Review: America The Motion Picture

Overview:

Set in an alternate timeline, George Washington (Channing Tatum) sets out to fight the British and avenge his friend Abe Lincoln (Will Forte). He joins forces with Sam Adams (Jason Mantzoukas), Thomas Edison (Olivia Munn), and many others to form the American Revolution and save their country.

Our Take:

History is an important topic to learn so we can become better people, but at the same time, it can be pretty boring for some of us to listen. But what if there’s a way to make world history exciting, mature, and animated? That would surely make the kids want to learn, without a doubt. Well, thanks to this latest animated film from Netflix, that strategy just became a reality.

The R-rated film features plenty of talented people on board, including its star-studded cast and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were coming off the heels of one of my favorite films of 2021, The Mitchells vs. the Machines. It also saw the feature directorial debut of Matt Thompson, who was involved in shows like Sealab 2021 and Archer. So there was no doubt that there’s some potential for this adult animated comedy.

The story is described as an “untold historically accurate” retelling of George Washington’s battle against the British (aka the “fun police”) and the birth of America. Whether this fact is true or not is up to the expert historians, but it does play a pivotal part in the film’s tongue-in-cheek humor and adult violence. Unfortunately, the plot that’s presented here was anything but historical.  

This is a tasteless and outrageous animated Netflix film that combines many different genres like satire, action, and science fiction because why not? It also offered some pretty amusing moments in its storytelling, such as its modernized takes on specific historical events and a suitable message about leadership. Sadly, those things weren’t able to make the Founding Fathers proud regarding its middling execution. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but that doesn’t mean it’ll make its name in history in terms of adult animation.

The characters were parody versions of historical figures, which should surprise no one. The best examples of this fact were Thomas Edison being a woman and Benedict Arnold (voiced by Andy Samberg) being a werewolf. Just go with it. Even though the film didn’t do that much to provide anything else beyond that, the characters made the movie watchable thanks to its entertaining voice cast, especially Channing Tatum and Jason Mantzoukas as George Washington and Sam Adams, respectively. Bobby Moynihan also offered some funny moments as Paul Revere, a child-like man who may or may not be raised by horses.

The film’s animation delivered a combination between 2D animation and 3D graphics, and for the most part, it’s passable. It almost shared a similar style as the one from Archer, which makes sense since Thompson served as an executive producer for that show. There were some parts where the animation looked a bit off-putting, including a couple of CGI models that looked like they came from a cheap indie video game. However, there were other moments where the animation worked reasonably well, such as its character designs and action scenes. I would be more forgiving towards the style if the film was redesigned as a series instead, but since it went down this route, I have to point out that the animation wasn’t as groundbreaking as America’s victory over the British.

The humor served as the main draw of America The Motion Picture. It poked fun at the historical events that happened during this timeline as well as modernizing them. The standouts that came to mind were Adams and the men being in a college fraternity and the Titanic. There were plenty of jokes that were far-fetched, vulgar, and even gory. Unfortunately, most of them weren’t as absurd or memorable as the film’s mind-boggling concept. It had a couple of laugh-out-loud scenes that busted my gut, but that’s about it, sadly. The excessiveness of its raunchy humor may also prove to be a turnoff for the sensitive viewers, especially those who aren’t fond of racial and sex jokes.

Overall, America The Motion Picture doesn’t quite make adult animation history, but it had enough humorous moments to provide a somewhat enjoyable satire regardless. The voice cast and animation managed to keep the Revolution standing. Although, its run-of-the-mill execution towards its story, characters, and humor prevented it from reaching the historical standards set by producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. If you’re not into raunchy comedies, especially the satirized ones, you’re better off reading a history book instead.