The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

New Flix on Netflix: “Mascots”

When promoting his film “Neighbors” in 2014, director Nicholas Stoller once said in an interview, “…you know what’s better than one Homer Simpson? Ten Homer Simpsons.”

I’d say that the characters who inhabit Netflix’s new original film “Mascots,” co-written and directed by Christopher Guest, are basically a bunch of Homer Simpsons.

In other words, they’re very dumb. Most definitely not as hilariously dumb as the classic yellow character, but their sheer idiocy keeps the laugh meter reasonably high.

“Mascots” follows a nutty assortment of individuals who are essentially competitive mascots.

They gather at an event known as The 8th World Mascot Association Championship to compete for the gold trophy. The film, quite choppily, follows each of them through the couple of hours before their big competition.

Here is a fine, funny little movie that is deeply flawed but manages to hold itself up as an entertaining-enough means of escapism for viewers who have an hour and a half to kill.

The film’s strengths lie in the characters. There isn’t much repetition going on here, as “weird” is the only thing this group of people have in common.

One team of mascots are a struggling married couple. The husband, played by Zach Woods, has one of the best lines in the film, “My wife and I are doing this never-go-to-bed angry thing… so I’m exhausted”), while the rest of the characters  range from a charming English man to a woman who specializes in some super-exotic dancing.

It’s interesting to explore the personalities of these characters as the film builds to their third-act performances, which ends up being great fun.

“Mascots” is now streaming on Netflix.

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About the Contributor
Michael Ambrosino, Entertainment Editor
Michael Ambrosino is a junior marketing major. He spent the last year as Entertainment Editor and General Manager, following his start as a Staff Writer and Assistant Entertainment Editor in years prior. This year, he aims to increase interaction with the student body within his section and maintain coverage of both on-campus and off-campus events. Have any questions? Email Michael at [email protected]

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