime. The film boasts cameos by WWE Superstars The Miz, CM Punk and Eve Torres, and that’s exactly what you get, but it’s them on video in the film. If you say cameo, you kind of expect them right there with the other actors, so it’s kind of a cruel ruse for the actual fans. The fans will get their fix on the featurette where the WWE stars talk about and praise the film and they include other WWE stars Natalya, Santino, Dolph Ziggler, Nikki Bella, and Kofi Kingston.
Queens of the Ring is heartfelt, fast paced and has likeable characters. If you can forgive the hokey dubbing, it’s a fun flick.
Acting: B
Story: B
Technical: B
Total Rating: B
Reviewed by: JM Willis
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