American Pop . Weekly Alibi . 04-20-98

American Pop

DIRECTED BY: Ralph Bakshi

REVIEWED: 04-20-98

I gotta get this outta the way up front--I think Ralph Bakshi is one of the most overrated filmmakers around. He's no better a director than, say, Peter Hyams (Quick! Name three movies he directed), but people give him a lot more credit than he deserves simply because his movies are animated. I mean, c'mon, why should people be willing to accept less in terms of story and characterization just 'cause you're looking at a bunch of cartoon characters? Don't get me wrong--I don't wanna come off like the guy in Entertainment Weekly who started his review of "South Park" by saying, "I hate cartoons"--I love cartoons, but if you're gonna refer to a director as "visionary" and his movies as "classics," they'd better be damn good movies. Bakshi's works are entertaining but remarkably average, and American Pop is right in there with 'em. Following four generations of men who, in one way or another are involved in the music scene, Pop takes us on a fairly heavy-handed ride through the land of clichés, but does it in a manner that's at least fun to watch. Unfortunately, Bakshi's over-reliance on rotoscoping (filming the actors performing their scenes, then basically tracing that film) makes me wonder why the hell he even bothered to animate the thing--in some scenes, I could actually recognize the actors under the paint! This slavish reproduction of the live-action footage tends to separate the characters from their environment, too--as if they're floating around on a flat background. It's kinda like watching George Reeves fly on the old "Superman" TV show. And to make it even more disconcerting, the background characters are all stylized and funky-looking, the way the main characters should have been! Sure, it's cool to see an animated Jimi Hendrix, but thanks to Bakshi's crazed tracing, it's like watching the live-action Jimi with some garish paint slathered over himself. But ya' know what? Despite all this bitching, I'd have to say this is one of Bakshi's more entertaining flicks--in fact, I liked it as much as I like some of Peter Hyams' stuff (Outland, 2010, The Relic). Fun, but far from visionary or classic. (Columbia Tri-Star)

--Scott Phillips

Other Films by Ralph Bakshi
Streetfight

Film Vault Suggested Links
Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore
Lost Highway
Rock! Rock! Rock!

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