Review: The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart

I love this trend of Warner Bros Home Entertainment doing a bunch of full-length movies inspired by their best known animated franchises and not only do I think we should do more of this with additional franchises included, but I dare Warner Bros. to start releasing these in theaters. And why the hell not? The Venture Bros has always been a superhero parody adult animated franchise, so what better time than now as comic book movies are nearing the end of the party that used to monopolize theatrical box office dollars pre-Avengers: Endgame? 

Not unlike Marvel’s MCU, a good amount of homework goes a long way in really appreciating everything that goes on for this fitting finale for The Venture Bros. That said, if you haven’t been much of the show since it ended in 2018, (and the MAX streaming service isn’t helping given that they are removing the show from its service on August 12th, 2023), The Venture Bros: Radiant Is The Blood of the Baboon Heart gives new and returning fans enough to go on for backstory that it probably isn’t a requirement.

For my money, I just sat back and enjoyed all 84-minutes of a failed grandiose plot peppered with constant back-and-forth bickering from the entirety of the Venture family. To be honest, I kind of shed a tear to the point that this may be the last time we see any of this ever again. Granted, the conclusion kind of has a Futurama finale take on it where it leaves open the door for more OR as a great way to kick off from the pilot that first aired 20 years ago this year on Adult Swim.

The entire cast and crew returns and show creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer give us a tour-de-force in execution in EVERY role they bring to the table. The dialogue is witty and poignant, the humor is effervescent, and they mesh so well with the rest of the cast, both old and new. Titmouse offers a solid refresh from the series with continued attention to detail in every facet of the production, clearly showcasing the love they had for a franchise that is arguably the one that helped give the eponymous studio one of the bricks of its foundation of eventual domination more than ten years ago.

The Venture Bros. franchise has never been for the faint of heart for those trying to be the casual fan, but if you can take a number of the different elements at its face value, The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart should be enough to entertain ANY fan. For us hardcore Venture Bros. fans who have been there for the beginning, this is a treat that should be bought and stored in a new, hopefully, ever-growing collection. Streaming services are no longer guaranteed to be archives anymore, this should be a no-brainer.