Sometimes, the elevator pitch is enough. You hear the basic description of the movie and you’re in. This isn’t to say that you know this movie will be great or even good, just that the boiled-down fundamental concept is enough to intrigue.

So it is with “Rumble,” the new animated film streaming exclusively on Paramount+. In essence, this film is basically “Professional wrestling, only with massive kaiju-style monsters.” It’s an idea that certainly appeals to the 14-year-old boy in me.

The film was initially intended for a theatrical release, but the powers that be ultimately decided (after pushing the date a couple of times) to send it straight to the streamer. It is a decision that, upon watching the movie, makes one wonder why that wasn’t the plan all along.

It’s not that “Rumble” is bad so much as that it is … boring. One can squint and see the pieces of a better movie scattered here and there, but the truth is that the film never quite manages to take advantage of the various and sundry cartoonish elements – figurative and literal alike – that the conceit invites. Instead, we get a film that offers up watered-down versions of familiar themes – underdog sports story, familial legacy, etc. – and never really manages to go anywhere with them.

Look – if I’m dozing off during a movie about wrestling kaiju, someone somewhere has made some pretty significant errors.

The notion of superheroes as kid stuff has largely fallen by the wayside thanks to the massive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the less-massive-but-still-pretty-huge success of the DC Extended Universe. These are movies that young people can enjoy, but they are very much made for adults; the DC side especially leans into that aspect of the genre.

But there’s still a lot of kid-friendly fun to be had with superheroes. The animated TV series “Teen Titans Go!” – a staple on the Cartoon Network for the past five years – is a non-canonical DC property aimed at lighthearted fun and parodic takes on comic book tropes.

And now there’s a movie.

Inoffensive animated sequel pleasant enough

“The Lego Batman Movie” a fun romp