For me the work of animation "it" guys Lord and Miller is hit or miss. While The Lego Movie and Into the Spider-Verse were minor masterpieces, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and the recent The Mitchells Vs. the Machines were completely overrated disappointments. Well their latest experiment, an Archer-like irreverent take on the founding of the United States of America, with heavy doses of revisionist history, is a clunky, unfunny mess that often leaves you wondering WTF is the point?
The clear intention is to comment on Americana with a violent, sexually explicit, and expletive laden retelling of the founding of "America" which sounds great in principal but in execution ends up on the boring side. Little about the film entertains. The story seems focused more on getting from one over the top joke to the next instead of telling a story. There are weird developments like Lincoln and Edison being contemporaries of Washington and other anachronistic plot points. But the worst part is that its irreverence is limited to being silly and gross and never ends up clever or cutting. There is no critique in this film.
For a project like this to work you need a point, a thesis, that the film explores about the nature of Americaness. America the Motion Picture doesn't say anything, well nothing interesting. Despite how many F-bombs it drops the film remains rather safe. And that is the biggest disappointment of all.
America the Motion Picture
Starring: Channing Tatum, Simon Pegg, Judy Greer, Olivia Munn, Will Forte, Jason Mantzoukas, Andy Samberg
Director: Matt Thompson
Writer: Dave Callaham
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