Playing with Fire review – Where there’s smoke …

In Redding, California, a group of firefighters known as smokejumpers are about to meet their match.

Smokejumpers – highly trained men and women who provide the initial attack on wildland fires by parachuting into remote and rugged terrain – are the elite among their field.

Yet when three smokejumpers – Captain Mark Rogers (Keegan-Michael Key), Lieutenant Rodrigo Torres (John Leguizamo), and Axe (Tyler Mane) – and their superintendent Jake Carson (John Cena) rescue three children from a cabin fire, the men discover all their training hasn’t prepared them for what happens next.

For Carson, who is unable to reach the children’s parents, California’s Safe Haven Law means the men have no choice but to keep watch over the kids. Now reduced to the role of babysitters, the four men are about to learn that children are actually much like fires – wild and unpredictable.

The men take the children back to their depot in Redding. The depot, renowned for its strict regime, was once run by Carson’s father, the most badass firefighter of all time before he met his untimely death in a fire at Yosemite. His is a legacy that both burdens and inspires Jake.

John Leguizamo, John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key and Tyler Mane in ‘Playing with Fire’. Photo: Paramount Pictures

“His father died in a horrific accident when Jake was younger,” says director Andy Fickman, “so he’s adopted a very strict, walled-up persona. Carson is a product of his environment.”

And now Superintendent Carson has been recommended to replace Commander Richards, a position he has worked hard to achieve.

“When you find Jake, he’s at the precipice of the biggest opportunity of his career. His eyes are on the prize; nothing can get in the way. So, of course, we throw everything in his way.”

But Carson has his three best men at his side.

Practically attached to his hip is Captain Mark Rogers, Carson’s right-hand man and personal cheerleader, and the team’s go-to guy. “Played by the brilliant Keegan-Michael Key, Mark is the guy who’s always there, even when you’re not calling him,” says Fickman.

John Cena and Keegan-Michael Key in ‘Playing with Fire’. Photo: Paramount Pictures

“So, it takes no moment in time for him to appear with whatever instrument you need. You need a map, he’s got it. Johnny’s on the spot!”

Just below Mark is Lieutenant Rodrigo Torres, a former convict-turned-foodie. He fancies himself a bit of a chef for the team. He learned to cook in prison and now he’s bringing that delicious prison food nightly to the smokejumpers.

Finally, there’s Axe, the gentle giant and the only smokejumper whose full name and rank are a mystery.

“He’s our Frankenstein in the woods,” says Fickman. “He is scarred and silent and we don’t know a lot of his story, but we do know that in a fight, Axe is who you want on your side.”

Despite their divergent personalities, what the three men do have in common is a devotion to Carson who, as Mark Rogers says in the film, “was the one who inspired me to do this”.

Playing with Fire. Photo: Paramount Pictures

His words hint at the irony of Carson: despite his ability to bring out the best in others, he remains locked within his own shell.

But Rodrigo also insists that beneath Jake’s hard outer case lies a softer interior, one that maybe it’ll just take a special someone to crack: “You may not see it, but Supe has a sweet side.”

But while Carson can count on his men, the children are another matter. Sixteen-year-old Brynn (Brianna Hildebrand) has a smart mouth, a chip on her shoulder, and a secret she’d rather not share: the kids burned down the cabin.

Accidentally, perhaps, but it will only compound the trouble Brynn is in for taking her siblings, 10-year-old Will (Christian Convery) and nearly four-year-old Zoey (Finley Rose Slater), to the cabin in the first place.

Brynn convinces the younger two they need to steal some supplies then make an escape.

John Cena and Christian Convery in ‘Playing with Fire’. Photo: Paramount Pictures

Foolishly believing the kids are cooperating, Carson accepts the invitation of the current Western Division commander, Commander Richards (Dennis Haysbert), to visit the depot and see for himself the tight ship Carson runs.

If Carson can impress Richards, the commander will in all likelihood name Carson his successor. Carson is beside himself with glee: his dream of becoming commander is truly tangible.

But chaos erupts: Zoey is having a meltdown, Mark and Axe are frozen with inexperience, Rodrigo is too busy making himself a sandwich to notice Brynn rifling through the closets, and Will has wandered off and found the flare guns.

With the typical recklessness of a 10-year-old boy, Will fires them off, grazing Jake and setting his pants on fire.

As if that isn’t bad enough, the attractive field biologist Dr Amy Hicks (Judy Greer) arrives at the depot with a bone to pick: against her contract with the state, Carson’s team had scooped water from her protected area. Or, more specifically, her toads’ protected area.

“I’m researching the western spadefoot toad and the environmental impact on the toad and other species,” says Greer about her character. “And since it’s a really secluded area in this part of California, there’s not a lot of people around. There’s only the smokejumpers …”

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