STRAIGHT FIRE 2026 (Wild Dogs Productions) Review

2026 kicks off another busy year for the Wild Dogs, with their first film of the year being delivered with Straight Fire! This film marks the return of Maralynn Adams (Michael Fredianelli’s movie making partner) back on writing duties. Her second film since Frankly A Mess back in 2018. This means we are something a bit different from Wild Dog’s normal vibes as Maralynn takes us on another raunchy over the top comedy adventure. What makes this film fun is it clearly takes inspiration from actual filmmaking experiences and struggles that Michael and Maralynn have been through during their many years of movie making.

Making a movie is a struggle indeed! Holding that boom is a workout in itself.

The movie is about Willie, a struggling filmmaker who wishes to make it big in the film world. He finds his post-film school life with his fiancé tougher than he imagined as he faces the reality of making ends meet. When his best friend comes up with a truly crazy idea to create a “So Bad It’s Good” movie. (He refers to them as Scooby mvoies or tubi treasures, which are movies where people mine the depths of the sewers of the great and powerful behemoth that is Tubi to find only its most potent excrement to share with the masses). Willie breaks down and decides to make an intentionally bad movie to cash in on this niche. But things don’t quite go to plan as expected during his film making journey.

Willie meets a wacky cast of characters throughout his struggle. He has to mange the expectations of Layla and her father Marty, who just want Willie find a job to make stable money and abondon his passion for now. Then there’s Teddy, a rugged loan shark who surrounds himself a crew of thugs and sluts who gets involved with the financing of the movie. Trell, the lead of the film with the big ego who ends up being 7 hours late to set and insist’s on including his wife in the film. Thankfully, WIllie is backed up by his loyal crew of Eli and Taylor, who do their best to see things through.

Is it bad news or good news?

There is something to be said about how bad movies can produce gold. Their poor acting, nonsensical plots, technical errors, or over-the-top cheesiness, can somehow create unintentional humor you can’t find anywhere else. Straight Fire defiantly plays with these tropes and set’s up through out its run time. Their are actors who don’t know how to act, boom mics that fall into the shot and cringy line reads to be found. I enjoyed the bit where they use a actual broom for the boom mic. Maralynn also draws a lot from Guerilla filmmaking, creating some fun set ups such as when the film crew tries to film on a house for sale where part of the crew tries to distract the agent to buy them time to finish their scene.

Straight Fire has a solid cast of performances, Michael Grayson as Willie has some great comedic performing and seeing him sweat and struggle throughout the film is a lot of fun. Morgan Finley King as Teddy has a great look and screen pressence as the loan shark and Michael Nose stands behind him as a stoic accountant. Elijah Macias as Eli is clearly having fun with his role as the quirky production assistance. Courtney Randolph is also a stand out, as she play’s Willie’s neighbor who ends up joining the film crew adventures. The bad movie in the film also gives Fredianelli and Adams a chance to give cameos to a few Wild Dog mainstrays such as Boynton Paek and Bryan Wilks.

This guy just really wants to the film to get finished.

There is a fun fight sequence at a self defense gym where Fredianelli’ leans into Looney Tunes antics with some fun creative fight choreography. I would say the only main struggle the film faces is with it’s climax. Straight Fire tires to go big for its finale in typical Wild Dogs fashion, starting with a fight in a house, a car chase and finally a all out brawl at a bar. The car chase suffers from some quite shaky footage and may have benefited the film by being left on the cutting room floor. The all out brawl at the bar does have some fun moments, from a labubu getting caught in the crossfire to a bar patron just drinking ignoring all the chaos happening behind her.

Overall, Straight Fire captures what making a movie is all about. It’s about the challenge and persistence to keep going even when the odds are against you. Maralynn Adam’s colorful characters and outrageous situations range everywhere from hilarious, to sexy, to gross during the runtime of the movie. Also keep a eye on that ice cream cone that is being enjoyed during a scene as it sometimes magically refills itself through out the scene.