Los Beibis (2018)

*Los Beibis* is an 2018 3D Marcanese-American computer animated comedy film produced by Actors 3D Entertainment, Anaya Animation, and Los Beibis Entertainment for Columbia Pictures & Universal Pictures. It was directed by Yarrow Chenney and Chris Renaud with screenplay by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio. The film was released to theaters July 20, 2018 and received mixed reviews from critics: whom consider it to be an improvement on *Los Beibis 3*, but also being one of Actors 3D's and Anaya Animation's weaker films to date. However, the film was a box office hit, becoming the highest-grossing *Beibis* film as well as the third highest-grossing Marcanese animated film of 2018.

## Bad Qualities

1. Unlike the three previous live-action films, the film's story is rather nonsensical, very stupid, and generic: Hailo and his friends must keep ***an*** ***nearly** **2,000-year old golden Rubik's Cube*** safe from the hands of two real estate corporation tyrants who want to use it in order to destroy the Beibis' apartment building. Heck, it even seems more so like an obvious rip-off of *Marco 2's* plot in a way; and also a complete retread of the original film since both movies take place in New York City and have the same plot with the same characters. And besides, *how come there is a Rubik's Cube that's 2,000 years old anyway?*
2. Hailo is supposed to be the main protagonist of the film, but somehow he got replaced by Brody in this film. This is probably done so to leech off Hailo's popularity in order to make him feel underrated although he's *way too* overrated.
3. A lot of the characters have been severely flanderized for this film to the point where they get more annoying if idiotic rather than funny:
	* Junior was a carefree, inept yet funny stuffed puppy who cared about others and tried to be as smart as his older brother Hailo. Here, he's just a total freak who only cares about himself and what's trending on pop culture.
	* Bobi is changed from a very indifferent character who becomes nobler due to his experiences with his friends to a boring, wide-eyed goody-two-shoes who just has a bunch of things happen to him, particularly unfortunate ones.
	* Yoji was an awesome if hilarious astronaut plush who pranked others in such good ways, performed tricks without being proud of them, and never gave up on his career as an astronaut. Here, Yoji's a complete fraud who betrays Hailo & his friends while showing off his latest tricks and abilities just for fame and glory. He even goes as far as pranking his friends in harsh manners. What's even worse though is that he *actually helps the villains capture his own friends!*
	* Sally was an overprotective but sympathetic hound plush who helped Hailo and his friends stay out of danger while also attempting to be a good parent. However, in this film, he seems to not care about them due to him being *way too* much of an "overprotective parent" towards them.
	* Sara and Sandra were best friends in the previous films and the TV series the films were based on, but here they don't become friends anymore; instead, they complain with each other about being the most fashionable and smart.
	* The Castellanos are more worried about fashion than their neighbors: Alicia becomes very narcissistic about her looks and Flor & Chona La Juana, on the other hand, think that being ugly is what matters most.
4. And, speaking of the character designs, they don't fully resemble the original characters at all, especially with the Beibis. This is basically what happens if Anaya Animation ignores the original character designs and instead tries to simplify them as inferior versions of the original characters. In other words, this is "Marconization" done wrong.
5. Atrocious humor that can be somewhat inappropriate for the film's main target audience, despite the TV show this film's based on being aimed at families:
	* Perhaps the most infamous one being the "*where are my clothes?!*" scene, as we see Sally watching an old lady taking a bath while looking for his own clothes.
	* When the Beibis disguise themselves as a female to sneak onto the Soleres' residence, Hailo attempts to grab Patricia's purse but instead slaps her bottom for no reason whatsoever. In the film's climax scene, Patricia gets injected in the rear with her own poison dart gun.
	* There's one scene in which Junior enters a hot tub wearing nothing but his thong, while the camera fixates on his butt.
	* There's also several scenes where the Beibis make poor attempts at parodying *Simpson-*style couch gags (we all know how Matt Groening would feel like if he sees this movie) and come out as either stupid or just downright insulting.
	* The scene where all the Beibis do hip-hop while listening to Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" is severely cringeworthy and feels rather forced in order to pander at older audiences. Besides, that song is considered very inappropriate for a kids' film and was probably listed in this film by some horny porn addict.
6. Adding insult to injury, the film also relies too much on toilet humor and fart jokes, such as the scene where Sally repeatedly farts while doing his interview with the Soleres and when Junior burps after drinking too much orange soda.
7. The action scenes are lackluster if laughable enough that aren't as good as the ones from the previous films, especially with *Los Beibis 2: Hailo Out Of Los Beibis,* such as the supermarket scene and most of all the ridiculously awkward finale.
8. The Soleres (Patricio Soler and Patricia Soler) are lame and generic antagonists for the film, and their motives make no sense at all: they only want the Rubik's Cube so that with said object, they would blow up the Beibis' residence in order to build the luxurious hotel of their dreams. Aside from being downgrades of the original characters in the 2012 film, they are also obvious rip-offs of Joe & Alondra from *Marco,* as both duos consist of a male and female and they also share the same dynamic, although the Soleres' chemistry isn't that entertaining.
9. The film is shockingly less faithful to the TV series than its live-action predecessors: aside from the somewhat poor character designs, the film is loaded with unnecessary references to Disney films despite them being funny instead of references to the show and the previous films, plus some references to adult-oriented fare such as *Casablanca* and Stephen King's *It,* which kids obviously won't get.
10. Lots of obnoxious dated pop culture references throughout the film, such as this recurring gag in which Junior does the "whip" when he hears "Watch Me/Whip Nae Nae" by Silento, the scene where Hailo & Tortugita dance slowly to "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi even though it's meant for laughs, the pointless Times Square scene in which Hailo & Junior try to imitate the Notorious B.I.G while rapping with Bobi, several moments where Hailo and his friends attempt parodying One Direction, the scenes where Junior dabs in front of his friends, when Yoji uses internet slang such as #blessed and #truth in order to be honest, and the "Gangnam Style" scene. To an much greater extent, it even goes as far as *The Fuzzi Movie* when it comes to pop culture references.
	* There's also some unnecessary cameos from the Minions, Stevie Griffin from *Family Guy,* & Hello Kitty as plush versions despite Stevie's being clever; and mentions about Joaquin & Emiliano and Donkey Kong although the former was also somewhat clever. There's even one brief scene where Junior mentions Donald Trump in an insulting way.
11. Some laughable and ridiculous lines, most infamously Yoji's "*I'M GONNA BE AN ASTRONAUT! HA-HA!"* and Junior's "Dab, dab, dab dabby doo", which already became Internet memes before the film got released to theaters.
12. The emotional scenes with Hailo and his friends aren't as effective as those from the first two movies, and feel so forced and bland to the point where you don't care about them anymore. There's also quite some mean-spirted moments such as the part when Hailo & Sara break up and when Sally constantly yells at his sons & daughters for no reason.
13. While the first two acts had their decent moments, the third act fails to an stale and somewhat unfunny finale and boils down to a lot of filler, since the Beibis don't really do anything by the third act whatsoever other than fighting off the Soleres. The film also has the need to produce musical numbers for the Beibis in several scenes.
14. Some product placement that's used for advertising, such as the YouTube scene where Junior's "Plush Dance" becomes viral after many people make fun of him at Times Square.
15. While the original film did a great job parodying *Sesame Street* and other children's television fare as well as sitcoms like *The Simpsons* and *La Familia P. Luche,* this film feels more like an hour and a half-long episode of *Los Beibis* rather than an actual *Beibis* movie or parody. Doesn't help either that it also feels like other sitcoms such as *Friends* and *Full House* but somewhat boring and generic.
16. Hailo and Junior's portrayals as the narrators for the movie are very unnecessary since the previous films had no narrator at all. Also, it's just annoying to hear them talk very much when doing narration.
17. **False advertising:** Although the film's trailers pointed out that Mr. Tortuga and Chaparrito would appear in the film, they don't really appear in the film and aren't even mentioned at all. The posters have Hailo as the protagonist although Brody is the actual main character in the film.
	* On the related topic of said marketing, there was an infamous promotional image for the film on Facebook depicting Hailo taking over the Statue Of Liberty as said iconic welcoming landmark near New York City. However, it got deleted as soon as the film got released to theaters after Sony apologized for the insulting symbolism concerning Hailo.
18. It's likely the only reason why this film was made was because of how popular the *Los Beibis* franchise is as it was just made to cash in. Actors 3D, Anaya Animation, and Los Beibis Entertainment likely saw the box office hits of the previous *Beibis* films and tried to milk the series just for the sake of money.
19. Several plot holes in the film:
	* It is heavily implied that the Beibis are prone to being blown up or tortured in many ways. However, here they don't seem to be that mortal at all, the only thing they do when they're supposedly being destroyed is playing dead.
	* When Patricia Soler tapes over the mouths of Hailo & Brody, she lectures them about El Cucuy getting them for his prey. In the original film, El Cucuy was just an imaginary monster and not an actual threat for Hailo & his friends; and concerning their taped mouths... *Beibis don't have the need to breathe, they're just stuffed animals!*
	* When Hailo and his friends first encounter the Rubik's Cube, they realize the cube is actually fake despite having its own value. However, by the third act, they tell the Queen of England that the cube is real.
	* The Soleres want to build a luxurious resort hotel although they already have on within the west side of Manhattan, which makes their plan rather convoluted.
20. Some unsettling moments that could get dark for a children's comedy film, including several scenes where other plush animals get tortured by the Soleres and the scene where Junior gets hypnotized by the villains plus his nightmare sequences. To make matters worse, they somehow reach the levels of *Food Wars* to an much greater extent.
21. There is a presence of out-of-place cartoonish sound effects throughout the film, the most blatant example of this being when cartoonish "squawking" sound effects are inappropriately plopped into a brief scene where a flock of crows are literally eating Birdie.
22. Just like *Los Beibis 3,* the film completely contradicts previous established lore in the franchise: in the first two films, the Beibis always stayed together as a family despite their weak relationships since they believed in the importance of family, here however they don't stay united but rather attempt to stay separated most of the time. Also, the Beibis apparently only exist to become children's best friends, but here in this film they actually stay away from children and see them as a constant threat.
23. The film's infamous message against technology: the film treats technology as something bad and exaggerates it rather than addressing why the use of technology is bad, because the movie shows you that technology causes jobs to become lost, people's lives to be ruined, and technology being used for nothing but evil; when that clearly isn't the case, since technology also makes people's lives better and more easier in today's changing world. Besides, the message is very pointless since Hailo and his friends *are also using technology* such as IPhones and drones for their schemes or just for fun, which makes said message harder to follow.
24. Some instances of re-used assets or backgrounds, such as:
	* The mall being re-used from *Marco 3.*
	* The beach scene being an exact copy of the one from *The BeachBallHeads Movie*. There's even a beach ball that's actually the head of Marc Jr! *Why did poor Marc Jr. get beheaded in this film?*
	* The museum being re-used from *Marco 2.* The Houston Museum of Natural Science *is not* located in New York City!
25. Just like how *Mono The Monkey 3: Escape From New York, Ninja Turtles: Aftermath,* and *Autos 2* negatively affected their respective franchises, this movie damaged the reputations of the *Los Beibis* franchise, Los Beibis Entertainment, and even Actors 3D Entertainment as a whole. Even though this movie was a box office success, this movie is a major reason why *Los Beibis* is so hated nowadays, to the point where fans of the franchise became critical of the company's later shows after this movie came out.

## Good Qualities

1. The animation is very nice and smooth, with polished textured backgrounds and the overall aesthetic of New York City looking great either at day or night, also considering to have a more vibrant if pleasant color palette than *Martian World.* Also, despite the character designs looking simple compared to the original ones, they are at least decent to look at.
	* The movie experiments with other animation styles in a couple of scenes: Junior's silly daydreaming sequences are done in stylized 2D animation, and when Patricia Soler tells Hailo and his friends the story of the Three Little Pigs, the animation resembles stop-motion.
2. Great voice acting from Justin Long, Kate McKinnon, Josh Gad, Eva Longoria, John Goodman, Seth McFarlane, and especially Steve Carrell as Yoji. Gabriel Iglesias and Jack Black do decent jobs voicing Junior and Bobi respectively for this film.
3. Amazing soundtrack from Alexander Desplat and Elton John. The songs are very good despite some of them like "Despacito" being just there for dated trends, with Taylor Swift's "Welcome To New York" and Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" being perfect choices for both the opening and ending scenes respectively.
4. Some funny moments here and there, such as the aforementioned "Despacito" scene and the Notorious B.I.G scene, the "Plush Dance" scene, the part where Sally and Junior attempt to steal soda and chips from some vending machine, and when Hailo babysits his little puppies. It's also quite amusing to see the banter between the four main characters (Brody, Hailo, Junior, and Sara) as plush versions of One Direction.
5. Hailo & Brody are perhaps the most likable characters in this film: Hailo has mostly improved from being a total jerk in *Los Beibis 3* to his original self. Brody has changed from being unlikable in *Brody And The Plushies* to the gentle and charming ape we all know and love, and he probably makes an even better protagonist than Hailo.
6. Some great moments in the film:
	* The scene where Hailo meets his former family for the first time is considered both heartwarming and surprising at the same time. Hailo's backstory is very sad, as he got rejected by the several children who walked by his crate until he got his new family.
	* The underground sewers scene was also a very good one, as here we see the best action of the whole entire film and also Yoji being the leader of the gangster plush animals, which is admittedly original for a *Beibis* film.
	* The scene where Patricio Soler watches *Family Guy* with Stevie Griffin is quite amusing yet being a clever nod to Seth McFarlane, who created the show and voices Patricio Soler.
	* The scene after the film's climax in which the Beibis attempt to rescue Hailo from falling down the Brooklyn Bridge with a subway bus is awesome.
	* The ending was also good: Hailo and his friends give the Queen of England the golden Rubik's Cube in exchange for a classic one from 1974, and later she invites them to her tea party afterwards. Brody gives her the necklace he had as a kid, which is considered heartwarming.
7. Marco's cameo as the owner of the toy store is amazing, and it's also nice to see his own plush version inside the toy store. Also, the cameos from Elmo, Kermit The Frog, Mickey Mouse, Winnie The Pooh, and the *Toy Story* characters are quite amusing to see, since they also made cameo appearances in other *Beibis* films and TV specials.
8. Despite the emotional moments being poorly done, the film's messages about friendship, appreciating the good things about life, and finding your inner child while also not forgetting about it are somewhat well done for the most part.
9. This is considered to be a decent improvement over *Los Beibis 3,* which was poorly-received by critics and audiences alike and became the worst film in the franchise overall.
10. Many people wanted an animated movie about *Los Beibis* to happen, despite the terrible reputation of *Los Beibis 3.*