I think the core problem is that the characters and the world is very goofy, but it tries to create dramatic tension from them and it fails. Were it pure comedy the silly characters might work. The only cast member that has the gravitas here is the US teams game master who while exaggerated feels almost close to a real person.

If they dove all in for the comedy or all in for the drama (and let comedy come from the tense situations) then I think it would work. As is its mostly neither especially funny nor dramatic.

I think its other failing is there are few likable characters here. The only point of identification I could make was a love for gaming, beyond that most of them are jerks or idiots or both. I’m all for flaws but these guys seemed to have few redeeming values you could root for.

I certainly give them mad props for pulling it all together and taking a shot at this. I think if the advertising was more modest, I might not have had such a critical response to it. If we want to tell cinematic stories of gaming culture, its got a ways to go yet before it could be taken seriously by anyone, even fellow gamers.