America: The Motion Picture

***America: The Motion Picture*** is a 2021 American adult animated comedy film directed by Matt Thompson (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Dave Callaham. The film stars Channing Tatum (who also produced), Jason Mantzoukas, Olivia Munn, Bobby Moynihan, Judy Greer, Will Forte, Raoul Max Trujillo, Killer Mike, Simon Pegg, and Andy Samberg. It is an R-rated, animated parody of George Washington and his fight against the British. Netflix released the film on June 30, 2021. It received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized it as unfunny.

## Plot

In January 1776, just after signing the Declaration of Independence, Benedict Arnold appears, murdering all its signatories, destroying Independence Hall, and stealing the Declaration. He then goes to Ford's Theatre, where George Washington and his childhood best friend, Abraham Lincoln, are watching a play. Arnold turns into a werewolf and kills Lincoln and destroys the Declaration. Before his death, Lincoln asks Washington to bring the American Revolutionary War to an end and to name the recovered country "America."

At Lincoln's funeral, Washington meets Martha Dandridge, who urges him to continue the revolution after the two have sexual intercourse. In order to build a strong team, Washington teams up with party animal Samuel Adams, female Chinese scientist Thomas Edison, Native American hunter Geronimo, and equestrian champion Paul Revere. They manage to track down Arnold at the Vietnam bar. Although the enemy has fled, they conclude that the events in Vietnam were not a failure. They ask for help from master blacksmith John Henry, who is to make a silver bullet for them to kill Arnold. To get the silver, they go to Boston to steal the supply of silver spoons from the Titanic. On board the ship, they learn that the British are bathing people in tea to come over to their side. They also discover plans of a secret British superweapon but fail to retrieve them because they sink the ship prematurely. Sam then proposes to the others they will say the Titanic had hit an iceberg and that they were never there.

Arnold kidnaps Martha, who is to become the future wife of King James. Washington manages to find out about a Gettysburg address where Arnold meets the king at a secret meeting. The place turns out to be an ambush in which Clyde, Revere's horse, dies, sacrificing himself. King James appears at the Gettysburg address in the form of a hologram and offers Washington a battle the next morning at Attrition field, to which Washington agrees. Soon after, Arnold kills the king to take over the world himself. The next day, the British army stands up against the American army hastily assembled by Washington. On the side of the British, there are, among others, Elizabeth Tower in the form of a Transformer, London buses in the form of AT-ATs and Arnold flying in a crown-shaped ship. The side of the Americans consists of a hundred-foot tall Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, as well as Indians, Mexicans, African Americans, Asians, and Arabs, ravers and Revere who had fused himself with what was left of Clyde with nano-cybernetic technology by Clara Barton.

During the war, the British were trying to turn all revolutionaries British by tainting the clouds with tea and causing a tea rain. Edison, thanks to the power of science, manages to use the British weapons against them, turning tea into beer. When the beer rain falls, the British transform into American frat bros, and it also cures Martha from being one of the British, transforming her into a living Statue of Liberty. A final confrontation occurs against Arnold, who becomes a Mega Wolf until he is eventually defeated with a silver bullet from Henry, who kills him with America's pastime.

Six months later, on July 4, 1776, Washington inaugurates the grand opening of America at the monument of his name. As George plans for I. M. Pei to build another memorial for his best friend to stare at his monument, the spirit of Abe comes back. It gives him the Declaration, repaired with tape, while Samuel becomes George's uncle for his newborn son Denzel. The inauguration is disrupted as the crowd engages in a fight with each other, arguing over racism, abolitionism, women's rights, giving back the land to the natives, right to keep and bear arms, same-sex marriages, religious beliefs, free health care, and fair trials, making Washington nervous about the future of the country.

## Why It Rocks

1. While it's moral has been hammered in and out many times and it does seem like a copy of another adult animated film, but done so well, the premise about dangerous reptiles and army historical a war period and to be themselves is interesting.
	* The film's setting in the anachronism, ahistoricism and Americentrism for comic also makes sense, given that America is home to some of the world's most dozens of dates and the roles of various historical figures are changed. Many facts, battles, notable inventions and technologies are changed, reinvented, or created from whole cloth. Many prominent events and figures from the war period and American history through to the 20th century are inserted into the film's 1776 setting.
2. The characters range from tolerable to likeable:
	* George Washington is a optimistic, caring and great main protagonist history whose story arc is very engaging and heartwarming for young viewers. And He also is a great leadership of America.
	* Samuel "Uncle Sam" Adams is a good statesman history.
	* Thomas Edison is so good, he is a history films does add charm to his personality and his relationship with his son does lead to some legendary scenes despite being heinous during the movie
	* Paul Revere is so good shields fight.
	* Martha Washington is she adorable lady warrior America.
	* Abraham Lincoln is a nice person.
	* Geronimo is so excellent.
	* John Henry / Blacksmith is good metal strong.
	* King James is awesome king the film.
	* Benedict "Cosby" Arnold is a good figures.
3. Adding to the likeability of the cast is the voice acting from many American talents, with such: Channing Tatum, Jason Mantzoukas, Olivia Munn, Bobby Moynihan, Judy Greer, Will Forte, Raoul Max Trujillo, Killer Mike, Simon Pegg & Andy Samberg making history an entertaining character even when he's unlikeable, and voice being the highlight of the cast.
4. The animation is really nice and awesome crafted:
	* The character designs are cute and give these actually-heroes most history a friendly appointment enough appearance to appeal to adult, especially compared to their real life counterparts.
	* The character animation is uses cartoony movements and expressions that are more controlled and stable than most of Sony Pictures Animation's films.
	* It also uses some things that real history can't do. For example, At Lincoln's funeral, Washington meets Martha Dandridge, who urges him to continue the revolution after the two have sexual intercourse. (it's made to make us feel bad for her).
	* The landscapes give a spectacular representation of American most recognisable landmarks, such: On the side of the British, there are, among others, Elizabeth Tower in the form of a Transformer, London buses in the form of AT-ATs and Arnold flying in a crown-shaped ship. The side of the Americans consists of a hundred-foot tall **Paul Bunyan** and **Babe the Blue Ox**, as well as **Indians**, **Mexicans**, **African Americans**, **Asians**, and **Arabs**, ravers and Revere who had fused himself with what was left of Clyde with nano-cybernetic technology by Clara Barton itself.
	* The 2d further adds quality to the animation and makes the environments look even more spectacular.
	* On top of the gorgeous visuals, there are several unexpected uses of traditional animation drawn in homage to Aboriginal Dreamtime artwork, particularly when Adams backstory is shown.
5. Decent soundtracks albums, including: Lie, Cheat, Steal by RUN THE JEWELS
6. The music are really good.
7. The film gives a better representation of American than most Western-made depictions with subtler stereotypes and a more diverse environment war than just the Motion Pictures. This American-made depiction of the country was only previously adult done in mh:besttvshows:Archer
8. The action scene is cool.
9. The film actually gave Channing Tatum and direction Matt Thompson another chance at working on an adult animated feature following the including of Adult Swim' Sealab 2021, which was originally based on a concept by Cripps and would've featured animation.
10. The film has the advantage of being on Netflix, so it's not hard to get into just like Red Notice (2021 Film).
11. Speaking of Netflix, the show made history as being its first adult animated original film.

## Trivia

In March 2017, producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller announced that they would produce an R-rated animated Netflix original film called America: The Motion Picture alongside Will Allegra, Matt Thompson, Adam Reed, Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan from a screenplay by David Callaham and directed by Thompson.

## Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 33% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "America: The Motion Picture is definitely outrageous and possibly patriotic—problem is, it's also not very funny."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Amy Nicholson of The New York Times described the film as "a raunchy, aggressively inane cartoon that flips the bird — both onscreen and thematically — to a strain of patriotism that insists that the slave owners who started this country were sober-minded heroes whose vision of democracy remains flawless, bro." Inkoo Kang of The Washington Post gave the film a score of 1.5/4 stars, writing: "The gulf between stupid-smart and just plain stupid feels immeasurably vast when watching America: The Motion Picture, which is clearly aiming for the former but lands squarely in the latter."[10] Brian Lowry of CNN described the film as "a movie that's loud and annoying more than truly provocative, peppered with pop-culture references that prove cleverer than its rewrite of US history."

Steve Greene of IndieWire gave the film a grade of C, describing it as "a goofy mishmash of riffs on prominent historical figures", and added: "Most of the time, it’s knowingly stupid, which makes watching it 90 minutes of occasional fun and frequent indifference." Melanie McFarland of Salon.com wrote: "Rarely have I seen a movie so confident that its viewers not only revel in American benightedness but are eager to identify with it", and described the film as "not only a waste of time but an insult to ignoramuses." Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film a score of 2.5/5 stars, writing that it "goes all in on its deranged version of the founding of the nation", but added: "It wears you down over time, but especially early on it's too satisfied just to be shocking and irreverent."

Michael Nordine of Variety was more positive in his review, writing: "Though loyalists and sticklers for historical accuracy may not consider it their cup of tea, America will likely win over anyone who knows not to take it too seriously." Randy Myers of The Mercury News gave the film a score of 3/4 stars, writing: "Even when you think it’s only acting rude and juvenile just because, it’s much smarter than that, particularly whenever it skewers American attitudes (both conservative and liberal)."