THE VENTURE BROS. RADIANT IS THE BLOOD OF THE BABOON HEART:
A WORTHY SENDOFF TO FAN-FAVORITE ADULT SWIM SERIES!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4
ADULT SWIM/CARTOON NETWORK
Hank Venture, Dr. “Rusty” Venture, Brock Samson, Dean Venture, 21, Mantilla, The Monarch, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Jefferson Twilight, and Dr. Orpheus in The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart
Team Venture (and The Monarch too!) are back in The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, the second in Adult Swim’s line of direct-to-video films based on their shows after 2022’s Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm and movie finale to the fan-favorite animated series, The Venture Bros. created by Jackson Publick (Chris McCulloch) and Doc Hammer. I really enjoy the Venture Bros. series though I wouldn’t call myself an expert on it (Actually, I watched the entire fifth-seventh seasons in their entireties for the first time in the days leading up to this review).
It didn’t quite have the same impact on me as other Adult Swim shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, or Rick and Morty, but I found the series to be genuinely hilarious with tons of memorable characters, outrageous villains, and a surprisingly engaging story that gets more interesting as the series goes along. It’s no wonder why it became such a beloved series on Adult Swim and a cult classic, to put it simply The Venture Bros. walked so Rick and Morty could run.
The series ran from 2003 until 2018 with an unresolved cliffhanger ending in the final episode…until now! That’s where the Venture Bros. movie comes in, released twenty years since the broadcast of the first episode and will finally tie up seven seasons worth of loose ends and bring closure to a truly excellent series…and it delivers!
This is a very funny movie that ends the series on a satisfying note and if you’re a Venture Bros. purist, you are going to have a great time catching all the references and callbacks. I can’t say it works entirely as a standalone film as it does require knowledge and an understanding of the series and its lore so if you’re already familiar with Venture Bros.you’re all set.
The film is set after the events of The Saphrax Protocol (The last episode of season 7) where Hank Venture (voiced by Chris McCulloch) has left his family and began his quest to find his real mother with Venture bodyguard, Brock Samson (voiced by Patrick Warburton-Seinfeld, Family Guy, Kim Possible) leading a manhunt to find Hank. Meanwhile, Dr. “Rusty” Venture (voiced by James Urbaniak-The Boxtrolls, Review, Difficult People) is preparing to unveil Venture Industries’ new flagship production, the H.E.L.P.eR Pod, an Alexa-based device that resembles the family’s robot butler, H.E.L.P.eR that could either bankrupt Venture Industries or elevate them to new heights.
Dean Venture (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, Your Name) teams up with family friend, neighbor, and powerful necromancer Dr. Orpheus (voiced by Steven Rattazzi-Indecent) to search for his brother after feeling guilty about having an affair with Hank’s girlfriend. The butterfly-themed supervillain The Monarch (Also voiced by McCulloch) and Henchman 21 (voiced by Doc Hammer) search for answers about The Monarch’s possible relationship to Rusty and a mysterious woman from their pasts known as Mantilla (voiced by Nina Arianda-Goliath, Stan & Ollie, Richard Jewell) threatens to bring their world crashing down on them.
The film also features the voices of Hammer reprising his voices roles as The Monarch’s wife and supervillain Guild councilwoman Dr. Mrs. the Monarch (AKA Dr. Girlfriend), Dr. Venture’s assistant Billy Quizboy, Hank’s friend Dermott, OSI. (Office of Secret Intelligence) agent Shoreleave, Guild member Red Mantle, and dispatched Guild agent Ward, McCulloch reprising his voice roles as Venture bodyguard Sgt. Hatred, albino computer scientist Pete White, General Hunter Gathers, H.E.L.P.eR, Colonel Gentleman, The Action Man, The Pirate Captain, Guild member Dragoon, and Jonny Quest villain Dr. Z, Urbaniak reprising his role as Revenge Society member and supervillain Phantom Limb, Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, DC Animated Universe, SpongeBob Squarepants) reprising his role as Red Death, John Hodgman (The Daily Show, Coraline, Pitch Perfect 2) reprising his role as OSI agent Snoopy, Hal Lublin (Becker, Dead Leaves, Mighty Magiswords) as Clayton, Jane Lynch (A Mighty Wind, Glee, Wreck-It Ralph 1 and 2) as Bobbi St. Simone, Charles Parnell (All My Children, The Last Ship, Top Gun: Maverick) reprising his role as vampire hunter Jefferson Twilight, Jay Pharoah (Saturday Night Live, Top Five, The Mitchells VS the Machines) as Nuno Blood, J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man franchise, Whiplash, Gravity Falls) reprising his role as Ben, and Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Chowder, The Ghost and Molly McGee) reprising his role as The Alchemist.
Overall, The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart is a very enjoyable movie and loving sendoff to one of the most beloved Adult Swim shows of all time. While I enjoyed Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm and thought it was a fun watch, the Venture Bros. movie has a much stronger storyline that I was invested in and often didn’t know where it was going.
It does resolve all the plot elements and theories established on the series (Who Dean and Hank’s mom is and The Monarch’s relationship to Dr. Venture), but knowing Adult Swim, the film also plays with people’s expectations and resolves them…with shocking twists. This is also a very convoluted narrative (Especially in an 84-minute runtime) with a lot of events happening across many different characters, but it never feels overstuffed and is paced well that you can follow it just fine.
The film is packed with Venture Bros. references all throughout whether it’s character appearances, photos on walls showing events from the series, or a phenomenal sequence where Hank reminisces about his life at Venture Industries before running away when he returns to the ruins of his old home, it’s a well-animated and edited scene full of Venture Bros. nostalgia.
Speaking of Hank, I also found it very clever that alternate versions of himself talk to him in his mind over the course of the film and guide him on his journey. The scenes with Hank talking to his alternate selves were both fascinating and funny, almost like the M. Night Shyamalan movie, Split if it was told from the perspective of James McAvoy.
There is a lot to talk about with this film, but it would require me to go into spoiler territory, so I’ll just leave it at The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart is a worthy conclusion to the series and just a fun Venture Bros. movie. Could have used more Dr. Henry Killinger and Henchman 24’s ghost though.
No comments:
Post a Comment