Written by Alexander Reams
46/100
Movie trailers are masters at the art of deception and misleading. Constantly setting up plots and characters that pull the viewer, myself included, in. I will admit my excitement for this film was raised exponentially by the trailer. George Washington with chainsaw arms, Samuel Adams as a frat bro, Thomas Edison as a magician, and Killer Mike (½ of Run the Jewels) as a blacksmith, in this retelling of the American Revolution sounds like a great idea. The film also looked like a smart satire mixed with humor that evoked memories of Deadpool. I thought that this film could be one of the best animated films of the year, as well as one I could massively enjoy. Unfortunately I was quickly let down by this very juvenile and unfunny film.
Before I begin tearing most of the film apart, I’d like to talk about the animation style and a few scenes that stuck out. A style that while clearly not hand-drawn, is the best imitation of hand drawn animation I have seen in a long time. There are also some very enjoyable scenes that I found throughout the film. Specifically the final battle, shown briefly in the trailer, that includes buses acting as AT-AT walkers, George Washington in a stars and stripes baseball jersey and chainsaw arms, and Killer Mike as a hilarious blacksmith.
I found almost all of the jokes to fall flat, even the running gag about a bar called “Vietnam”. Jason Mantzoukas has finally found a role where I found him annoying, and it does not work in anyone’s favor. I constantly found his blind racism spoof to be annoying and not at all smart. Especially his rapport with Olivia Munn’s “Thomas Edison”, Killer Mike’s “Blacksmith”, and Raoul Max Trujillo’s “Geronimo” are some of the most annoying bits in the film by far. Even the celebrity cameos they were able to get for this film are not at all welcome and feel especially out of place. With a bad screenplay, ok animation, and an annoying voice cast, I found this not worth a watch and one of the biggest disappointments so far this year.
America: The Motion Picture Trailer
America: The Motion Picture is currently streaming on Netflix.
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