Rick and Morty – Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie Review

“Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” attempts an extraordinary experiment by being a Rick and Morty episode without Rick.

Water-T has returned from exile to his home planet just as it gets attacked by the Numbericons. The only hope for The Alphbetrians is a pendant called the ‘I of Harmony.’ To open it, Water-T must see his old maths teacher so they can figure out what it says. But a Numbericon commander is hot on their trail.

“Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” was a continuation of the Season Two episode “Get Schwifty” where Ice-T returns to his planet just as it gets attacked. It’s an episode that was based on a post-credit gag and it was a premise that was stretched thin. The fan reaction has been so negative that it has a lower IMDB rating than “Rickdependence Spray” – the episode that was a long sex joke.

“Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” came across as an odd spin-off than a proper Rick and Morty episode. It was a long spoof that happened to be made with Rick and Morty’s art style. It was like Rick and Morty’s equivalent of a Seltzberg film. “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” was a double parody, starting off making fun of ‘80s cartoons, especially Transformers before turning into a Star Wars parody. The episode blatantly copied visuals and ideas from Return of the Jedi like the primitive squiggles being like the Ewoks. This copying made “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” feel like Family Guy’s Star Wars spoofs, which were just comedic retellings of the Star Wars trilogy.

Rick and Morty has made plenty of parodies before. However, as the show progressed the parodies got lazier. Season Seven saw the opening episode randomly inserting the Predator, copying the plot of Taken, and had an assortment of pop culture references when the titular characters look back at their adventures.

Rick and Morty have been capable of making some great parodies.  “Anatomy Park” was an obvious parody of Jurassic Park, and it was hilarious and twisted since it took place inside a homeless man’s body. “Raising Gazorpazorp” had a niche target by parodying the cult film Zaradoz. I enjoyed “Rattlestar Ricklactica” as a Terminator parody since it was unexpected and involved alien snakes.

One of the most notable aspects of Season Seven has been the lack of B-Plots. All the episodes focused on a singular story. “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” was an episode that needed a B-Plot to balance out the wacky space adventure that was a one-joke premise. “Rise of the Numbericons” aimed to be an action-filled episode like “The Rickshank Rickdemption” and “Unmortricken,” but those episodes earned being action-focused since they were lore episodes that were continuing long-standing story threads.

“Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” was a failed venture for Rick and Morty and didn’t feel like it belonged with the rest of the show. It will be remembered as one of the worst episodes in the show’s history, but it was more tolerable “Rickdependence Spray.”