There’s a particular balance that biopics have to strike. On the one hand, major points in their subject’s life need to be covered in order to be complete, and, on the other hand, the story needs to be told from a unique perspective in order to be dynamic and engaging in a way that is more than just documentary. This struggle is pervasive in the genre, and what made 2007s ‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’ such a successful skewering of music biopics in particular: it may have lifted story inspiration from on particular real life musician’s life, but it hit every beat that practically every music biopic –and biopics in general– seem to hit.
Queen of the Ring is a new biopic from writer-director Ash Avildsen that follows the life of an icon, female professional wrestler Mildred Burke, a woman seen by most as the pioneer in the female wrestling space. Burke was a bonafide phenom, a tough as nails woman who grew up dirt poor and rose to the top of an industry, inspiring others to follow, and developed enemies along the way that she’d eventually have to overcome. The film delivers an excellent story ripe for a creative telling but despite several bright spots in the production, it fails to be so, opting instead for the most straightforward recounting. That is to say: it walks pretty hard.
Link: https://keithlovesmovies.com/2025/04/01/queen-of-the-ring-review/
Queen of the Ring: A Frustratingly Straightforward Sports Biopic | KeithLovesMovies
