Playing with Fire's reviews
Media reviews
The A.V. Club
There?s something particularly enervating about a cuddly parenting comedy that maintains a convenient ignorance about what children are actually like, even as the grown-ups supposedly learn their lessons about that very subject.
The Hollywood Reporter
Parents will likely be checking their watches more often than not. But the young target audience, for whom much of this formulaic material will seem fresh, will probably have a raucously fun time.
The Washington Post
Even if the fine arts of cinema and comedy are abused in 'Playing With Fire', the pain is brief, and ? with the closing credits ? disappears like a puff of smoke.
Variety
It?s John Cena?s movie. Playing this paramilitary firefighter jock, a character built directly around his bodybuilder physique, Cena is certainly convincing.
Los Angeles Times
'Playing with Fire' shoots for slapstick but lands squarely in the surreal.
New York Post
Director Andy Fickman ('Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2') favors poop jokes and the cringe-humor of watching little kids court danger with a nail gun, kerosene, an ax and sometimes literally fire.
The Wrap
The film is bland and predictable, underestimates kids? abilities to understand story and humor, and relies way too much on sight gags that are clichéd and overdone.