Bad Animated Movies - Marco 5: Epilogue

**"Okay, this is indeed the last movie in the beloved spy series that inspired us for a decade and seven years long. We all grew up with the enigmatic Marco and his friends, as we wave one last goodbye to these grown up kids. And the end result is, well, as you might realize its questionable PG rating, one of (if not) THE worst animated movie this year. That's a call of shame. From the studio who brought Marco to this world, this film could possibly be the most impressive cartoon of 2022; but as for us and the critics, it feels more like a borderline PG-13 animation done wrong than anything else you've seen before."**

-Electric Dragon 505 (Animat's Reviews), Season 2022

***Marco 5: Epilogue*** (most commonly known as ***Marco 5***, and originally titled *Marco 5: Family Staycation*) is a 2022 Marcanese computer-animated dystopian comedy film produced by Anaya Animation and released by Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Amazon Studios. The seventh and final installment of the *Marco* franchise and the sequel to *Marco 4* (2017), the film is directed by Kevin Armand (in his feature-length directorial debut) from a screenplay by Gennedy Tartakovsky (who served as director of the *Hotel Cloudylandia* movies and the 2021 Marco Toon *Family Staycation*), and produced by Cody Cameron, Mike Rianda, & Joe Murray. It stars the voices of Adam Sandler (replacing Hugh Jackman as the voice of Marco), Joseph Gonzales Jr, Tina Fey, Selena Gomez (who replaced Julia Sawalha as the voice of Melissa), Pierre Coffin, Anna Faris, Tyler Perry, Renee Zellweger, Jason Sudekis, Kristen Bell, Danny DeVito, Andy Samberg, Ed Helms, and Tony Hale. In this film, Marco and his friends enjoy retirement until one day, their world gets changed to some dystopia, which forces Marco and his remaining crew to stop an evil algorithm clone he made from launching some tech uprising to save the world.

Originally planned to be released theatrically in the United States on June 4, 2021, Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled the film's release plans in favor of *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco,* and sold the film's distribution rights to Amazon Studios for $100 million, due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the United States and troubled production delays. The film was released exclusively on Anaya+, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video on January 14, 2022. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike.

## Why It's Actually Pretty "Bleh"

1. The film falls short of the first three films and lacks the charm or charisma that made them good. Since Sony said this would be the final film in the saga, then this installment was a mediocre, if not horrible, way to end the Marco series.
2. Making a fifth Marco movie is pretty pointless and unnecessary, as the fourth movie **already had a good ending that could have ended the franchise on a positive note** (if you exclude the Joaquin & Emiliano movies). Even worse though is how this film actually *ruined* the relationship between Marco and Aileene on a sour note. They were lovingly holding hands in the fourth film, which could have been a great ending for the series, but in this film, they break up all because of a phone call and Marco takes the blame, until the third act when they just choose to be friends (yes, you read that right, *all because of a phone call).*
3. While the film does have nice animation and visuals, sometimes it gets uncanny to the point where the animation itself seems dated for 2022 standards. Because of this, some of the facial expressions the characters make serve as nightmare fuel (particularly when characters like Marco scream for no apparent reason).
4. The film is somewhat a close rip-off of *Hotel Cloudylandia 3: Traversmania*, another animated film from Anaya Animation which came out *six* months before this film's release, due to its similar animation like how the characters move in a spastic Tex Avery style and some plot elements such as Marco's transformation scenes and its subplot about the crystal gem at Uganda. Heck, Marco even had the audacity to *steal the line* from Abraham Von (aka Great Magician) when he says "I don't give a bleh bleh bleh..." and he totally acts like him at some point.
5. Although the plot of the film seems complex and interesting like the previous Marco films, it's been divided into many subplots that drive the story in a questionable fashion.
	* First of all, there's the subplot of Pepe and his crew trying to get the crystal gem, which is claimed to defeat AI and his holograms, at a cave located in the Ugandan jungle, as well as Marco going after them the hard way.
	* Related to the subplot above, there's also the one in which Pepe and his crew attempt to reach the planet AI-5000 *two* times.
	* Second, we have a wasted subplot where the Dropout Boys search for the Great Beyond, in which William reveals that such thing was a lie at the end, *only because he invented it himself.*
	* Marco trying to be Marcoman, along with his other transformations as a vampire and a hologram. Even though the idea of Marcoman seems clever for a Marco flim, albeit somewhat well-executed, it can also be unfitting at times with the main story and setting.
6. Despite its PG rating, there are moments where it's more of a borderline PG-13 animated film, as Animat stated in his review. Such examples of this include utters of "damn" and "hell" to secure the PG rating, Marco getting drunk from root beer as well as him getting kicked out of "the ladies room" for touching a woman, the Saving Private Ryan scene, and having an LGBT character in *two* brief scenes; which is unacceptable for a Marco movie. To make matters worse, there's even one R-rated joke about a chicken egg found in this film.
7. Most of the film's jokes come off as either unfunny, tasteless, stereotypical, immature, or even downright terrible. Like when Marco picks up a grape from the floor, following the five second rule, and *regurgitates* it back to his mouth. More examples include when Miguel Angel gobbles up sand, when Marco and his friends bodyshame themselves via broken windows at Bishop's Palace, Marco's transformation as a weird type of Dracula (which was based on a YouTube theory stating that Marco might be a species of human vampire, due to him once saying that he "always wanted a blood substitute for a drink"), and the dumbest, if not the most inappropriate, joke in which a close-up of Fred's butt is shown after his invisibilty from the secret vanishing cream Marco utilizes in the film disappears, which is very disgusting.
	* And speaking of stereotypical jokes, they highly consist of cheap slapstick gags such as Marco getting egg yolked in the face and lame puns/attempts at wordplay like when AI mentions, *"How you like them abs?"* cue to Madcap covering his nipples for no reason. Also, Joaquin & Emiliano, who play vital roles in ensuring comedy for the Marco films, don't appear much in the film as in *Marco 2.*
8. The film can be described as 115 minutes of torture for Marco, because throughout the entire film Marco is consistently treated as a butt-monkey as most of the movie's jokes have him constantly beaten to the ground. Getting hit by a pole, getting bitten by piranhas at the Ugandan jungle, accidentally being ran over by Aileene's car, etc. Adding insult to his injury, he's become yet another victim of the Disney Death trope, in which the main character supposedly dies and comes back alive. This, of course, can get pretty annoying quick at times.
9. While the voice acting is decent for the most part, with Adam Sandler being a patricular standout as Marco, there's rather questionable casting choices like having Snoop Dogg as the voice of William.
10. The film has the need to make an appeal hip-and-cool for children in the strangest way you can imagine. For example, some trailers for the film used the infamous Blackpink song "How You Like That?" which has nothing to do with the film. And second, there's one scene near the beginning where a Llama Pinata from Fortnite: Save The World is shown, which is an obvious dated reference to the games. This film seems like it's particularly made to appeal young TikTok users and Fortnite players.
11. Despite most of the trailers showing returning characters from the previous films, they *barely* get any screen time for a maximum of **6-7 minutes** on screen throughout the whole entire movie; although it's kind of justified since too many characters would scatter and make the plot less engaging, but still. It's also disheartening because these supporting characters, obscure or not, are Marco's friends (something that has been repeatedly done since *the third movie*). One of the characters, Ian, only appears in the "Cha Cha Slide" scene and from there nothing is seen or even mentioned about him. Heck, characters like Mikayla, Bradley, and Meleene (Aileene's sister) never made it somehow, possibly due to delayed budget cuts or the film's troubled production issues.
12. Some characters, even Marco himself, are either predictably affected by the curse of Flanderization, come off as annoying, or don't do anything at all:
	* Let's start with the man himself, Marco of all characters. Although he is considered to be a popular favorite among fans of the franchise, Marco has given a rather questionable character arc in this film. Here he's portrayed as indifferent, sometimes rude, and pretty much a selfish jerk when it comes to helping his friends. He also makes bad decisions such as when he rejected AI by making him defunct, thus provoking most of the film's problems later on and the latter seeking revenge on him and his friends. Ironically enough, he delivers a psychotic line saying, ***"Ha! What are you gonna do now? There's no meddling with my sister unless you make it a deal."*** which is almost what Modern Peter Griffin would say, even his sister points that out.
	* Unlike Joaquin & Emiliano, Juan Angel and Miguel Angel (known as Charlie's Two Angels) are sometimes obnoxious comic reliefs. Such is the case with Juan Angel, who sucks his finger into a chicken egg and shows it to Marco in one scene, which can be depicted as something of a poorly designed adult joke; and as mentioned earlier, when Miguel Angel gobbles up sand at the Sahara Desert and spits on Marco's ear repeatedly.
	* The Dropout Boys are just there to appeal towards teens and the adult audience, and only appear in a few scenes. Their jokes consist of swearing puns (again, in *a kids movie*) like "motherclucker" and "gosh damn" for example, and stereotypical adult humor.
	* The other characters don't really add up anything to the film, nor do they tend to move the story forward.
	* Despite AI being a good antagonist, his psychological tendencies towards Marco and his friends are obvious to the point where he's been severely demonized in this film. There's even one scene in which he takes abuse of a pizza delivery guy, which is considered an attempt at rape. Also when AI confronts Marco & Tali to come after him, he does that in a pyschotic manner.
13. Inconsistent and sometimes sluggish pacing throughout the film, to the point where it can get boring at times. Scenes such as the Saving Private Ryan and the film's huge climax don't compare well to the Galveston scene and the Silver Springs tour.
14. In a similar manner to how *Ninja Turtles: Aftermath, Autos 2, Cowboy Sam 3, The Domino Effect 3,* and even *The Fuzzi Movie* damaged the reputations of their own respective franchises, this film actually ruined the whole *Marco* franchise by a long shot. Anaya Animation has produced amazing films, especially the Marco movies, but here they were just unable to let go of the franchise due to its massive popularity among fans with an unnecessary sequel; and sending the film to streaming platforms rather than the theaters, thus affecting the franchise's huge, impressive box office records negatively.

## Good Qualities

1. Some funny moments worth taking, such as when