Mr. McMahon (2024) Dir: Chris Smith
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Vince McMahon is a controversial figure, and rightly so. For decades, he has been the figurehead for the WWE; the biggest and most successful wrestling organisation in the world. He has been a domineering presence both on and off the screen for the company, since he took over from his father. That was, up until very recently.
When this limited docuseries, directed by Chris Smith, was released, I approached it with some trepidation. After all, at the time of writing, the man is subject to a number of legal proceedings and investigations, surrounding, but not limited to, sex trafficking, assault, coercion, and more.
I was concerned that the series wouldn't pay enough attention to the details of McMahon's various allegations, in favour of a fairly standard wrestling history documentary. However, I think the series did a lot to balance the wrestling aspect of the man's life, and the allegations against him. It gave a bigger picture, in my view, of who the man is, and what he's done.
The series featured a lot of the same faces from the business that you see in most wrestling documentaries, though, in fairness, a lot of them are the ones who were there and knew at least a good deal of what was going on. And it's not to say that they didn't contribute interesting points or context to the series, because they definitely did.
One of the questions I wanted the answer to was whether or not the docuseries would provide the audience with any new information. The answer to that, if you were someone new to wrestling, or at least a casual fan, was yes. For someone who has a keen interest, the answer was, well, sort of. The series provided more context to events that a lot of people likely already know.
Overall, I thought this was a fairly good docuseries. I won't say it was brilliant, but I don't regret watching it at all. The showrunners definitely put a considerable amount of effort into showing the good, the bad, and the heinous side of wrestling's most well-known pantomime villain. Some will see it as a "gotcha" piece, but honestly, I didn't think that. If anything, I just think that the man makes it hard not to heavily criticise him.
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