Review: The Rise Of Marco

Everyone's favorite kiddos are now taking their mischief to the streets of Uptown Houston- with favorable but unexpected results.
At first, we see Marco's wacky cousins and their friends enjoying a very great time in the snow. Now, their unsuccessful but nice leader Marco has finally earned the top spot as "the world's greatest spy" in the Great Hall Of Fame, but the lovable teen megalomaniac decides it's time to retire for good, and the kiddos... they set off to another wacky journey of their own.

The sequel to Sony's 2018 hugely anticipated spinoff featuring Marco's candy-obsessed cousins as the main characters is nevertheless a great sequel, although it might fall short (or a little bit longer) of the original. The film has Marco's little buddies stumble upon Uptown Houston via some strange 2093 time machine, where they meet young Marco as he takes down the world's most despicable team of crooks and see how he became the espionage genius mastermind he is today. Some aspects of the film are great, while others aren't that great as we would expect from the Marco movies. While the animation is arguably the best thing about this film, it has some uncanny moments and it rather feels more like a Hotel Cloudylandia film but from a better franchise. The shiny grandeur of the Williams Tower and the beautiful lovely Water Wall would make you say "Whoa!", and everything else about the animation, whether it be the film's strikingly nice cinematography or its awesome visuals, is undeniably amazing. What's even more amazing are the film's fun yet quirky new characters: we have the viciously crazy yet cool Felonious 5, the awesome good-at-breakdancing Yang family, Joe Greed & his crazy hipster gang of ghettos, a granny who's got a knack for martial arts & knitting (and her more calmed down husband), and our two adorable creatures Mateo & Emely. Along with the film's villains, we have greedy sentiment vending machines and an enormously big but ruthless "Tackle-Me-Elmo" whom Marco & his friends encounter at the luxurious Galleria. Despite the film's surprisingly dark tone, the dark absurdist humor found here is actually really funny, creating some of the film's most amusing (and unexpected) moments, such as the "Tackle-Me-Elmo" scene for example. The film is packed up with several famous vocal performances: we have Jackie Chan as the fearless head of the Yang family, Ken Jeong as maniacal bumbling tycoon Joe Greed, Keanu Reeves as a jazz musician obsessed with noir, and even Brad Pitt as a well-renowned Elvis, as well as lots of 90s-early 2000s nostalgia. It's fun to see the baddies attempting to take down young Marco & his buds, and also the latter ones trying to defeat the baddies themselves (especially when they face this child-napping Al Capone known as "The Black Terror"). However, the film's outlandish storylines are all over the place, and some people might not get the hang of it since the film clashes the past & present together in a kind of bizarre way. Also, it seems like young Marco takes over the whole entire screen, accidentally letting the titular comic reliefs sit on the bench. Sometimes, the film tries way too hard to be cartoony or perhaps, dark (pretend this film's your typical Emiliano plush toy, but quite menacing when you sleep with it). Anyway, the Marco movies' signature brand of humor and emotional depth are still present here, including a scrumptious ramen feast and Elvis tuning in "Come As You Are" by Nirvana in front of Marco & his buddies.

Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco might not possibly be 2021's best animated feature, but its wonderful visuals, 90s nostalgic feel, plucky new characters, and its intense hysteria makes it for another fantastic, action-packed yet madcap Marco sequel/prequel. What Marco 2 lacked in emotional depth, this movie doesn't.