Underdogs

Underdogs (known as Metegol in Argentina and The Unbeatables in the United Kingdom) is a 2013 Argentine 3D computer-animated comedy co-written and directed by Juan J. Campanella. The film is inspired by the short story Memorias de un wing derecho (Memoirs of a Right Wing) by Argentine writer Roberto Fontanarrosa. Gaston Gorali, co-writer and producer of the film, and Eduardo Sacheri (who had previously worked with Campanella for the classic film The Secret in Their Eyes) developed the screenplay with Campanella.

The film is an Argentine production, and was released by Universal Pictures International in Argentina on 18 July 2013, setting an all-time record for an Argentine film opening at the box-office. Costing $21 million, the film is the most expensive Argentine film of all time, and the most expensive Latin American animated feature ever. In 2014, The Weinstein Company acquired the rights to distribute the film in North America. After numerous delays, including an August 2015 theatrical release that was scrapped last minute, the North American English-language version was released on DVD in July 2016. The film was available on Netflix in the United States in June 2016.

The film received mixed reviews upon its international release; it has a 64% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews, while scoring a 38% (based on 5 reviews) on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Plot
A father who is putting his son Matty to sleep narrates him a story, beginning by telling Matty to use his imagination while listening.

Many years ago, Jake, a timid boy and the best foosball player around, was working in a bar in a small and quiet town. He loved Laura, a girl he met in the bar, but she did not know. While showing Laura the foosball table, a kid named Ace arrives and challenges Jake to a game in front of Laura. Although Jake refuses to play at first, he is victorious, and everyone at the bar applauds. Outside of the bar, Ace encounters a manager who offers to take him on.

Seven years later, Jake's simple routine falls apart when Ace becomes the best football player in the world, and returns to the small town to avenge the only defeat in his life. Now that he is famous, Ace announces that he has purchased the whole village and builds a gigantic football stadium, although he is more interested in owning the foosball table where he lost to Jake and destroying the bar where he was defeated. He also wants to win the affection of Laura.

With football, the bar and even his soul destroyed, Jake discovers something magical: in the face of adversity, the town's foosball players talk and plan. Together they embark on a journey full of adventures to save Laura. Along the way, they become a real team, and while Ace turns the town into a giant stadium and forms a soccer team, Jake recruits members of Ace's foosball team along with those of his own, and also forms a soccer team to challenge Ace.

At the game, Ace's team takes the early lead, but the foosball players help Jake's team to tie the game. However, with seconds to go, Ace deliberately injures Jake, who is unable to stop him from scoring the winning goal. The crowd instead praises Jake's good sportsmanship, and Ace's manager abandons him, with Ace's teammates also congratulating Jake. Jake reunites with Laura in the end. Jake, Laura, and their friends build a new town in honor of them.

Production
The film was announced on 27 November 2009. The voices of the main characters of the cast are Pablo Rago, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Fabian Gianola, Horacio Fontova and David Masajnik.

Sergio Pablos, executive producer and creator of the original idea and story for Despicable Me, acted as animation director for 20 minutes of the film, and advised Campanella on direction. The rest of the film was animated under the directions of Federico Radero and Mario Serie.

Puerto Rican band Calle 13 composed and performed the original song of the movie.

Release
An English-language version of the film was produced in the United Kingdom by 369 Productions with Vertigo Films handling the distribution rights and was released under the name The Unbeatables on 15 August 2014. The UK dub features stars such as Rupert Grint, Rob Brydon, Anthony Head, Ralf Little, Alistair McGowan, Peter Serafinowicz, and Eve Ponsonby.

In March 2014, The Weinstein Company acquired distribution rights for the film in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and France, with plans to release their own English-language version of the film under the title Underdogs. The US dub features Ariana Grande, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Morrison, Katie Holmes, John Leguizamo, Eugenio Derbez, Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, Chazz Palminteri, and Mel Brooks. The film was originally going to be released in 2014 but was pushed back several times. A week before a planned August 2015 release, the film was pulled from the schedule. It was released direct-to-video on 19 July 2016.

Critical reception
Based on 15 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a positive rating of 67%, with an average rating of 5.6/10. However, on Metacritic, the film currently has a rating of 38 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Box office
The film opened #1 at the Argentine box-office, earning 16,622,178 pesos on its opening weekend, outperforming other animated blockbusters such as Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University.