Why Marco 4 Is The Absolute Best

## *Marco 3* might just be somewhat overrated to be honest.

Hands down, Anaya Animation's fourth entry to the most beloved and popular animated franchise of all time is indeed, in my own personal opinion, the absolute BEST film in the franchise. And why? Here's why: besides having the best animated cinematography, the coolest action scenes in *Marco* history, and the most addicting rap soundtrack of any feature film, *Marco 4* chases down unorthodox ideas and takes plenty of daring risks in the world of animation as a romantic espionage comedy that involves teenage Sherlock Holmes (that is, Marco). No other *Marco* film except for the threequel could tell such a shockingly mature if somewhat dark story with engaging storylines that appeals to everyone of all ages, especially its target audience: teens Marco's age. Here are several reasons why this underrated *Marco* flick deserves your woohoo and love.

### 1. Trey Parker makes this film amazing, seriously.

If Joe can be described as the funniest cartoon bad guy ever created, then Trey Parker's energetic rappy madman would be considered every *Marco* fan's favorite baddie, and he is very good at being bad aside from his rapping skills. He goes by the name of Edgar, he's perfectly voiced by the creator of *South Park* and his rappy movements are as cool as Marco's are. Aside from finding success with energy drink commercials and having his own army of evil sentiment robot clones of himself, Edgar's motivations for getting revenge on "The Pop Music Capital Of The World" with a giant laser-fueled android are solid enough like said android. He also owns flesh hungry alligators below his black pillar with a shiny reddish Rubik's Cube on top; several gang henchmen; and a raptar that can tune anything 80s he likes from Michael Jackson to A-ha to Elton John, and Eminem of course. Although we might criticize his sheer contempt towards Marco, he even goes as far as landing him on state prison and kidnapping both of his girlfriends under some rocket bomb. However, that does not mean that Edgar is someone with no soul as he too landed himself in prison many times and we could tell he was born to be some gangster, much in part thanks to his only mentioned parents. I'm very sure no other *Marco* bad guy can ever top "Edgar The Teenage Rapper" on any Billboard 200 list to come, not even Joe himself.

### 2. David Spade also makes this film great, so also give thanks to Ian.

You know who David Spade is. He's the guy who voiced Emperor Kuzco from *The Emperor's New Groove* (my absolute favorite Disney film of all time) and the voice behind Griffin aka The Invisible Man from Sony's *Hotel Transylvania*, and here he seems to be overly hyped up with Marco's new director Ian. Just like how Edgar carries rappy vibes in this film; Ian brings plenty of charm and wit to his upbeat town Iandonia, which of course was founded by him as the epicenter of pop culture and music in general. Besides being the richest kid in town, the highly exuberant Ian also serves as the Houston Spy Association's chairman, Marco's eloquent mentor, and also the one who joins Marco aboard his cool speedy Superyacht shouting "WOOHOO YEAH!!!" as they head to Edgar's dark fortress in order to save Princess Mikayla. You make deals with him and he accepts them immediately, you order him Cane's chicken and he would bring it for you, and if you tell him one bad joke about him... he would laugh out loud no matter how stupid it is. Thanks to David Spade's eccentric performance, Ian provides most of the film's funniest jokes and memorable quotes even if he mistakes some fridge for Edgar's vault area, and of course he would always be my favorite espionage guru of all time.

### 3. This movie is about overcoming the bad things in life with the good things.

As you might know, the inspirational motivator Ian (voiced by David Spade) quotes what is perhaps the film's core message: "*You can overcome the bad things in life with the good things"* as he conveys Marco to take down Edgar despite his failed attempts at doing so. This revolutionary quote stays throughout the whole film as Marco realizes that the cruel world we live in is indeed hostile, and he faces that with his own sheer knowledge of good and evil. The film makes the point that bad behavior is inherited through Adam & Eve; but also acquired when you take matters worse such as in Edgar's case, as he committed several misdemeanors and felonies that led him to become some gangster because his "friends" did the same thing and forced him to do wrong. The film even makes us admit all this repeating evil as something always existent, and that the only way we could demolish this evil would be "overcoming the bad things in life with the good things" and gaining that sense of mutual understanding with each other, and of course being faithful to God's word for all my Christian readers. Marco has always seen the bright side before, but here he had to admit the awful truth and live up to today's changing world for the better; and if it weren't for his buddy Ian, then Marco would have given up by now.

### 4. This film captures some rather awkward and tragic moments in a very exquisite way.

The original 2005 classic might have told you the advantages and perils of childhood, and its 2015 threequel might have left you in tears after watching Marco's deceased uncle in his funeral bed, but what these two movies didn't do was providing you that sense of weirdom you've might have experienced in teen years. Such is the case with Marco, as he gets confronted with Edgar's snappy gators and sent to state prison where he fights a bunch of criminals bigger than him. Imagine if you were to ask some girlfriend on a date that involves salted crème caramel and lobsters sweetened with honey: that's exactly how Marco & Mikayla's dinner night was at Billie Jean's (home of the world famous Michael Jackson custard sandwich).

### 5. *Marco 4* manages to be very unpredictable for the most part like its detective subplot.

This movie makes me guess many things that I'm eagerly curious to know about Marco & his friends. Where would Marco's other friends from Decker Hills call home now? And above that, will they appear at the film's happy ending as usual? Would Marco's ultimate girl either be the lovely Mikayla or his longtime girlfriend Aileene? Will Marco & his friends fully retire themselves from espionage or not? Above all, how would this movie end? All these questions and more make me wonder why the previous films are very predictable like most animated features these days, especially the mediocre 2013 sequel. I also had never expected anything like Bom Bin's arrival or Aileene's return when I first saw the trailers for this film, yet I'm very glad to see them once again after several years of absence. Although the film could get somewhat predictable at times, it really does something unexpected that its predecessors hadn't done before this came out.

### 6. The idea of Little James Bond becoming teenage Sherlock Holmes is nothing short of clever.

Of course, I know *Marco 3* did something unique by converting our genius spy into some eccentric yet innovative mad scientist who was willing to use his own "failures" for the greater good, but here is where the minds at Anaya Animation truly came up with something even more unique. That is, making Marco disguise himself as the world's most famous sleuth - in teenage form - and having him solve his most terrifying task yet: gathering plenty of evidence at Edgar's haunted mansion in order to prove him wrong. Despite the short execution, the concept of some spy turning to a detective while also adding elements of mystery and so much suspense into a romantic espionage comedy is marvelous, and the film acknowledges that very well with several references to Sherlock Holmes.