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Rick and Morty - Short Review
10 years ago
General
WARNING: This post will most likely contain spoilers, subjective analysis, and lack of professionality. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!
So, after catching up to Rick and Morty by the start of the week, I'd decided to write a short review of the show, for those of you who might be interested in it. To summarize, Rick and Morty is a sci-fi-themed comedy cartoon show, in the vein of former "adult-oriented-but-for-all-the-family" shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc... except it's on Adult Swim, so you know it's automatically better. It somehow finds itself in the middle of family sitcom cartoons and Adventure Time-like cartoons, without the boring repetition of the former or the "LOL SO RANDOM" attitudes of the latter.
Rick and Morty follows the adventures of Rick Sanchez, an insanely talented scientist/inventor that is known throughout the Universe (in a bad light, might I add), and his grandson Morty, whom Rick takes as his assistant as he goes on adventures to other planets, dimensions, and everything in between, while constantly having to deal with the rest of their family: Morty's older sister Summer, and his parents, Jerry and Beth (Beth being Rick's daughter, and the one who allowed him to move in with them).
THE GOOD:
-The show surprises imensely with its art direction and animation. At first, you might suspect that it'll be a Go!Animate kind of show in terms of animation, but you'll quickly lose that fear, as it's shown that the animation is varied and the designs for everything that isn't human(oid) are daring, complex and detailed, and very interesting to look at.
-The writing and the pacing for each episode is fantastic, even on the first three episodes (which are still trying to get a decent pace going). And the more you watch, the more you understand that, while every episode is self-contained, there does seem to be some looming questions in the back, and that there's some things that need to be addressed. Whether it is the intent of the creators to actually have a story that ends, can only be known when/if it happens. But in the meantime, it's certainly enjoyable to just watch episodes as they come. They might not have (for me) the rewatching value of Robot Chicken, exactly due to uncertainty of the alleged "secret" plot, but every episode is just fun.
-Every setting, every creature, every element is handled in a great way. You will be able to see a fuck-ton of worlds and alternate dimensions, and they'll all feel very well connected, forming a believeable Universe. At first you might think that certain alien characters are just thrown in for the sake of it, yet they are well expanded. And the monsters are very interesting, just like in Adventure Time, they can look menacing and perhaps more detailed than the main characters, but their lovecraftian designs won't take away from the experience, and will instead add to it.
THE BAD:
-Like I've mentioned before, the first three episodes were kind of annoying for me. I don't exactly know why, but after watching them I wasn't hooked, and was afraid that the show wouldn't captivate me. If you ever find yourself having this experience with any of the episodes, don't get discouraged. If you like the sci-fi themes, then I'd suggest you just soldier through, because even in an episode that might not be as appealing, there's bound to be something there for you.
-A continuous plot-point in the show is the shaky marriage of Morty's parents. While it is very real and understandable, it still takes away from the experience, especially when it's either a secondary story or it's mentioned almost every episode. It gets beaten to the ground over and over, and even with other characters taking the piss out of the situation, it just seems like a token effort to point to it within the show's world, yet allow it to continue on and on, without actually addressing it or having the characters move past it. It has gotten less prevalent in the second season, but it's still there, and it's still annoying.
FINAL THOUGHTS & SHOULD YOU WATCH:
Rick and Morty is definitely a very necessary fresh entry for the Simpson/Family Guy type of cartoon, because it actually brings something new to the table, and doesn't pretend to be something that it isn't (granted, it only has 16 episodes out so far, with 10-episode seasons). It's crass, but not crass in the "Ooo, look at me talking about sex and trying to imply innuendo, we're so edgy!!"; it's actually mature in regards to its humor, even when ridiculous, so it also takes Adventure Time's random factor away, to actually give us cohesion in each episode.
Like I've said, there SEEMS to be something else going on behind every episode, especially in regards to Rick. But since it hasn't reached AT's level of giving too much plot (and consequently making everything that isn't story progression feel like filler), the show can still be enjoyed on an episode-by-episode basis. Id' recommend actually watching everything, but chances are that, outside of some continuity references here and there, you won't miss much if you don't watch all of them, or if you only want to watch it in its time-slot.
So, after catching up to Rick and Morty by the start of the week, I'd decided to write a short review of the show, for those of you who might be interested in it. To summarize, Rick and Morty is a sci-fi-themed comedy cartoon show, in the vein of former "adult-oriented-but-for-all-the-family" shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc... except it's on Adult Swim, so you know it's automatically better. It somehow finds itself in the middle of family sitcom cartoons and Adventure Time-like cartoons, without the boring repetition of the former or the "LOL SO RANDOM" attitudes of the latter.
Rick and Morty follows the adventures of Rick Sanchez, an insanely talented scientist/inventor that is known throughout the Universe (in a bad light, might I add), and his grandson Morty, whom Rick takes as his assistant as he goes on adventures to other planets, dimensions, and everything in between, while constantly having to deal with the rest of their family: Morty's older sister Summer, and his parents, Jerry and Beth (Beth being Rick's daughter, and the one who allowed him to move in with them).
THE GOOD:
-The show surprises imensely with its art direction and animation. At first, you might suspect that it'll be a Go!Animate kind of show in terms of animation, but you'll quickly lose that fear, as it's shown that the animation is varied and the designs for everything that isn't human(oid) are daring, complex and detailed, and very interesting to look at.
-The writing and the pacing for each episode is fantastic, even on the first three episodes (which are still trying to get a decent pace going). And the more you watch, the more you understand that, while every episode is self-contained, there does seem to be some looming questions in the back, and that there's some things that need to be addressed. Whether it is the intent of the creators to actually have a story that ends, can only be known when/if it happens. But in the meantime, it's certainly enjoyable to just watch episodes as they come. They might not have (for me) the rewatching value of Robot Chicken, exactly due to uncertainty of the alleged "secret" plot, but every episode is just fun.
-Every setting, every creature, every element is handled in a great way. You will be able to see a fuck-ton of worlds and alternate dimensions, and they'll all feel very well connected, forming a believeable Universe. At first you might think that certain alien characters are just thrown in for the sake of it, yet they are well expanded. And the monsters are very interesting, just like in Adventure Time, they can look menacing and perhaps more detailed than the main characters, but their lovecraftian designs won't take away from the experience, and will instead add to it.
THE BAD:
-Like I've mentioned before, the first three episodes were kind of annoying for me. I don't exactly know why, but after watching them I wasn't hooked, and was afraid that the show wouldn't captivate me. If you ever find yourself having this experience with any of the episodes, don't get discouraged. If you like the sci-fi themes, then I'd suggest you just soldier through, because even in an episode that might not be as appealing, there's bound to be something there for you.
-A continuous plot-point in the show is the shaky marriage of Morty's parents. While it is very real and understandable, it still takes away from the experience, especially when it's either a secondary story or it's mentioned almost every episode. It gets beaten to the ground over and over, and even with other characters taking the piss out of the situation, it just seems like a token effort to point to it within the show's world, yet allow it to continue on and on, without actually addressing it or having the characters move past it. It has gotten less prevalent in the second season, but it's still there, and it's still annoying.
FINAL THOUGHTS & SHOULD YOU WATCH:
Rick and Morty is definitely a very necessary fresh entry for the Simpson/Family Guy type of cartoon, because it actually brings something new to the table, and doesn't pretend to be something that it isn't (granted, it only has 16 episodes out so far, with 10-episode seasons). It's crass, but not crass in the "Ooo, look at me talking about sex and trying to imply innuendo, we're so edgy!!"; it's actually mature in regards to its humor, even when ridiculous, so it also takes Adventure Time's random factor away, to actually give us cohesion in each episode.
Like I've said, there SEEMS to be something else going on behind every episode, especially in regards to Rick. But since it hasn't reached AT's level of giving too much plot (and consequently making everything that isn't story progression feel like filler), the show can still be enjoyed on an episode-by-episode basis. Id' recommend actually watching everything, but chances are that, outside of some continuity references here and there, you won't miss much if you don't watch all of them, or if you only want to watch it in its time-slot.
Retro Pixel Lizard
~gyrogun
Going off topic here but... Ever seen Xavier: Renegade Angel?
HenLP
~henlp
OP
Niet.
