Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation

Big-City-Greens-the-Movie-Spacecation
Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation

The Big City Greens franchise presented its first full-length feature film: Big City Greens the Movie Spacecation which was launched in October last year and is now available on Disney. Speaking about the franchise, it’s about a family, the Greens, whose members you will meet in more detail later. Suffice it to say that the series itself is currently in its fourth season, with a fifth season also confirmed. The Greens’ storylines, as you might have guessed, take place in New York City, specifically the areas 1st through 6th squares. The movie’s producers included the series’ creators Chris Houghton and Shane Houghton alongside Michigan Coughlin and Anna O’Brian, the film’s director. The Houghton brothers have indeed portrayed some moments from the series and, with the help of the diverse scope of the universe, have developed even more interesting storylines.

The plot begins rather straightforwardly but the Greens are just preparing for their great family trip. Though they are all super excited, it must be hard for Cricket’s (Chris Houghton) enthusiasm to be in good spirits when their father Bill (Bob Joles) decides to repeat the same program as last year’s family trip a round road trip around the sight locations. Gramma Alice (Artemis Pebdani) and sister Tilly (Marieve Herington) are ok with the plan but Cricket is sick of the same places over and over again. While taking some of the bags of their vegetables to the Big Tech Manufacturing Company, they hear of President Gwendolyn Zapp (Cheri Oteri)’s plan of making robots, gold mining in an asteroid, and establishing a space hotel. Their new vacation spot is something solely Cricket hopes for as it seems unlikely anything like that would come with realistic pricing. But, to have the last drop of salt into the wound, his friend Remy (Zeno Robinson) of a wealthy background along with his family indeed has gone on a trip to the space hotel.

Cricket happens to gain some insight that the farm-bots do not have quite enough programming and manages to persuade Zapp to let him and his family go and tend to the farms as that’s what they are best at. He also asks to remain in the outer space hotel once they are done with the task. He goes ahead and lies to her father and the others that they are just doing a simulation and are not really on a space mission, but they soon find out the real situation and this brings about a degree of friction between Cricket and his other family members. In addition to these family members, the crew on the mission also has Commander Voyd (Renée Elise Goldsberry), who is very strict seeming to her crew and forbidding anyone from having any fun whilst on the mission. Cricket somehow manages to imprison her and cryogenically freeze her so he can enjoy himself. He makes up with his Gramma by showing her a defensive robotic leg he snatched on the spaceship as her old leg during her blast off literally turned to ashes; this leg has multiple implants which, wouldn’t you know it, will turn out to be pretty useful in the story later on.

It appears that harmony has been restored between Bill and Cricket, though the former has the challenge of piloting the spacecraft through an asteroid field of R2Ach trash, or R2D2 A-ch garbage with regards to Big Tech’s outsourcing of refuse to the cosmos. Upon landing on the asteroid, the family is beset by insane agriculturist robots which were designed to ‘harm’ instead of ‘farm’. Although such programming error is probably not that rare, it definitely delivers an array of funny moments and terrifying sequences as we watch the characters attempt to escape from this situation. The Greens manage to turn off the robots but in the process alter the orbit of the asteroid which was supposed to remain in orbit. It also targets Earth and moves towards it with immense strength. If this was not sufficient entertainment, there is a little entertaining sequence where Cricket and Bill have a heated argument. Bill is fed with Cricket’s ‘brilliant ideas’ that always get them in messy situations. Including this one that they are in right now. It is a little more intense than a lot of the stuff that has transpired in the show this far and probably feels earned and appropriate so one may say.

Those wishing to focus on the events and characters back on Earth will not have to wait long as the show also features some sub-plots. For instance, what about Bill’s ex-wife and Cricket & Tilly’s mother, Nancy, and their friend, neighbor, occasional housemate, and business associate Gloria, who went on an adventure to bring down Big Tech? What’s more, Gloria looked so enthusiastic to play with Nancy as she was trying her best to catch Nancy’s attention. Certainly, when looking back, it was a blunder on the part of the show for viewers amused by these two people not to encounter them during more than one short episode and for them not to go on an expedition together. It was Gwendolyn Zapp who surprised the audience, for her big drama when devised was to take revenge on her kindergarten teacher. A teacher told her that the idea of cultivating vegetables in space was pure fantasy. What a strange thing to be motivated by, yet it really works. Adding to this, the former teacher has now gone crazy so she has no idea what in the world is going on anyway. However, Zapp’s list of people she desires to avenge is much, much longer, and they apparently committed similar acting farcical.

Putting the climax of the movie in jeopardy, I am going to say that at least Bill with Cricket are reconciled. After all, they are fathers and children. Everybody wants the best for the family, but sometimes things are done differently. One can gather that some of Cricket’s attitude also rubs on his father since Bill is the one who tries to save the world with a bizarre idea. Commander Voyd (who was unfrozen by now) also started to comprehend Zapp was not as good a commander as she believed and started to disobey orders to aid the Greens in their scheme. It\’s not much character development for someone who was in this movie for the first time, but it is effective and gets the job done.

I enjoyed the movie overall and thought it felt like a long episode of the TV show. The characters are themselves but most fans will be disappointed that some of them like Remy don’t get much air time (he is off-screen most of the movie but still comes dressed in a conga-dancing costume). Solid voice work is done the protagonists’ actors who have been in the original show are back, and it looks like none of them changed their direction. Hope people are used to them already. Other cast members include Renee Elise Goldsberry, Jack McBrayer, and Scott Kelly, the Astronaut in a ridiculous brief role. Replaced in the cast is Danny Trejo as Vasquez who serves as a bodyguard to Remy. But since Remy does not do much in this film and Vasquez is equally competent to handle almost anything on his own, it is clear why he does not feature in this narrative.

The musical numbers are okay, I can’t say much about any of them but it is to be anticipated particularly for Disney films to have some songs. For animation, nothing out of the ordinary. There didn’t seem to be any deviation from how the normal series is animated. All these details combined result in an entertaining movie that would hopefully provide some fun to both the show’s friends and the new audience.

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