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*The Actors Movie* is an 2016 3D Marcanese-American computer animated comedy film produced by Actors 3D Entertainment and Actors Studio for Columbia Pictures, based on the videogames of the same name. The 18th feature film from Actors 3D, it was directed by Thurop Van Orman, produced by Clark Spencer, and written by Peter Ackerman & Jennifer Lee. The film features the voices of Jason Sudekis, Josh Gad, Kate McKinnon, Peter Dinklage, Charles Martinet, Erin Matthews, Roger Craig Smith, Bill Hader, Jen Taylor, and Richard Kind. The film was released on May 20, 2016 to positive reviews from critics and grossed $870 million, becoming one of the highest-grossing animated films based on a videogame of all time. A sequel was released in 2019 by Sony.

## Why It's Great

1. Incredibly great animation with very fluid movements, as expected from Actors 3D and Anaya Animation. The film's backgrounds feature various pixelated objects such as the Eiffel Tower that fully resemble 80s-90s arcade games.
2. Very likable, surprisingly good, and unforgettable characters such as the Actors (Joseph, Jake, & Jay), the Mario Bros, Pac-Man, Qbert, and Kirby.
3. Very funny and entertaining jokes that reference the *Actors* games, such as the one where Joseph & Jake tell the Parsleys about the game's three star ranking, Jake's constant running gag of losing his hat, and... "Kolaches, *anyone?*" The Xbox Jail joke is also hillarious (considering that Sony & Nintendo make better games than Microsoft due to them appealing most to family-friendly customers).
4. Great soundtrack composed by Heitor Pereira (who also composed the music score for the *Marco* movies).
5. The idea of a movie about the Actors' origin story is fairly interesting and was well executed.for the most part. Also, the idea of the Actors and their famous videogame friends teaming up against Hitler and the videogame villains a la World War II is actually somewhat excellent & interesting, too.
6. Just like Animacon's *Actors* movies, the film is essentially a love letter to the source material: not only throwing in subtle references that only the truest *Actors* fans would understand, but also staying true to the games' 1940s-themed athmosphere and faithfully following the source material, unlike other poorly-recieved video game movies.
7. Solid voice acting, especially from Jason Sudekis, Josh Gad, Kate McKinnon, Peter Dinklage, Bill Hader, and Richard Kind.
8. Excellent climax with the Actors & their friends battling Hitler & his army of arcade villains at the German Nazi Palace. The other action scenes are also very fun to watch.
9. The film has its emotional & heartwarming moments, like when Jake & Jay search for Joseph and when Judge Brown apologizes Joseph for the water tower incident. The Actors' backstory is both emotionally sad and cute at the same time.
10. Surprising videogame cameos from the Mario characters, Pac-Man, Sonic The Hedgehog & Dr. Robotnik (Eggman), Little Mac, Kirby, Qbert, Ryu & Ken Masters from Street Fighter, Mega Man, Pikachu, and several others. There's even cameos of rejected videogame characters in the 1942 scene as well (to which the film pokes fun at, since they're considered as characters from bad games).
11. The film's themes of being yourself and not someone else, fighting back, having self-confidence, and how anger can lead to problems are very well handled.
12. Several references to arcade games from the 80s-90s as well as WWII to the point where it gets very appealing for both kids & adults, as well as historians, gamers, teens, and young adults. The film also has lots of hidden Easter eggs from other Actors 3D & Anaya Animation films and the *Actors* games.
13. Adolf Hitler makes for a decent main antagonist. However, his plans of taking over videogame worlds for the sake of money and reuniting the videogame villains are well-executed.
14. The sequel is also as good as this film (although if it somewhat falls short).
15. The introduction of the film is *really* hillarious, also the Columbia Pictures and Actors 3D logos are quite amusing to see and the pixelated Anaya Animation logo seems really cool.

## Bad Qualities

1. A few adult jokes, like in the scene where Jake tells the ladies to "get moving" and when Adolf Hitler gives his speech, he mutters "*cluck* those pathetic stick figures". Some scenes in the film can get somewhat dark for a kids' film, such as the one where Jake gets hypnotized at the confectionary shop.
2. Judge Brown is unlikable in the first half of the film, as he blames Joseph for the water tower incident instead of Bowser & his army.
3. The film uses some cliches, such as the "fake-out death" and "corrupt government official" cliches.