Marco 4

***Marco 4*** (stylized as M4RCO) is a 2017 Marcanese-American computer-animated mystery romantic spy comedy film produced by Anaya Animation and Actors 3D Entertainment for Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to *Marco 3* (2015) and the fourth installment overall in the *Marco* franchise. Directed by Chris Melendari, produced by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, and written by Rob Greenburg, the film stars the voices of Hugh Jackman (taking over the role of Bill Hader as Marco), Will Smith, Emma Stone, Pierre Coffin, Anna Faris, Trey Parker, Rob Riggle, Tina Fey, David Spade, Mel Gibson, Renee Zellweger, Jason Sudekis, Julia Sawalha, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Kristen Bell, Michael Pena, John Cena, Chloe Garcia-Moretz, Dana Gaier, Abbi Jacobson, and Tony Hale.

*Marco 4* debuted at the Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, California on June 2, 2017, and was released to theaters in the United States on June 30. The film received generally positive reviews and earned $2.024 billion worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing animated film of 2017 and the second highest-grossing animated film of all time during its theatrical run.

## Plot

Marco gets sent to prison after failing to take down Edgar (a former teen rapper turned supervillain whose show "Edgar The Teenage Rapper" got cancelled when he became a gangster) while still wondering about a girl he met in high school named Mikayla. After winning a showdown against some criminals at the prison arena, Marco gets freed by his kids as they escape with a hot air balloon towards Tomball, where the town's annual German festival is taking place. After enjoying the rides, Marco harkens back to the time when he played arcades at Main Event as he heads home. The next day, Marco gets a letter from Ian, the chairman of the Houston Spy Association, and decides to become a member since he suffered a midlife crisis earlier. There, he also meets Mikayla as she's also revealed to be a secret agent. Marco & Mikayla get sent by Ian to stop Edgar at a cruise ship standing in Lake Conroe, but fail to get him and both make up at Billie Jean's for a dinner party. The day after, Marco and his family take a tour around the lake, but his friends spot Edgar and go after him. Marco sneaks in Edgar's lighthouse, which he uses as his gang hideout, only for him to get taunted by Edgar and his gang with "Bad" (a parody of the 2011 song "Low" by Flo Rida). Feeling more miserable about himself, Marco agrees to spend time at Cranebrook Pool with his family, where they get confronted by E-Bots. Meanwhile, Ian successfully attempts to grab Edgar's chip.

Marco & Pepe send Joaquin & Emiliano to spy on Edgar, while both meet Aileene, after many years of not seeing each other, at the store after joyriding on the new Marcomobile. They head out to Iandonia for a conference with Ian & Mikayla, and are surprised by their immense wealth and massive hotel, and also how Ian's godfather constructed the whole town. After trying out various activities and enjoying chili dogs for lunch, Marco expresses his love for Aileene when she gives her anime book to him. Marco & Pepe drive Aileene home, and Marco gets shocked at midnight when he reads Ian's message concerning Mikayla, who got kidnapped by Edgar's henchmen. Taking Joaquin & Emiliano with him, Marco disguises himself as a detective and look for her everywhere until they stumble upon an abandoned mansion, presumably owned by Edgar. He finds out an envelope that concealed Edgar's plans for world domination, and immediately warns Ian about rescuing Mikayla, who's been attached to a rocket bomb at Edgar's fortress. The duo attempt to save her, but Edgar takes Mikayla to Iandonia, where he empowers the huge E-Bot with his raptar to terrorize the town in hopes of destroying the hotel to build his new fortress. Stranded on the lake, Marco & Ian accompany Aileene and the gang towards Iandonia. Marco's friends weaken the robot as Edgar attempts to kill Marco with the robot's laser. Edgar confronts Marco, who challenges him to a dance fight, but takes advantage of Marco as they fight aboard the USS Edgar. Saved by his crew, Marco eventually steals Edgar's weaponized raptar and defeats him with it. He gets Mikayla & Aileene out of the rocket bomb, which lands onto the lighthouse and explodes. The townspeople, having been turned back to normal after Edgar hypnotized them with his rap music, construct a new lighthouse and congratulate Marco and his friends, whom later enjoy a peaceful glimpse of Lake Conroe. Marco chooses to stay with Aileene and comforts Mikayla, as she and Ian give the hotel to Marco and leave to their home in The Woodlands, much to Marco's weeping since Mikayla left him.

Now being the owner of Hotel Iandonia, Marco welcomes his other friends, who had been planning to move somewhere else throughout the film, and his family inside. As they celebrate the hotel's 125th anniversary, Marco steps outside to the dock, where he encounters Aileene staring at the sky, and both enjoy a fireworks show. They wave goodbye to Esau and his crew, who are heading to Cancun, and hug each other.

At the post-credits scene, Edgar realizes he's in jail and urges his friends to help him, but they refuse to get him out. Edgar attempts to break the prison cell, but ultimately gives up after the former criminals had escaped.

## Voice cast

*Main article: List of Marco characters*

* Hugh Jackman as Marco
* Will Smith as Pepe
* Emma Stone as Isabella
* Pierre Coffin as Joaquin & Emiliano, Brian, and Marco's kids
* Trey Parker as Edgar
* Anna Faris as Aileene
* Tina Fey as Mikayla
* David Spade as Ian
* Rob Riggle as Bryan Chaggis
* Mel Gibson as Kevin
* Renee Zellweger as Marlene
* Jason Sudekis as Josue
* Julia Sawalha as Melissa
* Danny DeVito as Derek
* Ed Helms as Bom Bin
* Kristen Bell as Fabi
* Michael Pena as Jonathan Nava
* John Cena as Anthony
* Tony Hale as Josue Villareal and Mr. Mime
* Dana Gaier as Hayley
* Chloe Garcia-Moretz as Leah & Emily
* Abbi Jacobson as Sofia

## Release

*Marco 4* was released at the Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles on June 2, 2017. The film came to theaters June 30, 2017 and got released on home video November 3, 2017 with 2 short films, the theatrically-released *Memories* and *Where In The World Is Alieene?*

*Marco 4* is rated PG by the MPAA for "action, brief language, some rude humor, thematic elements, and few scary images"

## Reception

### Box office

*Marco 4* grossed $2.024 billion worldwide over a budget of $270 million, making it the second 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 alongside *Despicable Me 3, The House, and Inconceivable,* finishing 2nd at the box office.

### Critical reception

*Marco 4* has an approval rating of 87% based on 143 professional reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 8.6/10. Its 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." Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned *Marco 4* a score of 80 out of 100 based on 37 critics, 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".

## Sequel

Actors 3D Entertainment CEO Chris Melendari revealed in an interview in October 2017 that a fifth *Marco* film was in development. However, he would not be involved in the making of this film as of February 2021, following the studio's decision to hand over the film's production rights to Anaya Animation only.