DirtyStarling
Joined Aug 2007
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DirtyStarling's rating
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DirtyStarling's rating
I sat through the entire series, which currently consists of ten episodes. They probably shouldn't make any more.
This isn't the worst thing I've ever seen, but I can't think of a single reason to recommend it. I don't think I've ever seen a series that has fallen flat on every single level like "Rick and Morty: The Anime."
Characters, writing, story, animation, art style, music... there is nothing at all that stands out in this series. Conceptually, it had potential. I was intrigued by the idea of seeing Rick and Morty interpreted differently by other artists. Unfortunately... they chose this creative team.
What this series is is essentially "Rick and Morty" played almost completely straight. They took a comedy series, and they turned it into a straight up science fantasy drama, but they kept the art style, backstories, and characters from the comedy. Right from the get-go that's a problem. There are so many things you can get away with and that work in a comedy series that don't work at all in a drama. Visual gags with the Galactic Federation, absurd scenarios, goofy-looking characters, ridiculous tech that comes out of nowhere, all of this can all be hand-waved away in a comedy because it's not meant to be taken seriously. In a drama, these elements seem jarring. As someone who watched the original series, I know why it looks like that, I know the backstories, I know the characters, and I know how they all work together in a comedic setting. Imagine taking "Mystery Science Theater 3000," keeping all of the characters, the entire story, the goofy sets, the low-budget look, and the silly looking props, and playing it straight with all of those elements. That's what this is, and it doesn't work.
So who is this for? No, really... who did they think this series would appeal to? Presumably it's for "Rick and Morty" fans, because they include a lot of references to and characters from the series and don't bother to explain them to newbies. Elements like Space Beth, Tammy, Birdperson... all of these characters make sense to fans because they know them from the comedy series. But imagine someone who has never seen the original show before being dumped into the anime with no explanation. They would have no idea who anyone is or what's going on and the creators at no point attempt to explain things for new viewers. In fact, they overcomplicate the plot by telling it non-linearly with quantum entanglement side plots and side concepts thrown in. So it must be meant to appeal to "Rick and Morty" fans. They went so far as to keep the art style, the characters, the backstories... it must be for the fans, right? Except that the fans of the original series like it as a dark, edgy, mind-bending comedy, not a drama, and the characters only superficially resemble their comedy counterparts. Morty is the biggest casualty in this department, as he is a very useless crybaby in this series. He approaches Zenitsu levels of cringe. Rick fares better, but he comes across much more like an actual concerned grandfather and less like a chaotic force of nature. He does care about his family in the comedy, but it's dialed up to 11 here, with almost none of the chaotic, self-destructive, high-as-a-kite attitude he shows in the comedy. I could go on, but I won't. Bottom line, none of the characters feel the way they should, and that's because they're being reinterpreted, even though the series is keeping the backstory and art style of the original series.
Fans fall in love with a series not just because of one element of the series, but because of all the elements of a series. They might be open to seeing things interpreted differently, but the more you deviate the formula from something they love, the more you alienate them. I can totally understand why a good portion of "Rick and Morty" fans aren't happy with this show, and unfortunately, that's the target demographic, because the creators didn't take the time to make this even remotely accessible to a new audience. This show will only appeal to a very niche audience of fans of Rick and Morty who are open to massive deviations in tone, style, story, and characters from the original.
That said... even within that niche audience, there's not much to recommend. The music is bland. The animation is bland. The art style borrows too heavily from the comedy. The characters, in spite of having the exact backstory of the comedy, barely resemble their comedy counterparts and are bland and uninteresting. The new character, Elle, isn't very interesting. I suppose I could recommend it if it's your first quantum entanglement story. You might find it mind-bending and you might get something out of it... but there are so... many... other... BETTER... examples of quantum entanglement in fiction than this. Right off the top of my head, I recommend a German series called "Dark." It's a very complex quantum entanglement time-loop drama with a JET-BLACK story that has a lot of similar elements to the story presented here. It has better characters, better production values, a more interesting story, better lore, and it's exceptionally well done.
But "Rick and Morty: The Anime?" There's nothing to recommend here. It exists. That's all it does. I'm not angry at it enough to give it a lower rating, but at the same time there is nothing to recommend here. I suppose you could watch it. But why would you when there are other better things out there?
5/10 - It didn't make me angry, but I cannot think of a single reason to recommend this.
This isn't the worst thing I've ever seen, but I can't think of a single reason to recommend it. I don't think I've ever seen a series that has fallen flat on every single level like "Rick and Morty: The Anime."
Characters, writing, story, animation, art style, music... there is nothing at all that stands out in this series. Conceptually, it had potential. I was intrigued by the idea of seeing Rick and Morty interpreted differently by other artists. Unfortunately... they chose this creative team.
What this series is is essentially "Rick and Morty" played almost completely straight. They took a comedy series, and they turned it into a straight up science fantasy drama, but they kept the art style, backstories, and characters from the comedy. Right from the get-go that's a problem. There are so many things you can get away with and that work in a comedy series that don't work at all in a drama. Visual gags with the Galactic Federation, absurd scenarios, goofy-looking characters, ridiculous tech that comes out of nowhere, all of this can all be hand-waved away in a comedy because it's not meant to be taken seriously. In a drama, these elements seem jarring. As someone who watched the original series, I know why it looks like that, I know the backstories, I know the characters, and I know how they all work together in a comedic setting. Imagine taking "Mystery Science Theater 3000," keeping all of the characters, the entire story, the goofy sets, the low-budget look, and the silly looking props, and playing it straight with all of those elements. That's what this is, and it doesn't work.
So who is this for? No, really... who did they think this series would appeal to? Presumably it's for "Rick and Morty" fans, because they include a lot of references to and characters from the series and don't bother to explain them to newbies. Elements like Space Beth, Tammy, Birdperson... all of these characters make sense to fans because they know them from the comedy series. But imagine someone who has never seen the original show before being dumped into the anime with no explanation. They would have no idea who anyone is or what's going on and the creators at no point attempt to explain things for new viewers. In fact, they overcomplicate the plot by telling it non-linearly with quantum entanglement side plots and side concepts thrown in. So it must be meant to appeal to "Rick and Morty" fans. They went so far as to keep the art style, the characters, the backstories... it must be for the fans, right? Except that the fans of the original series like it as a dark, edgy, mind-bending comedy, not a drama, and the characters only superficially resemble their comedy counterparts. Morty is the biggest casualty in this department, as he is a very useless crybaby in this series. He approaches Zenitsu levels of cringe. Rick fares better, but he comes across much more like an actual concerned grandfather and less like a chaotic force of nature. He does care about his family in the comedy, but it's dialed up to 11 here, with almost none of the chaotic, self-destructive, high-as-a-kite attitude he shows in the comedy. I could go on, but I won't. Bottom line, none of the characters feel the way they should, and that's because they're being reinterpreted, even though the series is keeping the backstory and art style of the original series.
Fans fall in love with a series not just because of one element of the series, but because of all the elements of a series. They might be open to seeing things interpreted differently, but the more you deviate the formula from something they love, the more you alienate them. I can totally understand why a good portion of "Rick and Morty" fans aren't happy with this show, and unfortunately, that's the target demographic, because the creators didn't take the time to make this even remotely accessible to a new audience. This show will only appeal to a very niche audience of fans of Rick and Morty who are open to massive deviations in tone, style, story, and characters from the original.
That said... even within that niche audience, there's not much to recommend. The music is bland. The animation is bland. The art style borrows too heavily from the comedy. The characters, in spite of having the exact backstory of the comedy, barely resemble their comedy counterparts and are bland and uninteresting. The new character, Elle, isn't very interesting. I suppose I could recommend it if it's your first quantum entanglement story. You might find it mind-bending and you might get something out of it... but there are so... many... other... BETTER... examples of quantum entanglement in fiction than this. Right off the top of my head, I recommend a German series called "Dark." It's a very complex quantum entanglement time-loop drama with a JET-BLACK story that has a lot of similar elements to the story presented here. It has better characters, better production values, a more interesting story, better lore, and it's exceptionally well done.
But "Rick and Morty: The Anime?" There's nothing to recommend here. It exists. That's all it does. I'm not angry at it enough to give it a lower rating, but at the same time there is nothing to recommend here. I suppose you could watch it. But why would you when there are other better things out there?
5/10 - It didn't make me angry, but I cannot think of a single reason to recommend this.
I recommend this movie with caveats...
1. If you saw the first Joker movie, and you hated it, you will also not like this Joker movie.
2. This is not a traditional or comic accurate version of The Joker. It is a unique interpretation of the character. He is not the enjoyably psychotic clown prince criminal mastermind and he is not the psychotic agent of chaos who just wants to watch the world burn. Joker in this series is mentally ill, and not the sharpest tool in the shed. If you can't accept that this is a very different take on the character, you will not like this movie.
3. The music plays a big role in the narrative, though I wouldn't classify it as a musical. If you can't tolerate musical sequences, you will not like this movie.
4. This movie is a tragedy that takes its subject matter deathly serious. I did not laugh once, not even at the cartoon at the beginning. This is not fun to watch. If you aren't in the mood for a serious commentary on society and the mentally ill, you will not like this movie. Do not go into this expecting a fun and psychotic Jack Nicholson or Mark Hamill Joker. The cartoon at the beginning is misleading. The tone of this movie can in NO way be described as "fun."
Only if you can pass these four hurdles, do I recommend this movie to you.
The best way to describe it is as a social commentary on the fetishization of violent crime and its effect on the mentally ill. The story is told from Arthur Fleck/Joker's perspective as a mentally ill inmate awaiting trial whose legal counsel is trying to get him out of prison and into a mental institution.
The movie is scant, throughout its run, on details about what's been going on in the outside world. The narrative mostly follows Arthur Fleck's perspective, including hallucinations and fantasy sequences, which are intentionally designed to make the audience think about how much of what is going on is real and how much is in the character's head. What details the audience receives about the larger picture are all perceptions that Fleck has from radio and television broadcasts he hears and watches, what he's able to glean from what's going on in the courtroom, what the guards and his counsel tell him, and what he hears from a psychopath he falls in love with. (Harley Quinn)
The polarizing musical sequences are all mentally ill hallucinations of Fleck falling in love with Quinn. They're important to the movie, but the bulk of the film is a courtroom/prison drama, hence why I don't classify it as a musical even though it features musical sequences and they are important to the story.
As the movie is very much in Fleck's headspace, it doesn't exactly follow a traditional narrative structure. You are essentially watching a man with a serious mental illness trying to process his own conflicting thoughts and emotions. Who's good? Who's evil? Who's on his side? Are people just using him? Is he the Joker? Is he Fleck? Does he have multiple personality disorder? Is Harley really in love with him? Is she just using him? Is his counsel on his side? Is society on his side?
All of these insecurities are brought to light through the structure of the narrative. It's all Fleck trying to process the media frenzy that his trial becomes. It's all Fleck trying to process his feelings for Harley. It's all Fleck trying to figure out who he really is. The musical sequences all serve to show Fleck's inner conflict and how he's processing everything in his head. He is very much an unreliable narrator and the audience has to interpret for themselves the actual truth of what's going on.
Joaquin Phoenix does a fantastic job in this role. You can really feel Fleck's journey as he tries to process everything that's going on. Lady Gaga also does a decent job as his femme fatale, Harley Quinn.
I was very interested in the social commentary the movie provides. The media tends to treat violent criminals like celebrities, giving them special attention and television movies. It's almost a fetishization of violent crime, and nowhere is this more present than in the character of Harley Quinn, who literally has a fetish for Joker. The counterculture of social unrest that seems to be present in Gotham seems to have latched on to this media attention and is trying to make Joker a martyr as a symbol of their own frustration. Almost everyone in the movie wants to use Joker for their own ends, and ignores what would be best for Fleck, confusing him, making him question what is right and wrong, who he is, and who he isn't, and it's just fascinating to see it from Fleck's perspective as he tries to process it.
Overall, I do strongly recommend the movie if you can get over the four hurdles I mentioned in the opening. It's not fun, but I liked it. I thought the first movie was an interesting take on the character, and I think this movie is just as interesting a take with a more interesting social commentary. 9/10.
1. If you saw the first Joker movie, and you hated it, you will also not like this Joker movie.
2. This is not a traditional or comic accurate version of The Joker. It is a unique interpretation of the character. He is not the enjoyably psychotic clown prince criminal mastermind and he is not the psychotic agent of chaos who just wants to watch the world burn. Joker in this series is mentally ill, and not the sharpest tool in the shed. If you can't accept that this is a very different take on the character, you will not like this movie.
3. The music plays a big role in the narrative, though I wouldn't classify it as a musical. If you can't tolerate musical sequences, you will not like this movie.
4. This movie is a tragedy that takes its subject matter deathly serious. I did not laugh once, not even at the cartoon at the beginning. This is not fun to watch. If you aren't in the mood for a serious commentary on society and the mentally ill, you will not like this movie. Do not go into this expecting a fun and psychotic Jack Nicholson or Mark Hamill Joker. The cartoon at the beginning is misleading. The tone of this movie can in NO way be described as "fun."
Only if you can pass these four hurdles, do I recommend this movie to you.
The best way to describe it is as a social commentary on the fetishization of violent crime and its effect on the mentally ill. The story is told from Arthur Fleck/Joker's perspective as a mentally ill inmate awaiting trial whose legal counsel is trying to get him out of prison and into a mental institution.
The movie is scant, throughout its run, on details about what's been going on in the outside world. The narrative mostly follows Arthur Fleck's perspective, including hallucinations and fantasy sequences, which are intentionally designed to make the audience think about how much of what is going on is real and how much is in the character's head. What details the audience receives about the larger picture are all perceptions that Fleck has from radio and television broadcasts he hears and watches, what he's able to glean from what's going on in the courtroom, what the guards and his counsel tell him, and what he hears from a psychopath he falls in love with. (Harley Quinn)
The polarizing musical sequences are all mentally ill hallucinations of Fleck falling in love with Quinn. They're important to the movie, but the bulk of the film is a courtroom/prison drama, hence why I don't classify it as a musical even though it features musical sequences and they are important to the story.
As the movie is very much in Fleck's headspace, it doesn't exactly follow a traditional narrative structure. You are essentially watching a man with a serious mental illness trying to process his own conflicting thoughts and emotions. Who's good? Who's evil? Who's on his side? Are people just using him? Is he the Joker? Is he Fleck? Does he have multiple personality disorder? Is Harley really in love with him? Is she just using him? Is his counsel on his side? Is society on his side?
All of these insecurities are brought to light through the structure of the narrative. It's all Fleck trying to process the media frenzy that his trial becomes. It's all Fleck trying to process his feelings for Harley. It's all Fleck trying to figure out who he really is. The musical sequences all serve to show Fleck's inner conflict and how he's processing everything in his head. He is very much an unreliable narrator and the audience has to interpret for themselves the actual truth of what's going on.
Joaquin Phoenix does a fantastic job in this role. You can really feel Fleck's journey as he tries to process everything that's going on. Lady Gaga also does a decent job as his femme fatale, Harley Quinn.
I was very interested in the social commentary the movie provides. The media tends to treat violent criminals like celebrities, giving them special attention and television movies. It's almost a fetishization of violent crime, and nowhere is this more present than in the character of Harley Quinn, who literally has a fetish for Joker. The counterculture of social unrest that seems to be present in Gotham seems to have latched on to this media attention and is trying to make Joker a martyr as a symbol of their own frustration. Almost everyone in the movie wants to use Joker for their own ends, and ignores what would be best for Fleck, confusing him, making him question what is right and wrong, who he is, and who he isn't, and it's just fascinating to see it from Fleck's perspective as he tries to process it.
Overall, I do strongly recommend the movie if you can get over the four hurdles I mentioned in the opening. It's not fun, but I liked it. I thought the first movie was an interesting take on the character, and I think this movie is just as interesting a take with a more interesting social commentary. 9/10.
TL;DR - 4/10 - The story is buried under competently shot b-roll that says nothing. CONDENSE!
And now... padding.
Coming from someone who likes dogs and generally likes this type of show: this program should have been 10 minutes long. 15 minutes if they really, really wanted to draw out the feels. The editor didn't need to make a few cuts here and there, they needed to take a weed wacker to this. The entire episode is filled with more padding than a tactical bite suit.
There are two concurrent stories in this episode. The first is the retirement of Blue III, a canine mascot. The second is the dog's handler undergoing major surgery and retiring himself. They're both good, emotional pieces on paper. And yet, it doesn't really feel like the two plots intersect in any kind of significant way, and they really, EASILY could have if the editing had been tighter and the director had focused on telling a story instead of showing all the b-roll they captured. I mean, the b-roll looks fabulous, I can't fault the camerawork or the cinematography. Those guys were on the ball. No, my failure to get into this is all on the direction and editing. I cannot overemphasize how much drawing out every shot and showing every clip of b-roll with gentle music does not make something emotional. It makes me check my watch. A lot.
What WOULD have worked was a tighter script and a focus on how intertwined the life of the man getting surgery and the life of Blue III were. Show parallels between the life of the dog and the life of the man. Show how their lives were intertwined. Show that what happens to one affects the other and vice versa, and show the two of them facing retirement together. That's SO CLOSE to what they actually do, I found myself getting angry while watching it that they threw in all of their b-roll instead of using the best of the b-roll to tell a nice, tight, emotional story. It's aggravating, because I can see what they were going for, but it doesn't get there.
This is the first episode of this series I watched, (by accident, I thought it was playing episode 1, and it played episode 1 of season 2) and it will be the last. When I'm yelling "CUT THIS OUT" multiple times at what should be a feel-good emotional piece full of adorable animals, it doesn't exactly encourage me to seek out anything more the series has to offer.
And now... padding.
Coming from someone who likes dogs and generally likes this type of show: this program should have been 10 minutes long. 15 minutes if they really, really wanted to draw out the feels. The editor didn't need to make a few cuts here and there, they needed to take a weed wacker to this. The entire episode is filled with more padding than a tactical bite suit.
There are two concurrent stories in this episode. The first is the retirement of Blue III, a canine mascot. The second is the dog's handler undergoing major surgery and retiring himself. They're both good, emotional pieces on paper. And yet, it doesn't really feel like the two plots intersect in any kind of significant way, and they really, EASILY could have if the editing had been tighter and the director had focused on telling a story instead of showing all the b-roll they captured. I mean, the b-roll looks fabulous, I can't fault the camerawork or the cinematography. Those guys were on the ball. No, my failure to get into this is all on the direction and editing. I cannot overemphasize how much drawing out every shot and showing every clip of b-roll with gentle music does not make something emotional. It makes me check my watch. A lot.
What WOULD have worked was a tighter script and a focus on how intertwined the life of the man getting surgery and the life of Blue III were. Show parallels between the life of the dog and the life of the man. Show how their lives were intertwined. Show that what happens to one affects the other and vice versa, and show the two of them facing retirement together. That's SO CLOSE to what they actually do, I found myself getting angry while watching it that they threw in all of their b-roll instead of using the best of the b-roll to tell a nice, tight, emotional story. It's aggravating, because I can see what they were going for, but it doesn't get there.
This is the first episode of this series I watched, (by accident, I thought it was playing episode 1, and it played episode 1 of season 2) and it will be the last. When I'm yelling "CUT THIS OUT" multiple times at what should be a feel-good emotional piece full of adorable animals, it doesn't exactly encourage me to seek out anything more the series has to offer.