American Pop
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Movie Reviews of American Pop
Movie Review: An incredible dedication to American Pop music and culture
Summary: 4 Stars
Probably the most outrageous animated film I've seen. You are never left doubting the creative vision of the filmmakers. Some of the music seems a bit out of left field, but generally well picked. Enjoy.Movie Review: Close to excellent...
Summary: 3 Stars
This film is very close to being excellent, but in a lot of ways it's still very far away. No one will argue that Bakshi's work is not without its flaws, but I'm willing to concede a bit to Bakshi for essentially carrying the torch for animation through very difficult times. Really, during the late-70's and early-80's, animation in the US was at an extreme low point econcomically (Disney was a hair's breadth from bankruptcy, supposedly, at its worst point). Also, this is many years before films like "Akira" came to this country and proved that animation was viable as a filmmaking medium for adult audiences. Considering that animated feature films were considered an all-but-dead children's novelty, it's a wonder Bakshi was able to make any films at all, particularly that they were very seldom appealing to children's audiences. This is particularly true with "American Pop."
Visually, I'm really quite fond of this film. It looks to be entirely rotoscoped with cel animation, and has style and appeal to the look. That's probably one of the things I like most about it is that Bakshi tried to make the characters look cool, generally, without going too stylized (his characters in "Wizards" come to mind).
The story flows well, mostly, and could have been a lot drier in the parts that aren't in more current times. The scenes during World War Two are kind of well done in terms of well-written episodes of the film. After that, when the story approaches the sixties, the story approaches schmaltzy, such as an over-reverence for "beat" culture without any real critical examination, followed by a slightly better (but still somewhat uncritical) treatment of the sixties hippie culture (following a thinly-veiled version of Jefferson Airplane, it would seem, through tours and songwriting experiences). To me, the film shrugs off the more complicated areas of this period, such as drug use and living "on the streets," when exploring some of these things would have given the characters so much more motivation. By contrast, for example, much of the film "Easy Rider" explores the characters' motivations through realistic explorations of various episodes, without losing the "romance of the sixties."
After the scenes in the sixties, the film kind of dawdles until it ends, and towards the point where it was at best dabbling in punk (with possibly the worst Sex Pistols cover, which almost singlehandedly drains any amount of menace or credibility to punk as a movement in this film). Really, on further reflection, what it looks like Bakshi wanted most to make was a film about the sixties, and if he'd spent all of his time and writing on it I think it would have been so much better.
That, and twice in the film he has characters writing songs that are really popularly known Bob Dylan and Bob Seger songs, and bands in the film perform them as if they were "original." In the second case, they simply use Seger's studio recording of "Night Moves" and animate the band playing. Really, considering how often bands came in to cover popular tunes (such as the aforementioned Sex Pistols song) wouldn't it have been reasonably feasable to have original songs composed FOR the film? It would have made the film so much better in my mind, and it wouldn't really have been THAT difficult (I mean, they rotoscoped the whole thing, so difficult is way behind Bakshi is in this film).
This is easily the best Bakshi film I've seen, at least (honestly, I haven't seen that many), it looks good, sounds good in many parts, and given the obvious problems the film has, a decent and respectable work.
Movie Review: OK animation, iffy movie
Summary: 2 Stars
The animation is good, especially considering when it was made, but "American Pop" is never quite successful. Once again Bakshi probes the sordid underbelly of his subject, in this case pop music, but nothing here ever comes off quite convincing enough. And his dismissal of punk and rush to embrace the bland beardo post-hippie commercial rock of Bob Seger and Heart betrays Bakshi's age, and maybe a lack of good taste as well. It comes off a bit old-fogeyish.Like a lot of Bakshi's work, this has to be taken as it is, and the viewer has to bear in mind when and how it was made. Computer animation was in its infancy, and animation was at a low point in the United States, so the fact that this was made and distributed in mainstream theaters at all was a minor miracle at the time.
In short, the musical spots provide the bright moments, but the plot is labored and the characters, particularly the ridiculous "rock star" he invents at the end of the film, are unconvincing. As a historical document of where animation was in the United States at the time, it's viewable; as entertainment, well, it's better than "Heavy Traffic" but certainly not any kind of a classic animated film. See it if you want, but it's not indispensable.
Movie Review: Good Movie for under $3.00
Summary: 2 Stars
I must say, this isn't the best of Ralph Bakshi. I bet the soundtrack would be worth more then the movie. There is some great songs, however there is no PLOT, there is no Reasoning, and there is no Action. Like Always, great animation by Bakshi, but I know for sure the Bakshi's team could had really done better. 5 stars for the music, 2 stars for the film. I wasn't upset for spending the 3 dollars.Movie Review: Major Dissappointment
Summary: 1 Stars
I first saw this movie when I was a child. Most adult themed cartoons (example Fritz the Cat) that I watched as a child were good, however, I remember I hated this one. So now, I've aged quite a few years and thought I'd rent it and give this movie one more time now that I was a bit more grown-up and mature. Nope. Still a major flop. I often fell asleep, then I'd wake up only to fall asleep again. And what's with him thinking he's a pop hero playing that silly piano riff??