Look, Heavyweights has a warm heart buried under a lot of 1995 fat jokes. The core story—kids reclaiming their summer from a tyrannical fitness guru—is solid, and there are genuine themes about friendship, standing up for yourself, and self-acceptance.

But here's the problem: it's really hard to watch in 2025. The entire comedic engine runs on 'haha, fat kids at camp' humor that feels uncomfortable now, even though the movie ultimately wants you to root for these kids. The pacing is slow, the jokes are dated, and unless your kid has a specific nostalgia for '90s Disney Channel vibes (or you do), this is probably going to be a 'can we watch something else?' situation within 20 minutes.

The ratings tell the story: critics were lukewarm even in 1995 (50% RT, 42 Metacritic), and while audiences are kinder (77% RT audience), that 6.6 IMDb suggests 'fine, not great.' It's not bad—it's just aggressively mediocre and increasingly awkward. There are way better family comedies that teach similar lessons without the dated body-image baggage. Skip unless you're specifically mining Disney+ for '90s nostalgia.