Synopsis
I grew up with Beavis & Butthead, the so stupid it hurts MTV cartoon show that basically would launch MTV programming and put it on the map for future series. Mike Judge was the creator behind that masterpiece. He would go on later to be the guy behind King of the Hill and a few assorted good shows. However, somewhere along the way he decided to direct a couple of movies. His most recent affair, Idiocracy; a feature film staring Luke Wilson (Old…School, Anchorman) & Maya Rudolph(Saturday Night Live) is the story of an Army grunt & a prostitute who participate in an army experiment to be frozen for a year and then returned to live their lives. The problem is the experiment goes awry and they end up frozen for 500 years and hilarity ensues.
The idea or theme behind the movie is that smart people are having no children and the somewhat less intelligent people of the world are having children at an alarming rate. What this is causing is that the number of stupid people in the world are far outnumbering the smart people and thus dumbing down the world to the point where they don’t even appear to have basic motor functions. But the real problem behind this and the movie is that despite its strong underlying message, it basically ends up a bunch of fart and burp jokes. Luke Wilson who plays Joe Bauers isn’t the strong character we hope for. At some point we hope he does get put to death (however, he keeps escaping). Maya Rudolph is better in her role as Rita the prostitute but not much. Dax Shepard who plays Frito is probably the most comical and interesting role but even that can’t save this flic. (also look for a cameo from Thomas Haden Church) I’m not cheering for anybody here. While the concept I agree with and often wonder about; I can’t get past the really kid like jokes and stupidity that is rampant in this flic. Not to mention plot holes all over the place.
Video
The movie is presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. It is basically the standard affair of movies today with good color throughout. The shading isn’t the strongest in the world and the screen isn’t overly vibrant but it does the job here.
Audio
The audio is a little better as it gets 5.1 Dolby Digital in English and a 2.0 Surround for Spanish (with English, Spanish & French subtitles). We have some moments that use the surrounds here but nothing that makes it stand out. It would have been nice if the Rehabilitation scene showed off more effective use of surrounds but this is par for the course for most silly comedies.
Special Features
Deleted Scenes: There are 5 deleted scenes here, nothing of note except the introduction of a former girlfriend character of Joe’s. Certainly nothing that should have been included in the main movie or actually anything that is really funny.
The only other “Special Feature” to be found in this flic is a trailer montage when the disc loads of Little Miss Sunshine, Borat & The Marine. All three flics to be miles better than Idiocracy. Even the disc menu that you navigate the film with (scene selection, deleted scenes and language selection) is confusing and steals a few more seconds from my precious life.
Final Thoughts
It’s rare that I watch a movie and have so little good things to say about it. The pros here is that the message behind the movie is a good one and thought provoking. (Smart people need to start having kids or people with names on their shirt need to stop having so many kids). The cons is that this is a movie filled with 2nd grade burp and fart jokes. It’s so overwhelming that I honestly feel stupider for watching it. I’m sure a lot of people will put this in the same category as Office Space, which is a very good cult classic movie about cubicle life. However, while I enjoyed Office Space, I can’t help to bash Idiocracy. It certainly was not for me, and I can’t recommend this film. In fact after writing this review, I think I need several Excedrin and to go have a kid (preferably with a redheaded smart and sexy rocket scientist). It’s a shame because I really wanted to like this movie but couldn’t. Maybe you as the general audience have a different opinion, I hope so.
Special Features List
- Deleted Scenes (5)
Screenshots
