Plot: From visionary director Genndy Tartakovsky comes “Fixed,” an adult animated comedy about Bull, an average, all-around good dog who discovers he’s going to be neutered in the morning! As the gravity of this life-altering event sets in, Bull realizes he needs one last adventure with his pack of best friends as these are the last 24 hours with his balls! What could go wrong…?
Review: If you have ever had an animated film recommended but brushed it off by saying that cartoons are for kids, you are missing out. From the pantheon of Japanese animated fare that rival live-action projects to classic American films like Heavy Metal, animation has been a medium with just as many projects aimed at adults as it has towards children. In recent years, movies like Sausage Party have amped up the raunch factor to reclaim animation for mature audiences. Still, Seth Rogen’s food-oriented film would be aghast at just how explicit things get in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed. Blending the classic style of Looney Tunes cartoons with an R-rated and sexually charged plot, Fixed manages to have the heart of a Disney film while still boasting enough testicle and butthole close-ups that Walt would spin in his grave.
At first glance, Fixed looks like it is inspired by the classic look of Ren & Stimpy rather than Lady and the Tramp. From the hairy balls and star-shaped buttholes in virtually every scene to the exaggerated look of the various animal breeds, Fixed does share some Disney-esque qualities in the painted backgrounds and the anthropomorphic talking animals that populate the film. Led by Bull (Adam DeVine), a mutt with a voracious drive to hump everything around him, Fixed follows a neighborhood full of dogs who each have their own signature traits. There is the alpha boxer Rocco (Idris Elba), the Instagram influencer daschund Fetch (Fred Armisen), and the cat poop eating beagle Lucky (Bobby Moynihan). Bull also has a paramour in the classy show dog Afghan hound Honey (Kathryn Hahn), whom he has had a crush on since they were puppies. When Bull learns he is about to get neutered, he sets out to find a way to live free of his family and discovers what really matters.
The storyline of Fixed is not all that different from Illumination’s hit film The Secret Life of Pets, albeit with explicit sexual content and profanity. Where that CGI-animated film followed a dog lost in the big city, Fixed is centered on a boy’s night out escapade that finds Bull and his friends living it up before his balls get cut off. This includes murdering squirrels, facing off with alley cats, and visiting a sex club for dogs that introduces the suburbanized pets to the freedom of sexual expression. Watched over by an intersex Doberman named Frankie (River Gallo), Fixed is not shy about discussing everything that a live-action film rarely goes near. Because the film is animated, certain things are easier to discuss, and the film holds nothing back. The infamous orgy sequence at the end of Sausage Party did things never before seen on film, and Fixed is not far behind with an exploration of unique sexual proclivities that I did not expect to see from the creator of Dexter’s Laboratory and Hotel Transylvania.
Clocking in at just about ninety minutes, Fixed moves briskly and keeps the story moving as Bull and his buddies revel in their freedom, but the story still comes back to Bull wanting to mate with Honey. Despite rival show dog Sterling (Beck Bennett) vying for Honey’s affections, Bull never gives up and even sacrifices himself in a way I did not expect. By the film’s final act, the heart of Fixed comes to the forefront as it is truly about love and acceptance rather than the hormonal drive of two hanging appendages. Fixed also never makes excuses for being as raunchy or explicit as it is, with the profanity and shock value never wearing off as some other adult comedies do. The jokes never let up throughout the entire running time of the film. While some viewers may find the jokes repetitive, they serve the main story. I must give the filmmakers kudos for never letting up with the jokes while keeping the plot moving.
Director Genndy Tartakovsky has created some of the most visually-impressive 2D animated projects of the last twenty years, including the original Star Wars: The Clone Wars shorts, Primal, and Samurai Jack. The animation in Fixed is nowhere near the caliber of those projects and falls short of both Tartakovsky’s inspirations for the film: Walt Disney and Looney Tunes. Tartakovsky and his co-writer Jon Vitti keep the basic premise of Fixed structured around copious sex jokes, which work more often than they don’t. Still, the appeal of hearing actors like Idris Elba and Kathryn Hahn spouting the dialogue gives the film the energy that propels it forward. Adam DeVine plays Bull with his signature delivery, but the supporting cast helps this film work. Tyler Bates gives the film a nice score, which is augmented by a soundtrack of retro classics that may be forever sullied after being associated with this many scenes of doggystyle.
Fixed works better than I expected, but it still falls short of the rest of Genndy Tartakovsky’s filmography. While the film comes from Sony Pictures Animation, they made the right move in having Netflix distribute it. While Fixed would have played well on the big screen to crowds of horny teenagers, this is a project that will find a lot wider audience via the streaming platform. I expect that, regardless of the reviews, Fixed will be a word-of-mouth success thanks to the limited number of animated films pushing the line as far as this one does. While it is not a great movie, Fixed is a lot more fun than I anticipated and worth checking out to see just how profane and explicit these animated pooches can get. Trust me, they get pretty damn explicit.
Fixed premieres on August 13th on Netflix.
Source:
JoBlo.com
