Moderately Confused

Moderately Confused
Directed by James Quicksell

20 months and 24 days after the release of James Quicksell's low-key, offbeat comedy Slightly Confused, the successor finally rolls into the spotlight...and we very quickly begin to understand why it took so long. This is a jump of similar distance to the one that separated Action Joe 1 and 2, a separation of quality that makes the first film feel more like a minor prelude, like the original NES game that gets bundled with the PS2 remake as a bonus. We follow the exploits of the Bank Robber, who at the end of the original had just escaped from prison and was running toward freedom. He escapes during the fantastic opening sequence that can only be described as Bruckheimeresque, and the warden of the state prison rings up Joe and Oliver to track him down once again. Meanwhile, he and an old friend meet up and begin planning their next big robbery; he's learned from his experiences, it seems, and so a complex heist preparation begins. What follows is one of the most well-made and entertaining 3DMM movies of all time, and while it isn't exactly perfect, it's a sure contender for many of the upcoming awards, including Best Movie. If SC underwhelmed you and you're expecting Moderately Improved, you're in for a big surprise.

One single, solitary aspect of Moderately Confused forgives any stumbles or mistakes in judgment it may have made getting from point A to point Z. It's not direction; despite excelling most of the time and performing admirably, it doesn't have the overall solidness of films like Ghost in the Shell or Powerplay, though it does have individual moments that rival both of those. It's not storyline; We follow the bank robber on a fairly simple caper adventure, with all of the pitstops along the way that that genre requires. It's not animation or construction; both of these surpass Slightly Confused to an astronomical degree, looking at times like a slightly lower-rent version of Powerplay, but they're not the movie's focus. And it's not comedy; the movie's definitely funny, but there's still a hit-and-miss aspect that tries to have it both ways between the belly laughs of Sgt. Steve and the wit of more subtle comedies. No, MC is by all rights one of the most competent pieces of work ever produced in community history, and joins an elite group just on basis of being almost 90 minutes long and never screwing up in anything more major than a fizzled gag or two. But there's something that elevates it in its own way, leaving a genuine smile on your face that nineteen out of twenty brilliant 3DMM films just can't quite do. Moderately Confused excels because it has a heart.

To be fair, it has a brain, too; where Dan Martin depended on me and James Waumsley to produce any line more interesting than "What the hell?" during the production of JDR Revival, Orcus weaves some of the most intelligent dialogue I've ever heard. He has a gift for exposition that doesn't even make it feel like exposition, with the added bonus of being able to deliver his own lines of articulate, carefully crafted explanation as calmly as if he were ordering dinner. When the Bank Robber reads the opening paragraph of a newspaper story to his partner in crime, it sounds like it could have been yanked from an actual headline. Rarely is dialogue this professional found in a 3DMM film, and it's delivered with a studied understatement that makes it feel like a real conversation. This is good, because much of Moderately Confused is made up of conversations; the first 60% or so of the movie is essentially a series of chance meetings that shape the course of the movie, rationalizations for stupid behavior, debates about why something dangerous is a good idea, and lots and lots of character-based humor. Which brings me back to what I was saying about the movie's heart.

In my review of Slightly Confused, I mentioned that the Bank Robber needed a foil, that he couldn't carry the show by himself because, with no contrast to his incompetence, we have no way to really identify with it. Enter the character of Shady, who at last balances out the equation and creates a whole new dimension for the Bank Robber's world. Orcus develops a brilliant parallel between the chemistry of BR and Shady and that of Joe and Oliver -- in both cases, you have the brash, confident, and fairly idiotic leader who is tempered by a smarter but less ambitious friend. The exchanges between the characters in each dynamic duo, and there are many of them throughout the film, serve two major purposes. The first, and more important from a cinematic standpoint, is to gradually build the character development of each before pitting them against each other at the end; a similar tactic was done with the characters of Satanik and the Inspector in SATANIK. The payoff is that once they're finally in a conflict against each other, an amazing tension has been gradually built up in the audience, as we thoroughly know both character groups and find it either difficult to pick a side or are more interested in seeing what happens instead of hoping for a specific outcome. But the second and more important purpose of the byplay between BR and Shady and Joe and Oliver is a very simple one, character development for its own sake. None of the movie's three major story influences really achieve the gratification you'll feel for these characters by the end of the movie; by the time BR completes his character journey and we see where everyone ends up, you'll be smiling and it's likely you'll be unable to stop yourself from doing it. There's an underlying magic to the movie that builds in the background and only becomes apparent when the credits finally roll.

All of this is in huge thanks to its impressive (and extensive) voice cast, one of the biggest this year. While Slightly Confused had him stretching the limits of his range for every character he could think up, Orcus hits just about every big name he can reach for in MC. As a result, the performances of the cops, the team, and the incidental characters along the way are all equally fantastic. Dustin Guest turns in what may be his final voice role ever as Codec, which finds him enthusiastically exclaiming "OMFG", "STFU", and just about every internet acronym you can think up. Finally, a character Jeff Ching can get into! (Ching himself turns in his usual overstated performance as a hardware store owner, which isn't too bad). Jeremy Dick is surprisingly good as the shrill, stereotypically black benefactor Jamal, who funds the operation. Tourette's-suffering inside man Calvin is voiced by Klaymen in his first major role, and getting lines like "FUCK MY UNCLE, IT'S CHRISTMAS" isn't a bad way to start. Jaymond works his magic as the spacy, narcoleptic Martin, who seems to balance nervousness with confusion -- Jay also works with James Burgon in doing over half of the incidental characters in the movie, never hitting a wrong note, his voice often making jokes funny on top of why they were funny in the first place (as with the fat prison guard), and I loved Burgon's gruff, moronic navy captain. And there in the foreground of every scene is Quicksell himself, flexing his verbal muscles and solidifying his status as one of the best voice actors in the community from here on out. No one seems to have the endurance this man does -- all four of the most important characters in the movie are his, and they have a lot to say. Not to mention that the changes in the script that took place as he, real-life friend Matt Fraher, and I pitched ideas and worked through what might not work as well in the final version, which required even more re-records. Placed end on end, I wouldn't be surprised if James recorded five hours of dialogue for this movie.

All across the board, Moderately Confused makes huge strides ahead of its predecessor, with James taking a long, hard look at what didn't work and refining it with all the effort and skill he'd learned. The voices are infinitely better, of course, and the direction and scenery are absolutely mind-blowing. But it's in the improvements to the scale and values of the series' world itself that MC is wholly and irrefutably justified. The Bank Robber, along with Shady, at last comes to life as one of the most memorable characters in 3DMM history for me, making up for lost characterization from the first outing in spades; and Joe and Oliver are funnier and stronger as characters than I'd ever imagined they could be. Congratulations, Orcus -- you've expanded upon this story's world and characters in ways I'd never thought could be taken as far as they were, and as a result, MC is one of the most gratifying experiences I've had with this program.

Critical Score: 97/100.
Personal Score: 100/100.