Genre: Comedy, action
John Cena’s rebrand from a champion wrestler to a comedy actor hits new planes of success every time he appears on screen and this winning streak continues with his latest film, Jackpot!
Jackpot! is set in the dystopian, economically constrained future of the US state, of California in the year 2030. The state has introduced the Grand Lottery to the city of Los Angeles which gives ordinary citizens the chance to win billions of dollars, provided they can withstand being hunted down for 24 hours by the rest of their bloodthirsty, poverty-stricken fellow citizens. Katie (Akwafina) is new to LA and accidentally finds herself with the winning ticket. Noel (Cena) comes to her rescue and offers his protection services in exchange for a cut of her winnings. Together, the duo must evade all the attacks and make it to the end of the day alive, all while dealing with Noel’s protection rival Louis Lewis (Simu Liu), who also wants to get her to sundown to claim his rich protection commission.
This is the perfect comedy film to watch on a lazy afternoon because it flawlessly executes a fine balance between gory cinema and comedy. The stakes feel real and even when you know that Katie and Noel will most likely make it out alive, you’re left wondering what you would do if presented with the opportunity to win $3.6bn on condition you avoid being brutally killed for hours on end.
The action scenes are brilliantly shot and draw from Cena’s experience as a wrestler while paying homage to gory cult classics such as The Purge with the inclusion of gruesomely graphic violence and blood, so a trigger warning especially for younger viewers is necessary.
To counteract the gore, the dialogues between the characters are packed with witty one-liners which will make you laugh out loud and feature a few cameos from familiar faces like Machine Gun Kelly, Seann William Scott, and Leslie David Baker.
Jackpot! is a fun action comedy especially if you’re a fan of wrestling great turned comedy connoisseur, John Cena.
Jackpot! is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
