Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco (2021)

## *"LONG LIVE THE RAMEN!!!" -* Yen Yang

*Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco* is an 2021 Marcanese-American computer animated comedy film produced by Actors 3D Entertainment and Anaya Animation for Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures. The sequel to *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Movie* (and prequel to *Marco*), the film is directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, produced by Chris DeFaria, and written by Kevin Costello. Set during the events of the first film, young Marco and his friends must thwart down an criminal organization who wants to take over the world. The film was originally set for a 2022 release, but due to COVID-19 and production issues with *Marco 5,* the film got slated for a summer 2021 release. The retuning cast is joined by newcomers Leslie Jones, Conrad Vernon, TJ Miller, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren. Jackie Chan, Constance Wu, Brad Pitt, Danny Trejo, Keanu Reeves, and Ken Jeong. *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco* was theatrically released and released on Anaya+ June 4, 2021. The film was met with generally favorable reviews from critics and became a modest box office hit, despite being the lowest-grossing *Marco* film.

## Plot

Joaquin & Emiliano and the kids take their mischief to Uptown Houston after Joshua encounters a strange time machine from 2093 that transports them to different time periods while finding a new megalomaniacal leader... up until the 90s. There, they encounter a young Marco who dreams of becoming a fully-fledged independent spy. However, things go terribly wrong after a messed up interview with the world's most despicable organization of crooks, The Felonious 5, forces Marco to run for his own life. Suddenly, with the help of Joaquin & Emiliano, Marco luckily escapes to his lair, hires more members such as Mateo (the newest kid member) & former supervillain-turned-rock musician Elvis Presley, and ultimately decides to take down the Felonious 5 for the greater good.

## Why It Rocks

1. Like the other *Marco* films and its 2018 predecessor, the film has very amazing animation, very nice visuals, and outstanding cinematography; the most notable works of art being Uptown Houston, the Galleria scene, and the Water Wall scene.
2. Marco & his friends are yet still lovable. The new characters are also very fun & entertaining, even the antagonists:
	* The Felonious 5 are very amazing and cool if crazy antagonists for this film whom have their own unique personalities and talents: Lady Criminelle, the main female antagonist, is a very intimidating villain who's also a humanoid with robot arms; Squidman is a geeky human/squid hybrid being; Sedgwick is the strongest member from the Felonious 5; The Invisible Nun has many special abilities besides her invisibility such as ninja skills; and The Babysitter would be the dimwitted guy who's also the Felonious 5's comic relief.
	* Joe Greed is a very great primary male antagonist for this film despite him being like Greener from *Dorm & The Invincibles,* and his movements are so expressive either being his cartoony or over-the-top limb movements; his hippie gang is also very cool.
	* The Yang family is awesome thanks to their huge love for ramen, unique martial arts skills, and the fact that they can also breakdance with disco rap music; they are also very nice and sympathetic as the perfect family.
	* Barbara and Ben probably have the best overall chemistry in this film: Barbara is the overexcited granny who's very talented at martial arts aside from cooking, baking, and knitting; while her husband Ben is the more calmed down old guy who would rather listen to music and read newspapers.
	* Elvis & Jared are also very good additions: Elvis, despite him being a bit annoying at times, is actually a sympathetic and hilarious character whose jokes mostly hit (especially those referencing Elvis Presley) and also someone whom we can't help with but feel sorry for him whenever he gets depressed; and Jared's solid obsession with jazz music and noir make him a particular standout along with great voice acting from Keanu Reeves.
	* Mateo & Emely are adorable and cute as Marco's newest kid members and Joaquin & Emiliano's close relatives; and the butcher is very funny yet cool, thanks to Danny Trejo's performance as the butcher.
3. The idea of making a sequel/prequel about Joaquin & Emiliano's and the kids' backstory and how Marco became a spy is highly interesting and somewhat well-executed, despite the execution being somewhat bizarre.
4. Some instances of creativity and originality found in this film:
	* The idea of some corporation where robbers and criminals steal money for themselves in order to earn a living (Greed Inc.) is awesome, considering the truth that most businesses are corrupt just for the sake of money; and the idea of having greedy sentimental vending machines is highly brilliant.
	* The idea of an enormous Tickle-Me-Elmo who's actually evil and shoots lasers out of his own eyes, while somewhat ridiculous, is very interesting and sharp clever as a parody of Elmo from *Sesame Street.*
	* The fact that Elvis Presley was a former secret agent-turned-supervillain who worked for the Felonious 5 in this film is a really good and interesting twist on Elvis Presley's actual career as a rock-and-roll musician, despite it being somewhat sad.
	* Also, the concept of having flying saucers as invading spaceships/UFOs is very wonderful and creative.
5. Top-notch action scenes that are perhaps as great as those for *Marco 4*, among the key highlights include Marco's confrontation with the Black Terror, the chase sequence at the beginning of the film, and its epic finale that's considered to be the best in *Marco* history. The martial arts sequences with the Yang family are also very awesome to watch.
6. Highly hysterical comedy, among the funniest include Joaquin & Emiliano's wacky time travel scenes with the kids, the Tackle-Me-Elmo scene, the ramen night scene, and the ninja fight scene. Also, some constant gags in this film do really work, such as The Babysitter's constant phobia of kittens for example.
	* Also, some of the dark comedy here is really funny, such as when Marco notices that one of his Chicken McNuggets is actually shaped like a chicken's head, and when the kids expose Bigfoot to the police although it's somewhat sad at the same time.
7. Just like the original film, the film also stays true to its main characters despite having Marco at the center of the story, see BQ #1.
8. The emotional scenes are very heartwarming, such as the bed & breakfast scene, the scene where Marco's close friends and the Yang family pray together, the Water Wall scene, and when Elvis gives his Funko Pop version of himself to Mateo. There's also sad scenes, such as when Joshua's pet dinosaur dies shortly after the kids survived from the caveman invasion; and Elvis' backstory was sad that you can't help but feel sorry for him after his career as a musician got ruined because of the Felonious 5, only later for him to see new life with Jared. Mateo's backstory is very funny.
9. Just like *Marco 2,* this film also teaches a lot of history with some funny clever gags that kids and adults would get.
10. Several great 90s-early 2000s pop culture references & Easter eggs throughout the film (as this movie takes place during that time period), such as the references to Crash Bandicoot, Nickelodeon shows like *SpongeBob SquarePants* and *Rugrats,* and clever couch gags referencing *The Simpsons.* There's also some nice nods to other decades as well, such as the 80s with *Back To The Future* and the Batman reference at the film's opening scene, and the 40s-50s with noir movies and Elvis Presley.
	* Aside from its 90s references, the film does flesh out its 90s aesthetic very well and it truly feels like something from the 90s, despite the film also paying homage to other decades as well although it's justified well enough.
	* There's also a decent reference to *Super Smash Bros* and E3 from Pepe as he warns Marco about the upcoming E3 event and later in the film, they attend the first ever E3 held in May 1995 (and coincidentally, this film got released 11 days before the E3 2021 event).
11. Surprisingly great voice acting, especially from newcomers Leslie Jones, TJ Miller, Jackie Chan, Brad Pitt, Danny Trejo, Constance Wu, Ken Jeong, Keanu Reeves, Nicky Jam, and Meryl Streep, whom do very fantastic jobs as the new characters.
12. Very fantastic yet catchy 90s soundtrack from Mark Mothersbaugh; the movie also blends in the rap, jazz, instrumental, rock, and hip-hop genres very well along with its usual pop theme. The new version of the *Marco* theme song is also very good.
13. The film's themes of choosing whoever you want to be, depending on others' needs, and being responsible for others and yourself are very good.
14. The film still has plenty of hilarious quotes such as **"*GET OUT OF MY CAR!"*** and **"I'm a hippie, not a hippy"** (the latter which got turned to an Internet meme).
15. Despite the film some unnecessary pop culture references, at least it has fewer product placement compared to its predecessors.
16. The Raven opening scene is *very* hilarious and the ending was decent yet cute, as it has Marco's family and the kids celebrate Emely's third birthday.
17. This is perhaps the most underrated *Marco* film ever made, even more so than *Marco 4.*
18. These quotes got turned to memes immediately:
	* **"*LONG LIVE THE RAMEN!!!*"**
	* **"LET'S *CARNAGE!"***
	* **"Oh, I'm *so* hilarious!"**
	* **"Uh oh... that wasn't good"**
	* **"JEPOARDY!!!"**

## Bad Qualities

1. Despite the film being titled *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco,* it actually focuses more on Marco than Joaquin & Emiliano, thus making him the actual main character of this film.
2. **Plot hole:** The scene where Marco's kids leave him after his secret lair gets burned is somewhat mean-spirited and clichéd for a *Marco* film. It's also very unusual since Marco & his friends rarely complain or fight each other at all. This also implies that the kids could've left Marco in the original film since they left their previous leaders for being failures.
3. Some mediocre attempts at humor and cringeworthy moments for a children's comedy film.
4. There's yet some instances where the film can get *way* too dark for a family film, such as the Black Terror scene and the French Revolution scene; the total amount of casualties in this film is... **surprisingly high**. Also, some action scenes can get quite intense for a PG rating.
5. The plot can get somewhat convoluted if outlandish at times, since it feels more like a series of Marco Toons attached rather than an feature-length *Marco* film, despite the film having a good story. Also, the film's execution is somewhat bizarre considering that the past and present sequences are paired up in such a strange way.
	* Strangely enough, this film also somehow contradicts the lore of the *Marco* franchise as it inaccurately describes the chronological order of events in Marco's history and it also uses some clichés from other animated films, which is rare since the *Marco* movies either avert clichés, put clichés into good use, or rarely use them at all.
6. Just like *Marco 4,* the animation can sometimes feel *way too* cartoony and over-the-top like an *Hotel Cloudylandia* film. There's also some instances where the animation can get uncanny at times, unlike the aforementioned films.
7. A few unnecessary characters, such as Laura Greed, Herbert Heyst, and perhaps Erwin and his gang despite them being cool rappers. Depending on your view, Elvis can get a bit obnoxious at times; and while Joe Greed makes for a great villain, he is basically a rip-off of Greener from *Dorm & The Invincibles* as both antagonists are the respective heads of their own corporations and move their limbs in an over-the-top way, although Joe Greed is a much better version of Greener.
8. Some obnoxious pop culture references like "Baby Shark (Pinkfong version)" and the "shoot" dance & items that feel rather out-of-place for the time period this film mostly takes place, like for example, Air Pods & Instagram.
9. The original adult characters from the *Marco* franchise, such as Marco's parents and their relatives, *barely* appear in this film despite them playing minor roles in the previous *Marco* films.
10. Yelling is ***constantly overused*** in this film.

## Reception

### Critical reception

As of May 14, 2021 the film was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74%, based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*The Rise Of Marco* outright surpasses its gut-bustingly wacky predecessor and it's yet another hit from the House Of Marco- with money-sucking hippies, greedy sentimental vending machines, & small but cunning ninjas included." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 79 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

### Box office

Despite it being a box office hit, *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco* only took in $384 million in the US, Marco Island, and worldwide; making it the lowest-grossing *Marco* film thanks to the film being in theaters for about a month prior to *Hotel Cloudylandia 3: Traversmania*, which received a limited theatrical release in the US. This forced Universal Pictures to leave Sony with Paramount Pictures for *Marco 5: Epilogue.*

## Trivia

* This was the second time Brad Pitt portrayed a spoof of Elvis Presley in an animated film, the first one being his portrayal of Metro Man in the 2010 DreamWorks superhero comedy film *Megamind.*
* Joseph Gonzales Jr. replaced Will Smith as the voice of Pepe (he would later voice Joseph Gonzales in *Reflection* and would still voice Pepe in the upcoming 2022 film *Marco 5: Epilogue*). Andy Samberg, who voiced Bradley from the first two *Marco* films, was originally going to voice Squidman but for some reason he got replaced by T.J Miller.
* According to her name and accent, Lady Criminelle is French.
* This movie was based on one of Pepe's lines about going back to the 90s era in the original film, in which he says: *"Boy, I wish I could go back in time... say, in the 90s, yeah the 90s... where everything was much cooler and better*" It was also hugely inspired by the 1985 film *Back To The Future.*
* Before leaving Sony for *Marco 5: Epilogue,* Universal Pictures knew this film wasn't going to outperform its predecessors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.