So, I was thinking about what movie I would see this weekend. The only new release seemed to be Last Voyage of the Demeter, and the reviews for that one aren’t great. Besides, it’s based on a single chapter from Dracula (the novel), and that means I more or less know how it ends. There was a time I would have gone to see it anyway, but post-COVID and a few other factors mean I am a little pickier now than I was. Plus, I do tend to be more inclined to skip horror movies for whatever reason. Would I go to see the vampire movie?
Well, no. I learned what is (probably) the finale to the Adult Swim animated series The Venture Bros was out for digital rental. Sure, it’ll probably be on MAX in a couple weeks or so, but I decided to watch it anyway.
The movie is picking up not long after the series left off. Hank Venture (series creator Chris McCulloch) has gone off the grid after finding his girlfriend in bed with his twin brother Dean (Michael Sinterniklaas). Hank is maybe dangerous enough for the SHIELD-like organization the O.S.I. to go looking for him under the direction of field agent and former Venture bodyguard Brock Samson (Patrick Warburton). But O.S.I. has bigger fish to fry in the form of A.R.C.H., a new supervillain organization that doesn’t play by the same rules as the Guild of Calamitous Intent. The Guild follows rules for attacking the heroes of this world, and A.R.C.H. seems to be doing, like, really evil stuff to the good guys. That concerns both the O.S.I. and the Guild, leading Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (other series creator Doc Hammer) to investigate on her own with high ranking Guild member Red Death (Clancy Brown).
Since no one else is looking, a guilt-ridden Dean opts to go looking for Hank himself while the Monarch (McCulloch) and his lone henchman Gary (Hammer) decide to give A.R.C.H. a try when the pair learn the leader is the Monarch’s ex-girlfriend Debbie (Nina Arianda). Hank, meanwhile, decided to find the boys’ mother. He’s convinced he can find her while Dean believes they don’t really have one for some reason. Their father Rusty (James Urbaniak) is too busy prepping a virtual modeled after his old robot H.E.L.P.eR., a machine that can float when it plays music loudly enough. Somehow, all these plots all tie together in the end. And while the Monarch’s hatred for Rusty is well-established, someone may want them both dead even more than that. Can anyone figure out anything here?
I’ve been a Venture Bros. fan for a long time. It was, as I put it, the one original Adult Swim animated series that had what looked like good animation and didn’t require drugs to enjoy. Originally just a Johnny Quest-sort of parody, the basic idea is the series was a show about failure where Rusty was a rather pathetic super-scientist and human being while his boys were both kinda dumb, but each in their own way. It was a series with a limited budget, hence the reason the two creators voiced most of the reoccurring characters. It was profane. And it was charming as hell, building a world mythology that the show never quite too seriously. It was not out of the question for the show to dismiss a previous established bit of mythology with a single line of off-hand dialogue.
And that is more or less what this movie is. It does answer some big mysteries, but again, often in off-hand dialogue (though the biggest one comes in as a post-credits scene that is anything but). While the series and movie could do the occasional action scene, for the most part, it just plain didn’t. It was about digging into the characters and bringing out some real heart, where a good conversation with a loved one was as likely to solve problems as anything else. Case in point: the series established Hank and Dean were both clones, and not the first batch, as Rusty would just wake up two new ones whenever the pair got themselves killed because, again, they weren’t very bright. Dean fretted over the news as he’s a worrier. Hank just thought it was the coolest thing possible. That’s this movie, bringing in many of the popular regular characters from the series, tossing off pop culture references with abandon, and showing some genuine heart in the end. I wouldn’t recommend this for people who haven’t really seen the show before, but for fans, this is a good ending to the story as a whole.
You know, unless someone decides to make more. I suppose that could happen.
And yes, the subtitle does make sense at the end of the movie.
Grade: B+
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