HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami

This is awesome! This is what happens when you're looking for copper and you find gold. Director and lead actor Alain Chabat, responsible for the classic RRRrrrr!!!, made another crazy comedy in a similar style and I was laughing all the way through. Most of the film takes place somewhere in the jungle where there is a mythical creature called Marsupilami (looks like a Pokémon) that eats piranhas, steals the orchid of youth and gets up to mischief. A reporter comes to cover the story, and with the help of a local con-man Jamel Debbouze, they're in for an epic ride full of surprises and crazy situations. There are plenty of interesting innuendos, but the chihuahua getting fucked, the crazy Pai tribe administering LSD, and the botanist obsessed with youth are very entertaining. All in all, an excellent affair that I'll want to watch with everyone I love. Story***, Action***, Humor*****, Violence>No, Entertainment*****, Music***, Visuals****, Atmosphere****, Suspense***. 8.5/10. (09/12/2020)

I was expecting a comedy-parody stupid blockbuster, but the result seems like a stupid B-movie with no ambition. The execution is quite flabby, there are jokes every five seconds, but I laughed at every tenth of them, and that's probably the problem. The idea is crazy, a chase of fifty people and one Pokémon in the jungle, but the whole thing is so unformed, unfunny and bland. The film wants to get the story going in a realistic way, but it sometimes drops incredibly stupid jokes. If it had just stuck to the latter path, I probably would have relaxed and enjoyed it more, but it’s such a weird mess. (04/07/2022)