SMOSH: the Movie (2015)

Number Rolled: 71

Movie Name/Year: SMOSH: the Movie (2015)

Tagline: LOL

Genre: Comedy

Length: 83 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Production Companies: Defy Media, Awesomeness Films, Smosh Productions

Producer: Barry Blumberg, Brett Bouttier, Joe Davola, Don Dunn, Casey Fenton, Ryan Finnerty, Ian Hecox, Jason D. Keller, Samuel Limor, Anthony Padilla, Shauna Phelan, Brian Robbins

Director: Alex Winter

Writer: Eric Falconer, Steve Marmel, Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox

Actors: Mark Edward Fischbach, Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox, Jillian Nelson, Brittany Ross, Michael Ian Black, Steve Austin, Jenna Marbles, Harley Morenstein, Grace Helbig, Peter Breitmayer, Kristen O’Meara, Kevin Will, Juliocesar Chavez, Dominic Sandoval, Hal Landon Jr.

Blurb from Netflix: To keep his teen crush from spotting him in an embarrassing YouTube video, Anthony and his friend Ian must enter the virtual world and alter the clip.

Selina’s Point of View:

Two funny WTF movies in a row. I’m a happy blogger.

Before I start, I have to ask. Is there really such a thing as a 5 year or 10 year high school graduation? I graduated over a decade ago and never heard of anyone from my last high school making any plans to meet up. Meanwhile it’s a theme in roughly 9000 movies… (I might be missing a zero).

That being said, I know Smosh (2006-) is a YouTube channel, but I’m completely unfamiliar with their work. As a result, I had NO clue what to expect with this film. I’ve seen a few movies and series by YouTubers, but they’re all really different. The Guild (2007-2013), Video Game High School (2012-2014), and Riley Rewind (2013), for instance, are super different. The only two things they had in common were that they were ORIGINAL and AWESOME.

So, SMOSH: the Movie had a lot to live up to.

The first success they had was with their choice of director.

Do you know who Alex Winter (Downloaded, Deep Web, Supah Ninjas) IS? Alex Winter is Bill from the Bill & Ted’s movie/TV franchise (1989-1991). I grew up watching their excellent adventure, their bogus journey and their TV show. Great choice for the director of a movie that was so reminiscent of the odd-ball time-travel films.

The next thing the makers of this film did spectacularly right, is that they dove head first into their target audience’s wheel house. There are YouTube references everywhere… since I’m only a casual YouTuber, I probably didn’t pick up on all of them, but I saw enough to know there was more beyond my knowledge.

Finally, the movie was decent. It had that far-gone comedy quality that teeters on the edge of parody, but it didn’t quite cross the line. The script was cute and the story was too.

It followed a general time-travel recipe, but it upgraded the idea to the current century. It didn’t change the recipe, but it did expand the ingredients enough to be called original.

To be honest, I don’t recall ever having a bad experience with a YouTube created movie or series. I definitely think we should be funding creative YouTubers attempts to make their projects. People complain constantly that there’s nothing original coming out. Well, this would be how you get original.

Now I’m contemplating what a movie by the Epic Rap Battles of History team or Joe Santagato would look like…

Cat’s Point of View:

I have a confession to make. I’m not much of a YouTuber.

The things I generally use YouTube for are music videos and watching random things that come across my Facebook news feed.

That being said, I’m not entirely clueless when it comes to YouTube personalities. In addition to the singers I follow, I am familiar with a handful of the top personalities like Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach (Drunk Minecraft, Whack the Cheater, Scare PewDiePie) and Jenna Marbles (Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, Road Hard, Natural Born Pranksters).

I got a kick out of seeing them in this movie. Their roles would still be relevant to anyone who didn’t already recognize them, though.

Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to watch any episodes of Smosh (2006-). After watching this film, however, I will likely be checking them out in the very near future. 

Back to the movie! I was thoroughly entertained. I found that I wasn’t really losing anything due to my unfamiliarity with the main characters or their show. That was the one thing I had been worried about, really.

I’ve seen this film compared to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). That’s not too far from the mark, actually. I’d say that this movie is a bit less cheesy and more relatable to the modern audience than that classic 80’s flick.

Anthony Padilla (Lie With Me, Sacrifice, Part Timers) and Ian Hecox (Ask Charlie, Smosh Babies, Orbyt Play) are more identifiable as ‘regular guys’ than the over-the-top stoner dudes from yester-year. 

That’s really a part of the appeal here, as well. In addition to being absolutely hilarious, I think that this strikes a chord with a lot of us. We all have one thing or another in our past that we did that was uncool that we wish we could take back. (Thankfully, mine was before the age of the internet!)

Also, is it just me or does Ian Hecox look a lot like Fran Kranz (Much Ado About Nothing, Before I Disappear, Mojave)? I spent an inordinate amount of time during this movie pondering on that; but I digress.

I would recommend this movie in a heartbeat. I may even watch it again after I get a few Smosh episodes under my belt.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 47%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 2/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 4/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 4/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 4/5

P.S. Bloopers during the start of the credits. Extra scene after the credits.

Movie Trailer: (Don’t watch the trailer. Seriously. It’s all spoilers. Not well done at all.)