Marco 3 (2015)

### The perfect threequel that really works, not much saying about *Minions.*

*Marco 3* is a 2015 3D Marcanese-American computer animated action comedy spy film distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, and Universal Pictures; and produced by Actors 3D Entertainment & Anaya Animation. The third installment in the *Marco* franchise, *Marco 3* is directed by Chris Melendari & Chris Renaud and produced by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, with screenplay by Ron Greenburg and story by Louis Armand. Bill Hader, Will Smith, and the original voice cast return, along with newcomers Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Dev Patel, Ken Jeong, Mel Brooks, and several others. In *Marco 3,* Marco becomes an inventor and teams up with his friends once again to defeat a corporation tyrant who wants to take over Houston. The film was released on July 10, 2015 and received universal acclaim from critics; whom consider it to be an improvement over its predecessor. *Marco 3* was also a box office hit, becoming the highest-grossing Marcanese animated film of all time, until *Josh Samuel 3* in 2017.

## Plot

Marco & his friends don't really go out of this world, instead they blast off to Houston for yet another good time. After having fun in the sun and eating the best Chinese buffet he ever had, Marco immediately discovers his huge potential: becoming the world's greatest inventor. However, when things go berserk after he releases his most infamous machine, the FARB (Flying Atomic Radiation Bomb), and when a mysterious masked corporation tyrant decides it's time to take over Houston, Marco & his friends must save their beloved city and stop the greedy madman from world domination.

## Why It Rocks

1. Very beautiful animation that's even better than those of its predecessors, especially for 2015 standards; along with eye-strikingly fantastic visuals of the Houston skyline (which almost fully resembles the actual city of Houston), highly exquisite cinematography, and very amazing special effects used for several scenes such as the Astrobot scene, the film's stunt & chase scenes, and most notably the film's finale.
2. The idea of a spy who becomes an inventor that has to track down a corporation tyrant/criminal mastermind is both very creative and highly original, especially for an animated film, and the execution of said idea is very brilliant as the filmmakers used its vast potential as a spy/science-fiction animated movie.
3. The film's story is arguably better than its predecessors with very magnificent execution and a wonderful if superb script that, compared to the previous films, both kids and adults would fully understand the whole thing.
4. Excellent voice acting; the new voice actors do a very cool job as the new characters with Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, & Keegan Michael-Key standing out the most as Emmanuel, Rachelle, & John respectively. Although Mel Gibson isn't as great as Robin Williams, he does a very decent job as Kevin since Williams sadly died in August 2014.
5. Like the original film, this movie also has its memorable scenes: those being the Surfside Beach, Chinese restaurant, Oak Thicket Park, FARB, Willowbrook Mall, and H-Town Local Texan Idol scenes, and perhaps the Salvation Army scene.
6. Incredibly awesome action scenes that perfectly resembles most live-action spy/action films such as the *James Bond* and *Mission: Impossible* film series, with the film's finale in downtown Houston, the Astrobot scene, and the Willowbrook Mall scene probably being the key highlights here. Also, just like the two previous films, this film also combines its action scenes with elements of science fiction.
7. The original characters are still very lovable, and the new ones are also very lovable, too: John & Mr. Mime make for amusing yet cool comic reliefs who always steal every scene they're in; Erick is a great role model who encourages Marco & his friends to try new things and follow their passions & dreams; Rachelle & Ximena are kind and good at making friends even if they are somewhat shy; and the other characters, such as Jason & Angel, are very sympathetic and nice people who become friends with Marco & his gang.
8. Although not as intimidating like Alondra or Owen, Emmanuel makes for a decent twist villain whose motives for stealing church offering money in order to save his great-grandfather's company from bankruptcy and taking over Houston as the new mayor are arguably understandable despite him stealing the money for his own personal greed. And, unlike most generic corporation tyrants, he isn't that clichéd as a villain thanks to him also being the mysterious masked thief in this film although he might sometimes have the "evil government official" trope.
9. Very marvelous soundtrack from Heitor Pereira once again, with Pepe's performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" being a very particular standout yet also being a highly great and iconic moment in this film, Joaquin & Emiliano and the kids' performance of "Le Disco, La Fiesta" by Rolando Bolero is very amusing, and "Nice Day" by Michael Key is very catchy. The film also uses excellent choice songs from TobyMac (such as "Everything" and "Feel It") and "Always Something There To Remind Me" by Naked Eyes.
10. This movie is very hysterical, it provides some of the best jokes from the *Marco* franchise:
	* The scene in which Marco makes several failed attempts at inventing things that work, such as the SARF (Super Automatic Food Replicator) and the Super Mega-Sized Snowcone Machine, and *the whole entire FARB scene* after that are off-the-wall hilarious.
	* In the scene when Marco makes his announcement of giving money to The Salvation Army, he presents the kids an all black-and-white film made by Marco in which they spent times together doing crazy things, and they don't seem to mind it at all.
	* Brian's birthday party scene is also very funny: after everyone gives Brian their presents for him, Joaquin & Emiliano don't have anything to give, so they find a crow nearby and have that as their "gift" to Brian, and everyone's reaction after he opens that gift box is hysterical.
	* There's also these brief moments such as when Marco disguises as an old lady to avoid the mall security cops at the Willowbrook Mall scene, and also when Marco clumsily pulls down a manikin's pants in the Salvation Army scene (despite that being adult humor).
	* Mr. Mime's sight gags are spot-on funny for the most part.
11. Sure, the comedy is really funny, but the film's emotional scenes are either very impactful, moving, heartwarming, sentimental, or just downright tearjerking like that of Pixar films:
	* Perhaps the most tearjerking scene in the whole entire film would be when Marco & his family mourn for his uncle Manuel as he passed away by means of diabetes (what's even more sad though is that Marco hadn't seen him very much, like how he never met his grandparents before they died). The scene after that in which Pepe sings "Hallelujah" is undeniably very moving and impactful.
	* Angel's backstory is very sad and his reasons for leaving Erick & his friends are somewhat understandable.
	* The ending scene is considered heartwarming but bittersweet at the same time, since Marco's new friends moved away and he already knows that he would miss spending time with Kevin & Marlene after they decided to accompany them for a while. However, they also promise Marco & his siblings that they would always be neighbors and friends no matter what.
12. Marco's relationship with Marlene is still very endearing and lovely to watch, with several rather sentimental moments such as the ending and when Marco promises Marlene that he would return before activating the Megarocket.
13. Very much like its 2005 predecessor, this film has a surprisingly mature tone and isn't even afraid to show Christian morals & values (those which the second film lacked aside from emotional depth), However, it also covers several complex real life issues like discrimination, homelessness, the loss of a loved one, moving out, divorce, poverty, corporate greed, illegal drugs, gender, dysfunctional families, crime, religion, and even *death.*
14. The film also has excellent morals about following your dreams no matter what others say, never giving up, the consequences of greed, helping those in need of a better life, being optimistic in the midst of chaos, love being stronger than anything, and learning from your own mistakes. The film even has a very strong message about succeeding from failure by taking full advantage of those failures for good (like, for example, how Marco used his failed inventions to track down Emmanuel when he had none of his own weapons/arsenal left).
15. Considering Houston to be the most ethnically diverse city in the United States, this film's representation of ethnic diversity is very outstanding for an Marcanese-American animated film, and it's not really used for stereotyping unlike other films who misrepresent ethnic diversity; it even fits the setting and tone of this film as a whole. Also, the fact that the film uses Houston as its main setting since there's really no other animated film that uses that city as its main setting is remarkably splendid.
16. There's also some nice jokes about international cultures that aren't offensive to foreigners, but instead jokes that they would definitely get, such as:
	* At the beginning of the film, the film does a very great job at referencing *Good Burger* when Joaquin orders *papitas* (which means *fries* in Spanish) but instead he gets a whole potato due to the employees' sake of pranking customers at McDonald's.
	* There's also a brief moment at the introduction scene when a royal British family arrives to Houston via airplane only for the French band to throw them cakes in their faces after the lead composer messes up the "Wedding March" symphony.
	* In the Chinese restaurant scene, Marco & Isabella get welcomed by the restaurant's golden Buddha statue but shortly realize that it actually resembles their uncle, who happens to be the restaurant's owner; and seconds later, Marco excitedly says *mamma mia!* (which is the Italian phrase for *oh, mama!*) when he sees a buffet of Chinese food... in some Chinese restaurant.
17. The film does an amazing job at parodying most iconic science-fiction movies such as *I Robot,* the *Terminator* films, *2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Inception, The Matrix,* and *Avatar*; as well as some other spy films like the *Jason Bourne* films, *Enemy Of The State,* and *Skyfall;* and even *American Idol* with the "H-Town Local Texan Idol" scene (in which Simon Cowell makes a cameo appearance as well).
18. Unlike its two predecessors (and especially the sequel), this film doesn't have that many pop culture references and tries to use other lesser-known films with good references; and as mentioned earlier, the pop culture references in this film are amazing.
19. Several hidden Easter eggs from other Anaya Animation and Actors 3D films, as well as surprisingly great cameos such as Alex & Abby from *Lego*; Ducky from *Beast Flock*; Redhead & Blob from *Hotel Cloudylandia*; Marc from *The BeachBallHeads*; Computer Guy (in his computer animated form) and Supermax from *Agent Cyberlink*; and even Josh Samuel himself.
20. The first film has its quotes, so does the second film. This third film also has its memorable quotes, like:
	* **"*Vuela!*"**
	* **"There are effects... E-FFECTS!"** and probably **"Oh, so blaming a *mime,* eh?"**
	* **"WHAT THE? GET THAT PARROT OUT OF HERE!"**
	* **"Oh, brother"**

## Bad Qualities

1. So far, this is the *Marco* film with the most product placement despite having a limited amount of pop culture references; among them Michael Kors, McDonald's, Macy's, JCPenney, Nordstrom Rack, Coca-Cola, Fanta, American Eagle, Aeropostale, Waffle House, Apple, Fila, Best Buy, Southwest Airlines, LG, Bank Of America, Reliant Energy, CenterPoint Energy, Sysco, Fiesta, and Hyatt.
2. A few instances in which the animation can sometimes feel like something out of *Hotel Cloudylandia* (this becomes a problem in later *Marco* films such as *Marco 4* and *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco*).
3. Despite the film having clichés being put to good use, there are a few that aren't like Emmanuel's "evil government official" trope.

## Reception

### Box office

*Marco 3* grossed $569 million on the United States & Marco Island, and grossed $650 million on other countries for a worldwide total of $2.19 billion over a $250 million budget. Along with *Minions,* the film finished #1 at the box office. It became the highest-grossing animated film of 2015, as well as the highest-grossing animated film of all time until *Josh Samuel 3* in 2017.

### Critical reception

*Marco 3* was universally acclaimed by critics: who praised its animation, new characters, humor, plot, soundtrack, voice acting, action scenes, and its emotional depth; some consider it as an vast improvement over its predecessor. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "Certified Fresh" score of 98% based on 145 reviews with an average rating of 9.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "As good as the original movie was, this 'threequel' is yet another inventive comedy that's a very surprising hit for all ages." Another website, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 94 out of 100 based on 83 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a average grade of "A+", just like the original film. Many fans and audiences consider this one to be the best film in the franchise, and probably the best animated film of all time.

## Trivia

* This film was released on the same day as *Minions*, another Universal animated feature and the spinoff to *Despicable Me*.
* Also, this *Marco* film is the first one to be distributed by both Sony/Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures.
* Although not as much as its 2005 predecessor, this film spawned some good memes.