Kevin James’ 2025 Motion Comedy On Paramount+ Is Higher Than Playdate

After decimating a complete gun working operation in season 3 of TV’s greatest motion present, “Reacher,” earlier this yr, Alan Ritchson returned in November alongside Kevin James for the motion comedy “Playdate.” Sadly, the film was a essential flop, however Prime Video customers did not care, sending the movie to primary on the streaming service. Now, nonetheless, James is again for his second motion comedy of 2025, and it’d simply have the sting over “Playdate.”

“Weapons Up” hit Paramount+ on December 1 and has equally managed to high the platform’s charts. It additionally garnered extra constructive critiques than “Playdate” and appears to be a barely higher possibility for motion comedy followers. The film sees James play a mob enforcer attempting to go away his illicit career behind and is directed by Aussie filmmaker Edward Drake. The director beforehand pivoted from music movies to B-movie fare, most notably by writing and directing a number of movies within the previous man Bruce Willis oeuvre — you understand, the movies with titles like “Breach” and “American Siege.” His final film previous to “Weapons Up” was “Detective Knight: Independence,” the third in a trilogy of movies starring Willis because the titular investigator.

With “Weapons Up,” nonetheless, Drake pivoted as soon as once more, delivering a lot of the identical motion that characterised his Willis collaborations however this time with a comedic streak. The transfer appeared to work comparatively nicely for him, as “Weapons Up” is the director’s most high-profile launch but. So, if you wish to see how his and James’ team-up labored out, you are able to do so proper now on Paramount+.

Paramount+ has some nice motion pictures, even when it is without doubt one of the smaller streaming companies, and “Weapons Up” is a stable addition to the catalog. It stars Kevin James as ex-cop and household man Ray Hayes, who, in his post-law enforcement life, works as a mob henchman. That profession alternative would not precisely make it straightforward for Ray to reside as much as his household commitments, which signifies that in some unspecified time in the future you’ll be able to guess there’s going to be a significant conflict between his profession and residential life. 

Ray is nicely conscious that he wants to go away the felony outfit behind and goals of strolling away to open a diner together with his spouse Alice (Christina Ricci). Earlier than he can achieve this, nonetheless, he wants to hold out one final job for his employers. You may see the place that is going, proper? Issues do not precisely go to plan and making issues worse, the mobsters have a heartless new boss within the type of Lonnie Castigan (Timothy V. Murphy), who targets Ray’s youngsters Siohbán (Keana Marie) and Henry (Leo Easton Kelly), thereby hastening his violent departure from the mob.

“Weapons Up” hit Paramount+ on December 1, 2025, and viewers despatched the film to the highest of the charts. It debuted at quantity two the day after it hit the service earlier than climbing to the highest spot the day after (through FlixPatrol). What’s extra, critics prefer it barely greater than “Playdate,” which is considerably stunning given the latter options Alan Ritchson, whose star has been persistently on the rise since he debuted as Jack Reacher. Keep-at-home dad Jeff Eamon, nonetheless, was not one in all Ritchson’s greatest roles, with “Playdate” solely managing a disappointing 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Weapons Up,” in the meantime, has fared significantly better.

“Weapons Up” is not going to go down as one in all the most effective motion comedies ever, but it surely’s time and barely extra satisfying than “Playdate.” In that Prime Video outing, Kevin James’ stepdad accountant character is shocked to find that Alan Ritchson’s stay-at-home dad is definitely a former Delta Power soldier — one who rapidly reveals his hidden abilities as an unassailable badass throughout a playdate gone dangerous. In “Weapons Up,” nonetheless, James is the badass. At one level, his son even asks, “Is dad John Wick?” That is type of the entire concept right here, and it really works higher than the dynamic in “Playdate,” the place you are all the time anticipating Ritchson to be the hero.

Whereas the Ritchson/James team-up was critically maligned for its boring comedy and dated tone, “Weapons Up” not less than managed to impress a couple of critics, who collectively gave the movie a extra satisfactory 61% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That stated, solely one of many three “high critics” who reviewed the film truly appreciated it, with Linda Marric of HeyUGuys calling it “an plain victory for Kevin James, who proves that he can pull off an motion hero.” Selection’s Siddhant Adlakha, in the meantime, was stunned by the shortage of “armed shootouts” in a film known as “Weapons Up” and located that “the story and motion lack the urgency prompt by its one-last-job premise.”

Nonetheless, there isn’t any arguing that extra individuals appreciated “Weapons Up” than “Playdate.” Certainly, one person over on Letterboxd summed issues up completely, writing, “‘Weapons Up’ is the sort of film you scroll previous on a streaming service, take an opportunity on due to the solid, and stroll away pondering, ‘That was higher than I anticipated.'”