Rayman & Aku Aku (2016)

***Rayman & Aku Aku*** (or also known as ***Rayman: The Movie***) is an 2016 Marcanese American computer-animated adventure comedy film based on the *Rayman* and *Crash Bandicoot* games as a videogame crossover featuring other gaming characters as well. *Rayman & Aku Aku* was directed by Jeff Fowler and produced by Cody Cameron from a screenplay by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller; starring the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Peter Dinklage, Renee Zellweger, Rob Riggle, John Goodman, Jessica Biel, Ellen DeGeneres, Pierre Coffin, and Mel Winkler. Being Anaya Imageworks' fifth animated feature without any involvement from Anaya Animation, the film has Rayman & his friends searching for Aku Aku's crystal marble in which they must save from the hands of a megalomaniacal mad scientist who wants to abuse it for world domination.

The film got a limited theatrical release from Columbia Pictures and Lionsgate under Sony Pictures Releasing on September 9, 2016. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics and was a modest box office hit, grossing $379 million over its $56 million budget.

## Plot

Set in a world where weird creatures and videogame legends live apart from each other, Rayman's perhaps the biggest loser in Crazytopia all for being the only giant in his own cruel world, and yet no one believes him when he warns them about the enigmatic Aku Aku. Suddenly, after being thrown out of the party to the local garbage dump, he encounters Applehead and Ballhead, who's been the life of the party before he joins them on their crazy journey to the rainbowishly exotic Aku Aku Island. There, they meet the legendary Aku Aku, who warns them about his precious crystal marble in which Rayman & his friends, along with the mischievous raving Rabbids, must find; but when Dr. Felonious Vortex, the world's most nefarious and genius mad scientist, wants to use it for his latest evil schemes of destroying the world's islands, Rayman & his friends team up to stop him, retrieve the missing gem, and prove the true existence of Aku Aku to their frantic neighbors while keeping both paradises intact.

## Why It Rocks

1. Very much like the *Hotel Cloudylandia* films, this film has colorful and ravishing computer animation that uses surrealism for its backgrounds and visuals, especially that of Aku Aku Island and Crazytopia; along with nice cinematography.
2. Along with its colorful animation, the film also has a wonderful and pleasant color palette and, like the *Marco* movies, it perfectly captures the cartoony nature of Hanna Barbera cartoons with its characters and their movements. The character designs look really great even if they're somewhat weird, plus they are fitting for the film's surreal tone and visuals.
3. The idea of weird unknown creatures having their own world is very unique and original for an animated film, and just like *The Actors Movie,* the film also sticks its main concept with videogames while also paying homage to them despite it being just a parody. Also, the idea of a videogame crossover that serves as a parody of well, videogames, is excellent and interesting.
4. The premise of this film was well-executed thanks to its well-written and entertaining story and script.
5. Great voice acting, with Ryan Reynolds and Peter Dinklage standing out the most as Rayman and Dr. Felonious Vortex; the other voice actors also do very splendid jobs portraying their characters, among them Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, John Goodman, Ellen DeGeneres, and of course Mel Winkler.
6. Surprisingly great, memorable yet likeable if lovable characters:
	* Rayman is portrayed as a very sympathetic if quirky giant in this film and makes for a great protagonist: although he tries to become nice to the residents of Crazytopia, they always reject him for being a giant loser. However, Rayman soon discovers that Dr. Felonious Vortex wants to destroy their island and he tries to save them while also protecting Aku Aku Island and the other Pacific islands as well.
	* Applehead and Ballhead serve as great comic reliefs for this film aside from the Rabbids, and they each have their own unique personality: Applehead started off as a self-centered being who later puts his selfish manners aside in favor of his friends, yet he still became friends with Rayman & the others; Ballhead only cared about receiving fame and glory as the town mascot, but when Rayman warns his neighbors about Aku Aku, he was the only one who believed him and soon when he joins Rayman & his friends to Aku Aku Island, he finds out that being famous isn't his thing anymore.
	* The Rabbids are also funny if mischievous comic reliefs who supply some of the film's most hilarious jokes and aren't necessarily obvious rip-offs of Joaquin & Emiliano and the kids from the *Marco* movies, as they only speak gibberish and each Rabbid has its own personality, unlike the storks from *Dorm & The Invincibles.*
	* Raynette, Rayman's love interest, is yet another sympathetic giant who understands Rayman's feelings towards her and also appreciating his weird personality despite their tall statures. She also shares some things similar to Rayman and isn't even afraid to tell him that she loves him no matter what.
	* Aku Aku is a legendary mask with his own enigmatic nature who actually isn't that intimidating as the residents of Crazytopia thought prior to Rayman's voyage to Aku Aku Island; despite him being sometimes anxious if angry about his crystal marble, he has a soft spot for Rayman & his friends after knowing that they would search the crystal marble for him. He strongly believes in the power of honesty and would do anything to protect his friends from danger and grant them wishes according to their good desires.
7. Dr. Felonious Vortex makes for an entertaining and cool yet intimidating villain, thanks to Peter Dinklage's voice acting, his creative weaponry, his overall expressive movements, and how he's written. His plans of destroying the Pacific Islands with Aku Aku's crystal marble for his own power are somewhat well-executed albeit still being funny; however, his idea of turning his victims to brainless slaves with the same crystal marble is very brilliant. Also, his backstory was sad yet understandable at the same time since everyone rejected him for being too smart, that which forced him to take over the world all by himself.
8. The soundtrack is great, most notably the song "When Are We Gonna Get Weird Again?" that plays during the end credits along with 2DCG animation; and also thanks to Queen's "We Will Rock You" played during the final battle, "Bohemian Rhapsody" playing during the concert scene, and "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns N' Roses being played during the fight between Rayman & Dr. Vortex's robots and drones.
9. This film is absolutely hilarious, with several jokes that do actually break the fourth wall:
	* One great example would be when Ballhead screams in such a funny way that Applehead tries to calm him down, but then this happens: Applehead: "Why are you screaming like an idiot?" and then Ballhead: "And why are you screaming like a *girl?*" although Ballhead was the one who screamed like a girl, and seconds later he even had to admit that.
	* Another great example would be the scene where King K. Rool and his Kremlings attempt to fire their cannon towards Aku Aku Island, but things backfire immediately when the Kremlings get smacked by coconut melons thanks to King K. Rool's own stupidity after he realizes that he threw the remaining cannonballs to the Pacific Ocean thinking they are coconut melons.
	* As mentioned earlier in WIR #5, Dr. Vortex's crazy plan for taking over the world: first, he states that he would send his henchmen to Aku Aku Island along with his robots and drones; then, he would defeat Aku Aku in order to steal the crystal marble; and later, he would use it to destroy the world's islands (and then let his pet llama swallow it afterwards), but soon he realizes that the crystal marble isn't on Aku Aku Island!
	* Ballhead's crazy obsession with sour lemon soda, Applehead's constant gag of getting his head bitten by worms, the jokes with Borio and Baluigi, and the scenes in which the Rabbids attempt to steal some eggs are also very funny and surprisingly clever.
10. Aside from the film's humor and characters, the emotional moments are also spot-on for the most part: such as the part when Rayman & his friends encounter Clank near the Marsh Valley, the scene where Rayman & Raynette meet once again after several years of not seeing each other, and the ending scene in which Rayman & his friends get invited to some tea party with the Crazytopians. There's also cute moments throughout the film, like when the Rabbids realize that a baby chick has hatched from its egg.
11. Amazing and very cool action scenes throughout the film, especially the film's epic climax and the scene where Rayman & his friends battle Dr. Vortex's robots and drones at Aku Aku Island. The Aku Aku Island boxing ring scene is also excellent yet still being very funny.
12. The film's principal message about accepting others for who they are is very well-executed for the most part; and its other messages about loving yourself no matter how you look like, being yourself rather than someone else, forgiving one another, and being good neighbors are also very excellent. Although these messages are really good, the one that stands out the most would be its theme about friendship being more important than fame and glory, which is rarely a topic that most animated films teach you about.
13. The film does a splendid job at referencing several arcade games while also being faithful to the *Rayman* and *Crash Bandicoot* games (and even having clever references to those games as well) like how *The Actors Movie* did it; and it also has funny references to films like *Indiana Jones* when Rayman & Raynette enter the Temple Of The Uka Uka, *Pirates Of The Caribbean* with Gravy Bones*, Gulliver's Travels, Titanic,* and *Rocky* when Rayman swallows two raw eggs before fighting King K. Rool.
14. Nice surprising cameos from Crash Bandicoot & Dr, Neo Cortex; Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and King K. Rool from *Donkey Kong*; Dr. Mario, Luigi, Wario & Waluigi from *Super Mario Bros*; Banjo-Kazooie and Conker The Squirrel; Captain Falcon from *F-Zero;* Terry Bogard from *Fatal Fury*; Kirby & King Dedede; PacMan; Little Mac & Mike Tyson from *Punch-Out!;* and even Clank & Captain Qwark from *Ratchet & Clank* despite them being from the present day era of gaming.
	* Also, what's uniquely cool about this film is how it portrays the cameo characters: like how this film portrays Dr. Mario as a martial arts expert/ninja aside from being just a doctor, Crash Bandicoot as a retired boxer who encourages Rayman to fight against King K. Rool (who's portrayed here as the now greatest boxer of Aku Aku Island), and Conker The Squirrel as the owner of the Aku Aku brewery.
	* The film even has great if clever wordplay for some of the cameo characters, such as Borio & Balugi (Wario & Waluigi) and Captain Qwerk (Captain Qwark).
15. As mentioned before, the ending was really nice; and the film's opening was decently executed as it explained how Rayman became a giant and his emotionally sad backstory about being rejected by the Crazytopians.
16. This film puts several clichés to good use, especially taking advantage of the "misunderstanding" cliché, and even adverts many such as the "arrogant narcissistic bully" cliché, the "popular person/jock" cliché, and the "buddies separate only to reunite by the third act" cliché.
17. This is perhaps one of the most underrated animated films ever made from The Anaya Company, and it's arguably Anaya Imageworks' most underrated film.
18. These quotes:
	* **"YEAH!"**
	* **"I am not the apple tree, Ballhead"**
	* **"This isn't funny, Qwerk!"**
	* **"Uh oh... I forgot"**
	* **"Don't tell me, we're heading to some waterfall \*sees that they are actually heading to some waterfall and gulps\* oh, right... *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!*"**
	* **"WAHAHAHAHA!!!"**
	* **"Balls, balls, balls... no balls"**
	* **"Oh, apple juice"** and **"Oh, applesauce"**
	* **"Oh, dear"**
	* **"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"**

## Bad Qualities

1. While the characters are likeable, there are some characters that can get unlikable at times, such as the Crazytopians (whom, thankfully redeemed themselves at the end) and the Black Bandits; Mayor Gene is a very unlikable character who hadn't redeemed himself in the end despite Rayman's sympathy towards him and the Crazytopians.
2. The film could get weird at times, and also rather mean-spirited like when Rayman gets thrown to the nearby landfill by the Crazytopians regarding Mayor Gene's orders and when Dr. Vortex hypnotizes and replaces Borio & Baluigi with Captain Qwerk.
3. The film draws some similarities to *The Actors Movie* despite it being from Anaya Imageworks and not being a complete rip-off of the aforementioned film.
4. Dr. Vortex's organic form looks rather awful and uncanny for some target viewers.

## Reception

### Critical reception

*Rayman & Aku Aku* was met with generally favorable reviews from critics, although being the most underrated Anaya Imageworks film and similar to *The Actors Movie.* As of October 2016, the film holds an average rating score of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the website's critical consensus reading, "Although not as revolutionary game-changing as *The Actors Movie,* this crazy Rayman flick is pure frenzy fun with lots of quirky, comedic wit and plenty of nostalgic charm" On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 68 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.

### Box office

*Rayman & Aku Aku* was a modest box office hit despite its limited theatrical release in the US, Marco Island, and worldwide; grossing $379 million over its $56 million budget.

## Trivia

* This was Anaya Imageworks' fourth animated feature-length film without any involvement from Anaya Animation, since they already did *The Actors Movie* back then in May 2016.