Marco 2 (2013)

### **After 8 years... this happened, but it most likely seems kinda *"BLAH!"***

*Marco 2* is an 2013 3D Marcanese-American computer animated action spy comedy buddy film produced by Actors 3D Entertainment and Anaya Animation for Columbia Pictures. The film was directed by Chris Melendari, and produced by Phil Lord & Christopher Miiler (whom directed the first film). *Marco 2* was released to theaters November 8, 2013 and received positive reviews from critics, despite being deemed as inferior to its predecessor. It was a huge box office hit, becoming the highest-grossing Marcanese animated film of 2013.

## Plot

Marco & his buddies are once again living the good life... that is, until Marco suddenly gets kidnapped by some secret agency known as the MISDA (Magnolia Independent Spy Department Agency) who wants him to preserve the world's most valuable blue topaz found in the prestigious Houston Museum Of Natural Science. However, when a tougher and smarter kid-turned-supervillain (Will Ferrell) steals the diamond for his latest world domination plans of turning Marco's children to his mindless goons along with a highly toxic IQ serum, it's up to these unlikely heroes to take down the genius mastermind of villainy and save the world once again... at the museum.

## Good Qualities

1. Like its predecessor, it has beyond amazing animation & visuals that still look very photorealistic, with more expressive fluid character movements and brighter colors than the original film.
2. The original characters are still lovable, despite Marco's sheer flanderization here. Some of the new characters are likable, too (most notably Allen and Jacob), Abel seems like a decent comic relief for this film, and the robots are also very cool additions.
3. Excellent voice acting, just like the previous film. The newcomers also do a very great job as their respective characters, shout outs to Jack Black as Allen, Angelina Jolie as Stephanie, Tom Hanks as Jacob, and Will Ferrell as Owen.
4. Hilarious, goofy yet charming humor, such as the tomato fight scene, the scene in which a series of world heists is shown, and the part where Pepe & his friends attempt to enter Joe's Tavern. The Y.M.C.A ending scene is also pretty funny, too.
5. Great action scenes throughout the film, despite it all taking place at the museum.
6. Although not as much as its predecessor, it still has plenty of emotionally heartwarming moments, such as when Marco & Pepe talk outside while seeing the birds in the sky; and also some tragic ones, such as Melvin's death.
7. The film teaches a lot about history and science, which is unique for both children and adults.
8. This film also has good life lessons like getting support from family & friends, choosing your friends wisely, and being true to yourself. Also, the film's message concerning autism is very well done through the lens of Jacob and Marco's kids, since it clearly states that autism makes you even smarter and kind. You can also see that through Owen's plan, as it conveys that autism is provoked by some injection if it's not inherited or received by family members or nature.
9. Awesome soundtrack, most notably Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and "Walkin' At The Museum"
10. Well done script that's also very entertaining like its predecessor, despite some flaws here and there.
11. The comic reliefs are still funny, providing the best jokes in the film despite them not showing up too much here. However, some of Abel's jokes (like the one where he thinks the museum is food heaven) are really funny.
12. Owen is yet another intimidating if terrifying villain who's probably even more than Alondra, and his plan of turning Marco's kids to mindless goons using a high-intelligence serum that makes kids dumber is well-executed yet somewhat original.
13. The character designs are still nice to look at.
14. The film does a fantastic job at parodying other works such as *Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Titanic, Night At The Museum,* and *The Avengers.*
15. This film still has great dialogue lines like the original film, such as **"*Is dinner already served?"*** and **"I do not like that chicken"**, those quotes and Marco's screaming face which quickly got turned to popular *Marco* memes.
16. **"BLAH!"**

## Bad Qualities

1. The plot is kind of contrived and is arguably weaker than the one for the previous film: Marco gets kidnapped by some agents only for him to save a diamond from someone who wants to use it for world domination, which feels rather generic especially for an Anaya Animation film.
2. Despite the third act having its moments, it was rather somewhat mediocre thanks to the fact that the agents departed from Marco after realizing that all this time he was opting to return back home with his longtime friends, although it was somewhat justified.
	* Doesn't help either that the aforementioned scene is infamous for having "Apologize" by Timbaland despite the scene being emotional and the song title being a perfect fit for this particular scene; even worse though is that the agents hadn't apologized Marco near the film's ending, which almost completely subtracts their likeness throughout this film.
3. **Major plot hole:** The whole premise of the film boils down when Marco & the agents soon realize that the diamond was *actually fake.* So, what's the whole point of saving the diamond and this film anyway?
4. The rest of the new characters are kind of unlikable and serve no purpose other than insisting Marco on taking care of the diamond. Although Abel might be funny, sometimes he comes off as rather obnoxious. Some of the new side characters, like the Triple Guys (Jonathan, Luke & Lane), barely appear in the film.
5. Unlike the original film, this film has some gross-out humor and awkward cringe-worthy moments throughout, which is rare for Anaya Animation since most of their movies don't rely too much on toilet humor.
6. Marco's friends don't appear too much in this film and their subplot is pointless compared to Marco's subplot with the agents.
7. Some of the characters from the original film, such as Pohlino & Aileene, don't appear in this film at all; however, those characters would appear in later *Marco* installments such as *Marco 4* and *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco.*
8. Although the animation's a major step up from the previous film, it can sometimes feel rather choppy compared to its predecessor.
9. A few aspects of the film aren't really explained at all: like, why do the agents force Marco to preserve the diamond if they can do it themselves? Why does Owen want to use the diamond for world domination anyway? There's also no reason why the agents want the diamond so bad and why Owen killed Melvin in the first place.
10. One could argue that Marco's been severely flanderized in this film: in the original film, he was an independent but unsuccessful spy who gained trust on others and himself with the help of his friends; but here in the second film, he's been dumbed down as a kid who lacks the self-confidence he had in favor of depending on the agents' unreasonable needs rather than himself.
11. This is considered by many as the weakest film in the *Marco* franchise. They even called it a "semi-cashgrab" due to it being inferior to the original film.

## Reception

### Box office

*Marco 2* grossed $404 million on the United States and $589.4 million worldwide for a total gross of $993 million over a $135 million budget. Alongside *The Book Thief,* *Marco 2* finished #1 at the box office since its opening weekend; and became the 2nd highest-grossing animated film of 2013 (only behind *Frozen*). It also became the highest grossing Actors 3D and Anaya Animation film until *Marco 3* came out in 2015.

### Critical reception

*Marco 2* received generally positive reviews from critics, despite it being deemed as inferior to its predecessor. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has approval rating of 83% based on reviews from 124 critics. The critical consensus reads, "While not as what anyone expected, *Marco 2* makes it for its action-packed quirkiness and comedy to keep viewers entertained." Another aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 59 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on a A+ to F scale, down from its predecessor's "A+".

However, according to a 2019 press release from *The Washington Post,* the film was gaining mixed-to-negative reception from audience members, whom criticized its lack of emotional depth and new characters & saw the film having some similarities to *Despicable Me 2,* and gave it an overall audience score of 53% and a score of 70% from Google users.

## Trivia

* Chris Melendari, who served as the executive producer of the original film, directed this film while Phil Lord & Christopher Miller produced it.