There's a certain tragedy to a series that has all the ingredients to be successful but can't put it together, like an athlete with physical gifts but no mental fortitude, or a device with a critical flaw. Moonbeam City is one of those tragic cases.
On the surface, this series should work and work well. The art, equal parts Duran Duran album cover and the manga City Hunter screams 80's. The soundtrack, with a heavy emphasis on synth beats, is archetypical of the era. The actors are all very talented. So why doesn't it work?
Well, the big thing for me is the writing. Nevermind that the Jerk Ass seems to be the only way you're allowed to write someone in an animated Western comedy, but the jokes, the setups, and the execution of the plot just don't mesh together. It's the same type of over the top, sophomoric humor we've seen dozens of times before, and the execution is scattershot, rarely providing a laugh so much as a quizzical tilt of the head. This falls right on the lead writer, Tommy Blacha, a man who's track record includes such unfunny disasters from theoretically great premises like Mongo Wrestling Alliance and King Star King, both of which had good setups but simply lacked the writing to make the setups work.
It really is a shame, because I wanted to like the show. But as usual, Blacha's writing takes a great premise and turns it to junk.
Great premise, great art...but not funny.
There's a certain tragedy to a series that has all the ingredients to be successful but can't put it together, like an athlete with physical gifts but no mental fortitude, or a device with a critical flaw. Moonbeam City is one of those tragic cases.
On the surface, this series should work and work well. The art, equal parts Duran Duran album cover and the manga City Hunter screams 80's. The soundtrack, with a heavy emphasis on synth beats, is archetypical of the era. The actors are all very talented. So why doesn't it work?
Well, the big thing for me is the writing. Nevermind that the Jerk Ass seems to be the only way you're allowed to write someone in an animated Western comedy, but the jokes, the setups, and the execution of the plot just don't mesh together. It's the same type of over the top, sophomoric humor we've seen dozens of times before, and the execution is scattershot, rarely providing a laugh so much as a quizzical tilt of the head. This falls right on the lead writer, Tommy Blacha, a man who's track record includes such unfunny disasters from theoretically great premises like Mongo Wrestling Alliance and King Star King, both of which had good setups but simply lacked the writing to make the setups work.
It really is a shame, because I wanted to like the show. But as usual, Blacha's writing takes a great premise and turns it to junk.