Marco 4 (2017)

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### "I've been *SOOOOOOOOOOOO BAD!"* -Edgar

***Marco 4*** (also stylized as ***M4RCO***) is an 2017 3D Marcanese-American computer animated action comedy buddy spy film produced by Actors 3D and Anaya Animation for Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures. The fourth installment in the *Marco* franchise, the film was directed by Chris Melendari, produced by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, and written by Rob Greenburg. The film was released to theaters June 30, 2017 and received mostly positive reviews from critics. The film also became the 2nd highest-grossing Marcanese animated film of 2017, only behind *Josh Samuel 3.*

## Plot

After Marco's friends had left him to retire themselves from espionage, Marco and his siblings, along with their mischievous little buddies and longtime friend Aileene, make a deal with teen billionaire Ian and his lovely assistant Mikayla in order to track down the elusive teen rapper Edgar, who's looking to seek revenge against the world for getting his music career ruined. Marco also finds purpose as the Houston Spy Association's genius teen sleuth.

## Why It Rocks

1. Just like its 2015 predecessor, this fourth film has incredibly top-notch animation and amazing eye-catching cinematography that's supreme for 2017 standards, with more expressive character movements, even brighter colors, and wonderful photorealistic visuals.
2. The action scenes are *really* awesome they're arguably the best in the *Marco* franchise, most notably the film's finale with the giant E-Bot and the rap-themed dance fight after that. The Lake Conroe yacht chase and the Superyacht scenes are also amazing.
3. The Tomball fair scene, the Main Event scene, the Iandonia scene, and the Lake Conroe evening scenes are very memorable.
4. Outstanding voice acting as always, especially from Hugh Jackman, David Spade, and Trey Parker (whom do very superb jobs as Marco, Ian, and Edgar respectively). Also, considering that Hugh Jackman arguably does an even better job at playing Marco than Bill Hader from the previous films.
5. Great humor as always in this film, with several jokes that work such as:
	* The Superyacht scene in which Ian gets too overexcited for no reason despite Marco's advice that they would be heading to Edgar's fortress in order to save Mikayla.
	* The "Billie Jean" scene where Marco & Mikayla have an awkward dinner night together while trying to get the dance moves right for the aforementioned Michael Jackson song.
	* Kevin's running gag throughout the film in which he goes after his malfunctioning robot who steals his Nintendo Switch every time.
	* The scene where Marco awkwardly gazes at Aileene can be considered both funny and cute at the same time. Also, the McDonald's scene in which Aileene orders some random drive-thru customer a Happy Meal for him is quite funny.
	* Edgar's constant gag of him getting mad whenever Bryan puts him other music that isn't rap.
	* Joaquin & Emiliano's gags are still quite amusing to watch, such as the Iandonia scene in which they attempt to try several things such as cooking, golfing, and virtual reality games; the fair scene where they compete for the biggest fireworks show using several explosives; and when Emiliano mistakes a glowing orange pearl for a papaya.
6. Just like its predecessor, the new characters are both likable and lovable and the returning characters are still as good as always:
	* Ian is very hilarious as the film's new comic relief, while also providing some of the film's best moments and several funny catchphrases. While he makes for a great comic relief, he also helps Marco & his friends overcome their hardships throughout the film while also not being too proud of his own riches and efforts.
	* Mikayla is Marco's kindhearted and sweet temporary love interest who treats Marco as someone who really loves her no matter what happens to them both. She admires Marco's personality even though she has other interests or qualities that are different from his own.
	* Ian's assistants (Kevin, Connor, and Josue V) are also really good if somewhat funny additions to the *Marco* franchise.
	* **Proper character development arc:** In the original film, Aileene at first rejected Marco for being a complete fraud towards her and accidentally stealing her anime book until she later accepts him for who he is after Marco saves her life. Here, in the fourth film, she still knows that Marco was the one who saved her and joins him no matter what. She also becomes more kind to him despite their weak relationship in the original film and Marco's pure awkwardness.
	* Meleene is still a likeable character in this film and gets a bigger role here by guiding Marco & the kids to Edgar's former mansion, and thanks to her, Marco decided to start a much better relationship with Aileene once again.
	* Roberto is a nice and sympathetic teenager who becomes friends with Marco and appreciates his modesty since both are modest people who aren't that much wealthy or popular compared to other teens such as Ian.
	* Bom Bin still keeps on being the grown-up circus clown we all know and love, and here we see his more emotional side while providing more great circus-related gags.
	* Jonathan Nava and Anthony, despite not appearing that much in this film, are decent if likable teen entrepreneurs compared to the MISDA secret agents from *Marco 2.*
7. Although the story is simple compared to the previous films, it has an entertaining if shockingly mature plot with a well-done script, as it explores the Nature vs. Nurture element and the question of whether bad behavior is inherited or acquired, and how it can affect other people's feelings in negative ways: Marco somehow ended up on prison because of Edgar's mean behavior towards him for attempting to stop his evil actions as a gangster, and later gets depressed by him to the point where he decides to track him down for the greater good, since that was what he was meant to do. Edgar, however, had no mercy for Marco & his friends and only wanted to destroy them for the fame and glory he had before becoming a fully-fledged supervillain. The film also combines the usual *Marco* elements with lots of suspense, along with a good detective subplot.
8. Marco surprisingly gets more proper character development here than in the previous films: after being interrogated by Edgar for supposedly ruining his career although he didn´t and only wanted him to stop becoming a villain, he decides to quit his own espionage job in favor of his sheer isolation from society since he doubts that people would see him as a criminal rather than a spy for ending up himself in prison. In the previous films, he had always seen the bright side of things even in the hardest of times, but here he realizes the dark side of things and for that reason he ends up being depressed to the point where he wanted to die. However, when he soon suffers from mid-life crisis and apathy all this time due to his loneliness, Marco finds someone to be with in order to relieve his troubled past and prove himself that he isn't a bad guy; and so he meets Mikayla & Aileene, whom help him recover his faith in love and learn the importance of being himself, with the latter proving that Marco didn't commit Edgar's own crimes by having Edgar tell the truth.
9. Highly catchy and addicting soundtrack, with "Let The Good Times Roll" by Pharrell Williams & Ethan John, "Believer" by Imagine Dragons, and "Dance Fight" by Eminem standing out the most. Also, Edgar's version of Flo Rida's 2011 hit "Low" ("Bad") is very catchy and the songs fit into each scene: like for example, the "Billie Jean" and "On The Boat" scenes.
10. The relationship between Marco & Mikayla is lovely yet wacky to watch, such as in the aforementioned "Billie Jean" scene and when they promise about each other's friendship after failing to track down Edgar at the boat scene. Also, Marco's relationship with Aileene is endearingly cute to watch, like in the scene where they meet once again after several years of not seeing each other and when they hold hands together at the film's ending scene.
11. The other emotional moments, such as the scene where Bom Bin sings "I Remember You" to Isabella, are very touching and heartwarming too. There's also moments where the film can get impactful or just downright tearjerking, like the part where Marco gets depressed after being taunted by Edgar, Roberto's backstory when he was a kid, the scene where Aileene gives Marco her own anime book, and when Aileene tries to comfort Marco at the Iandonia dock after Ian & Mikayla left them.
12. Edgar is an entertaining and well-written antagonist (thanks to Trey Parker's performance and how he's written & animated) and his backstory is funny yet somewhat sad. The idea of a rap-obsessed teenage star who fell from the Billboard 200 because of him wanting to be a gangster is indeed original. Also, his plan of getting revenge on the music industry as part of his world domination plot seems quite original as well.
13. The ending is sweet (also a great conclusion to an already great franchise) with a touching note, as we see that Marco's other friends do appear in this film, having moved to Ian's former residential hotel, and later we see Marco & Aileene wave at Esau and his crew who are heading to Cancun via cruise boat.
14. Much like *Marco 3*, this film also doesn't have too many pop culture references despite having some product placement; and includes a more mature if somewhat dark tone that both kids and adults would understand. The film also deals with socioeconomic issues by having Ian welcoming those who are poor, homeless, orphans, divorced parents, etc. and other issues such as drug addiction, the presence of gangs, gambling, smoking, domestic abuse, and even suicide in which both kids and adults would understand while not being somewhat innappropiate for its target audience.
15. The film has great messages that appeals to both kids and adults, especially teens: it states that bad behavior is acquired, not inherited and that insecurities & doubts make you stronger if you use them for good. The film has strong messages about overcoming hardships in life, living your own life however you want it, being yourself, trying new things, having good people as friends instead of bad ones, respecting other people's opinions, and it also makes the point that weak relationships can become strong ones, such as in Marco & Aileene's case.
16. Aside from its great messages mentioned above, the film excels at providing its strongest message concerning the vast amount of evil in this world, which is very rare in animated films: in other words, the film makes us admit the awful truth that the hostile world we live in would always be contaminated by evil and that the only way to stop it would be having a mutual understanding of each other as stated in the original film and overcoming evil with good (and also obey God's commands always).
17. Since teens are the film's main target demographic, it respects teen culture while also not portraying teens as lazy or stereotypical, but rather as independent and capable of making their own decisions either being good or bad ones. This is a great example of how to do teenage-oriented films the right way.
18. The concept of Marco being a detective although still being a spy is highly original and brilliant, even for an animated film, despite the short execution. However, the scenes where Marco becomes a detective are very well executed.
19. The film vividly manages to capture some rather awkward or tragic moments in real life in such an exquisite way, just like *Agent Cyberlink.*
20. The film's references to *Sherlock Holmes, Fast & Furious, The Mask, Transformers, Ghostbusters,* and other films/pop culture are amazing and very well done for the most part. There's also a clever moment in the Iandonia dock scene referencing Adam & Eve, which has to do with the film's message about bad behavior.
	* Also, the posters and DVD covers for this film are quite amusing to see: among them posters and DVD covers parodying 2017 films like *The Fate of the Furious, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Dunkirk,* and *The Shape Of Water.* Just like its predecessor, the film also has lots of spot-on Easter eggs from other Actors 3D & Anaya Animation films.
21. Remarkable nods to the original film, such as the Anaya+ scene where Marco & Pepe watch *Marco* (which is the original film), the prison opening scene in which AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" plays in the background since that is meant as the complete opposite of "Highway To Heaven", the scene where Ian shouts Marco's most famous quote, and Marco posing guns with his hands saying "It's *showtime!*"
	* Also, "The Marco Rap Song" scene is a very amusing yet cool nod to the "Marco Pop" song as it combines both elements of rap and pop in such an unique way.
22. The end credits are gold, pairing up the traditional "Joaquin & Emiliano do funny things" credits in the first round with new stylized 2DCG animation in the second round, that being the same animation style used for *Agent Cyberlink.*
23. A unique twist on the Columbia Pictures and Anaya Animation logos: the Columbia Pictures logo starts as normal but once Edgar hits the Torch Lady with his raptar, the background flashes to rap concert-style as Edgar plays with his raptar; and the Anaya Animation logo gets mirrored by Marco's lens as the film implies that it would also be a detective movie.
24. The film tries to be unpredictable for the most part, as it keeps you guessing on whether Marco will stay with Mikayla or Aileene, whether Marco's friends will appear or not, whether Marco & Ian would keep on being friends, etc. The film also has surprising moments, too (especially Bom Bin & Aileene's returns to the silver screen since the original film) and even Joe & Alondra return as brief cameos.
25. This is perhaps the most underrated *Marco* film ever made, alongside *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco.*
26. These quotes:
	* ***"I've been SOOOOOOO BAD!"***
	* **"WOOHOO YEAH!!!"**
	* **"You can overcome the bad things in life with the good things"**
	* **"Oh, it's just the fridge"**
	* **"*JUST RELEASE THE ROBOT ALREADY!"***
	* **"*RAP MUSIC!!"***
	* **"Do you like chicken?"**
	* **"Ow, that was bullcrap"**
	* **"Deal's a deal"**
	* **"Aw, dang it Marco!"**
	* **"Oh, fudge"**

## Bad Qualities

1. The film can get quite dark at times, most notably the haunted mansion scene, and could get somewhat intense for a PG rating.
2. The supporting characters (Kevin & Marlene, Derek & Brian, Josue, Melissa, etc.) don't appear too much in the film, which is unusual since they play major roles in the *Marco* movies and having them absent throughout this film isn't really a good idea to start with.
3. Despite having a good detective subplot for this film, it was rather short-executed and wasted in favor of the main story, since most of the detective subplot took place at one particular scene: the haunted mansion scene. This also leads to some false advertising, as the film implied that it would focus more on Marco as a detective, which kind of isn't the case in this film.
	* However, the 2017 Marco Toon "Where In The World Is Aileene?" fully expands Marco's detective subplot by having him solve Aileene's case of her absence before her birthday in which she gets kidnapped by someone Marco has met before, according to director Kevin Armand.
4. A few other problems: although the film tries to avoid being predictable for the most part, there are instances where it can sometimes get predictable. Also, this film feels like a slight rehash of the original film, such as when Marco had to rescue Mikayla & Aileene (whom become damsels-in-distress during the climax scene) and also how Marco confronts Edgar, being similar to his confrontation with Joe. The film could get slow-paced at times and feel mildly boring.
5. Depending on your point of view, the animation can sometimes feel way too cartoony and over-the-top that it comes off more as a *Hotel Cloudylandia* film instead of a *Marco* film, which is admittedly a problem with modern computer animation.
6. The finale, despite it being awesome, is admittedly very long for a *Marco* film.
7. Edgar, despite him being likable as the film's villain, is very unlikable at the beginning since he was the one who sent Marco to prison by blaming him for the cancellation of his TV show and career as a rapper even though Marco actually didn't.

## Reception

### Box office

*Marco 4* grossed $2.24 billion worldwide over a budget of $270 million, making it the 2nd highest-grossing Marcanese animated film of 2017 (only behind *Josh Samuel 3*) and the highest-grossing *Marco* film until *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Movie* in 2018. The film was released along with *Despicable Me 3, The House, and Inconceivable,* finishing 2nd at the box office.

### Critical reception

*Marco 4* received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87%, based on 143 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "*Marco 4* keeps on entertaining audiences and fans of the franchise with more fantastic action scenes, more comical wit, and surprisingly amazing emotional depth" On Metacritic, the film has a score of 80 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews" Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, down from its predecessor's "A+". It also earned a 89% positive score, including a 4 out of 5 rating, from filmgoers on PostTrak, along with a 82% "definite recommend".

## Trivia

* This was originally intended as the last *Marco* sequel, but due to the huge popularity of the *Marco* franchise, Sony decided to make a fifth film titled *Marco 5: Epilogue* by 2019.
* This film marked Bom Bin and Aileene's returns to the silver screen since the original film.
* This film was dedicated in memory of Mark Armand, who died of heart disease before this film got released back in April 2017.

## Taglines

* "Spy vs. Gangster"
* "Sweet revenge"
* "Your favorite kiddos are now teens"
* "Teen superspy. Teen detective"
* "Be yourself"
* "Good vibes, anyone?"
* "Somebody's gotta rap"
* "Little James Bond is now teenage Sherlock Holmes"