Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Whyboy Spotlights... Dick Figures The Movie

Oh boy! It's here! Dick Figures The Movie. I've been waiting for this flick ever since Ed and Zack (The Creators of Dick Figures) announced way back in early 2011. It got funded on Kickstarter, quickly amassing $311,000 becoming the most funded Animation project on the site at the time and you can see why this happened, Dick Figures is HUGELY popular online. Being one of the main three shows Mondo Media is known for the others being Happy Tree Friends, and the discontinued Gundarr, and raking in millions of views in each episode of the show.
Now the story of Dick Figures is... definitely the weakest aspect of the movie because when broken down it's the most basic, generic road trip quest movie which leaves very few surprises but maybe our two heroes can fix that. Red and Blue, voiced by Ed Skudder and Zack Keller, are chilling in their apartment when Blue lies to Pink, played by Shea Logsden, and promises to get her the best birthday present ever. The duo then go to their almost offensive but hilarious Asian raccoon friend Raccoon and he gives them a Map that will lead them to the three fragments of the Great Sword of Destiny and if they collect the sword then Raccoon will give Blue the perfect gift for Pink. But it ain't gonna be no skip through tulips as after they acquire the first peace of the sword they revive the ancient evil samurai Lord Takagami and his ancient demon ninja army. Now racing to collect the sword Red and Blue must find all the pieces to save the world but will all this be too much for their friendship to handle?
Dick Figures at its core is about two jerks or dicks as the title of the series labels them. Obviously, right? With Red as that asshat fratboy who loves sex, guns, explosions and just being an ass for just the shits and giggles and Blue on the other hand being the nerdy, uptight stick in the mud who jus oozes his lack of confidence and readily resorts to lies and taunts to seem like the better man. When you throw these two personalties into these insane situations you just get comedy gold, with Red seizing every moment in the show to its fullest and Blue just trying to live normally but failing completely. I was really blown away by how well this comedic style was transferred to the film and with an actual layer of emotion surrounding these two's friendship.
In the series, sometimes the question crossed my mind of why the hell these two were friends with each other when clearly they clearly despise each other's basic personalties, spending half of their time arguing with one another, and the other half of the time having adventures that end with Blue terribly injured and Red being awesome? The answer? Common interests. No seriously, if you look at the show you will notice that these guys may have different personalities but they do have common interests that brings them together, mainly video games and violence. And this movie cranks this theme of friendship through common interest to 11. Through this adventure of violence, death and badassery even as they squabble during each encounter they begin to show signs of worry for each other, but mostly Blue at first to help setup the final dramatic choice for Red. These scenes help string together this films themes of friendship very well and this strong theming really helped support the weak ass story.
I don't like calling an artist's work this because it sounds very pompous and kind of a "Duh obviously" sort of thing but Dick Figures The Movie's story felt like just a series of set pieces which were only there to show off the animation. Kickass animation though it is, there is very little connection between each destination thanks to the use of action piece segways or the ever popular Indiana Jones Map segway. This is kind of the same way I feel when I play the Uncharted games, there are awesome set pieces like the entire sinking ship level but it adds nothing to anything and could have easily been just not there. I don't think I can go as far and say the same here, all the scenes have purpose to build either character or story I would just like that character and Story purpose to take the front seat sometimes and not always be throw aside to see the pretty animation.
Now that I'm on a roll with animation, 6 Point Harness's team did an excellent job with this movie for a third of a million budget. Making Dick Figures actually look cinematic with a lot more detailing done in the backgrounds making every setting look alive and distinct, and the most smooth action animation Dick Figures has ever done. These animators truly put there all into this and it truly shows and making a Stick Figure movie look this good takes some serious talent. I can't wait to see what 6 Point has next on their agenda for future projects but for now let's stick to Dick Figures.
I guess the last point I should focus on is the question, can non-fans enjoy this movie, or is this made just for the fans in mind? I'm kind of on the fence about it. On the one hand it is a well put together film with strong enough theming and animation to hold up an overall generic storyline but on the hand it's Dick Figures humour. This is definitely a series made for the internet crowd with the college student demographic in mind. This really isn't something that i could see pulling in a general public sort of crowd. But for anyone on the internet I say give it a watch. If you're into watching a fun little movie and don't care if the stories not all that great then go ahead and give it a watch. For anyone who hasn't seen dick figure or isn't internet savvy I would say give an episode of the show a try, if it ain't your thing the movie won't win yah over. But if it is, then you'll have one hell of a ride watching this.

Written by: Taylor "Whyboy" Wyatt
Illustration by Jordan Tucker

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