MovieFreak.com - "The Tick - The Entire Series" DVD Review by Ivan Orta

Comic book superhero The Tick comes to life (again) in the short-lived live-action series. So short lived, in fact, the entire series actually fit in a single DVD release. Join the misadventures of The Tick, sidekick Arthur, and fellow crime fighters Batmanuel and Captain Liberty as they work together to defend The City. SPOOOONNN!!!

Did I oversell it just now? Perhaps. When l first caught wind that The Tick was going to be released as a live action series, I was very conflicted. I loved the animated series. It was quite possibly the finest Saturday morning cartoon ever, but a little too hip for its own demographic. Super heroes battling super villains are always a romp for the kids, but the true genius of The Tick lay in its sharply satiric, adult minded humor. If FOX were smarter, they would’ve given The Tick (animated series) a time slot right after The Simpsons, giving themselves a pleasant little animation block - anything to replace King of the Hill. Unfortunately, for primetime Tick, we got live-action Tick.

So what was lost in the translation from animation cells to rubber costumes and sets? Tons. Like characters, for instance. In this entire series, only The Tick, Arthur, and The Terror were recurring names from the animated series. Batmanuel and Captain Liberty were adjusted from Die Fledermaus and American Maid, respectively. That’s not to say l was making a checklist of super heroes to watch for, but each superhero did have a gimmick, which worked so wonderfully in the ballet of idiocy that was the animated series. Die Fledermaus was such a coward that he’d disconnect his phone and leave town for a week whenever Mayor Blank needed his help. American Maid was the no-nonsense, high heel throwing crime fighter that helped Tick and Arthur in most of their adventures.

And can I really go into the Civic Minded Five? Feral Boy, Four Legged Man, Jungle Janet, Mucilage Man and The Carpeted Man? I’d take up too much of your time. The roster of super heroes for the animated series was enough to keep it going for years if only Ben Edlund knew how to meet deadlines. The Tick and Arthur lost so much of their own personalities too, mainly due to the absence of super villains.

So what happens when super heroes don’t have any super villains to fight (or aren’t given the budget to produce the fights)? You get a sitcom with funny costumes. Quite a let down. In the pilot episode, The Tick is introduced as the proud defender of the bus station where he duels with a coffee machine to liberate a “steaming hot cup o’ justice” for a kind gentleman. The bus station attendants want him out, so they dupe him into thinking he dropped a ticket to The City, and send him away. Meanwhile, Arthur, an accountant, is doing some number crunching at work wearing his new moth (not rabbit!) costume when his supervisor (played by Christopher Lloyd, one of the highlights of the series) drops by his desk asking him what the hell is he thinking wearing that costume to work. Arthur explains he’s realized his dream: he wants to be a super hero. So he quits.

This pilot episode plays very much like the first episode of the animated series from the bus station scene, Arthur quitting his job, to The Tick breaking stuff in Arthur’s apartment trying to reveal the secret crime fighting equipment. All you have to do is switch the plot from Jimmy Carter being hunted down by The Red Scare to the Idea Men trying to blow up the dam to The City, and you have a direct live-action remake of the animated series premiere, albeit a greatly watered down version.

The Tick wasn’t all that bad, I guess. There were some very funny parts, but they were too few and far between to give the series a solid rhythm. At the risk of beating a dead horse, each character, hero and villain alike, was memorable because they had such great personalities, and a gimmick all their own that made me smile every time they appeared on screen. I didn’t get that feeling with the live-action series. Batmanuel’s character was probably the funniest, but cowardice is a lot funnier than a playboy attitude in my book.

If somebody knows someone at FOX, tell them to release the animated series of The Tick. If I live to see that day, I’ll run outside and yell a proud “SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!”

Evildoers beware, for The Tick comes to you in an anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen ratio. Picture quality is solid with nothing to complain about.

The Tick projects the thunderous voice of justice in English Dolby 2.0 surround sound. The sound quality is good because I can hear stuff (look, I have low standards).

Yeah, that’s not a typo. The only extra to speak of would be the trailers included, trailers for Bad Boys II? King of Queens? Men in Black II? There was, of course, the obligatory directors audio commentary (Ben Edlund and Barry Sonnenfeld both comment here), but aside from that, you don’t have much to turn to. Not even alternate languages. The Tick probably could’ve been funnier in French.

In trying to capture the spirit of its animated counterpart, The Tick failed. In trying to emerge as an original series with a fresh new angle, The Tick failed. In trying to capitalize on the series through a DVD release, The Tick, again, failed. The only hope for Tick fans is that someday, the entire animated series will be released. How long we’ll have to hold our breath for that day, though, is anyone’s guess.

THE MOVIE	6
THE VIDEO	8
THE AUDIO	8
THE EXTRAS	2
OVERALL (not an average)	4