The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart review
Dramatic Notices by Ron Russo
I attend the film premieres like everybody else, if it’s digital, a home viewing at 12:01 AM; do back to back viewings with a little research in between, and then immediately write the review for that day’s edition, old school (I’m a former Adjunct Film Professor that taught the world’s only Adult Swim college course).
As an animal welfare person I was reticent to watch, let alone review, this film based on the title. However, that is not the case whatsoever, in fact, Bobbi St. Simone, one of the main characters, runs Caring Hands, an animal rescue sanctuary!
Like much great film and literature, there is an entry/exit; similar elements both open and close/epilogue a piece. Opening shots #4 and #11 are close-ups of a wristwatch…. There are a plethora of other great props in the film, too, including specific drinks for specific characters (Dr. Venture with coffee; both Bobbi and daughter Mantilla with Hibiscus tea with lemon and acai berry; and first Ben and then others with beer in a green bottle); license plates (Jefferson’s hearse with Illinois BLD VSSL and Ben’s van with Colorado NA-H2O); and so forth.
The comedy element of repetition and multiplication is seen and heard in the Venture compound flashback with multiple Hanks repeating “Mom,” and multiple Hank and Deans, for example repeating “Mecha-Shiva.” Another speech element is the use of at least four languages in short phrases: Spanish, Italian, German, and French (Is “The Venture Bros.” show popular in countries with these native languages?). There is a lot more research to be done on this film but this review will keep within the Dramatic Notices parameters.
A nice juvenile humor gag takes place with Dr. Orpheus’ literal twist, “Liar, pants aflame” to Dermott. Another scene with Dr. Orpheus and Dean has text floating throughout the frame which goes back more than one hundred years to another Doctor, Caligari, in a shot from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), Germany.
The show has always had a strong music component with contributor Doc Hammer being a musician. Many band posters are shown in Dermott’s motel room including one of Dethklok (likely my next film review in August) and that of his own trio, Shallow Gravy with Hank and H.E.L.PeR. Their classic hit “Jacket” is played out of the new Helper product (and there is a new monster, Pants). More indigenous music is seen and heard with the Lei-Abouts band in the Follow That Bikini trailer. Later JG Thirlwell recalls the Mick Jones electronic soundbite (Clash “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and Big Audio Dynamite “The Globe”) in the “It Takes Two” mix.
One of my favorite VB characters, David Bowie, appears momentarily in a visual only flashback. General Hunter Gathers premieres in the second shot of the film. This character is based on comic music/political writer and persona Hunter S. Thompson (included in the first edition of Adult Swim and Comedy for the latter). The character Gathers now made him a part of Adult Swim, too, and I could approach the iconic UK illustrator Ralph Steadman for some Hunter portraits. Super kind Ralph generously donated several images for the third and fourth edition textbooks, and for this I am eternally grateful to creator Jackson Publick!
The Venture Bros. have always had outstanding merch like a bed sheet set, or crazy one-offs such as telephoning in to their distributor in a VB character voice and you had an opportunity to purchase a VB ice cream cake. After watching The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart I want both Dr. Venture’s coffee cup and possibly even his eyeglass frames.
4.9 of 5 stars (an interactive phone component, such as the Mooninite texts from Plantasm, would be a seamless addition as it is already one of the main props; Will we see this in the Adult Swim premiere?)
Per the shirt club, The Venture Bros. always have outstanding merch like a bed sheet set, or crazy one-offs such as telephoning in to their distributor in a VB character voice and you had an opportunity to purchase a VB ice cream cake.