After their best friend accidentally
gets dragged to Hell, two friends (Remy and Augie) go in after him to
get him back.
Hell and Back has the look of Corpse
Bride and the attitude of Superbad crossed with The Odyssey. It's a
foul mouthed roller coaster ride filled with dirty jokes, filthy
insults, and off color humor. And it is pretty damn funny. I will
admit that it takes some getting used to watching these computer
animated clay-mation characters swearing up a storm. But the sooner
you get over that and accept it the better, because it's a hilarious
film and one hell of a ride. And to let the cartoon look mixed with
adult humor keep you from seeing this movie would be a shame because
you'd be missing out on a really good time.
Every scene is meant to make you laugh
or shake your head as we see these characters telling very explicit,
sexual jokes and swearing almost every fifth word. Of course, with
the jokes flying around at such a high volume, not all of them are
going to hit or be successful. But I found myself constantly cracking
up largely due to the great cast and there superb voice work. Hell
and Back combines a winning formula, fusing humor of the new
millennium with the screwball feel of 1980's comedies.
Bob Odenkirk as the devil is downright
hilarious. His raspy, weak, and almost beaten down, middle management
sounding voice runs contrary to the look of the devil and makes for a
great character. The contradiction of look and sound is a constant
source of humor throughout the film; such a great casting choice!
There is a great running gag throughout
the film that shows the various ways the demons "torture"
the people in Hell and it is pretty funny and unconventional to say
the least. It's just one of the many details that make Hell and Back
creative, inventive, and fun. Stick around for the end credits for
more on this fun little bit!
The movie starts fast and moves fast.
But it seems to start almost too fast. By the 25 minute mark we seem
to be in the thick of it already and if I have a very small complaint
it's that maybe we could have spent an extra scene or two with Remy
and Augie in their real world on Earth before they journey to Hell.
Just to get a better sense of character and the relationship between
these two, instead of continuing to piece it together as the two are
in the midst of their journey in Hell.
The film does seem to meander and
stumble a bit to find an ending. The slow down in the action in the
final act took me out of the story just a little bit. This may have
something to do with the film perhaps starting a little too quickly
that left it running out if gas not long after the 1 hour mark (the
run time is only 1 hour 25 minutes). The ending isn't exactly a blown
opportunity that ruins the fun experience of the rest of the film,
but it does hinder it just a bit.
Hell and Back is a really fun movie
with a very creative view of Hell that offers a great Odyssey like
journey and fantastic voice work. It loses it's way a bit at the end
but overall I would definitely say check it out, especially since, as
of this writing, it is streaming on Netflix.
No comments:
Post a Comment