The Unbeatables (2013) (aka: Underdogs) Brooklyn Beckham, Rob Brydon, Rupert Grint, Nigel Hastings, Anthony Head, Katie Holmes Movie Review

The Unbeatables (2013)   4/54/54/54/54/5


The Unbeatables (2013) (aka: Underdogs)

An Animation for Football Fans

In the small village where he lives Amadeo is the kind of table football with some sick skills which he uses to beat the brash village bully Flash. It leads to Flash departing and under the guidance of the seedy Agent becomes a football superstar whilst Amadeo is still living in the village, working in the bar he worked as a kid and still to shy to tell Lara he loves her. But things change when Flash returns having bought the town and not only demolishes the place to make way for a football academy but destroys the table football table as well whilst also kidnapping Laura. Distraught the tears of Amadeo bring the figures from the smashed table to life who convince Amadeo that he must once again stand up to Flash. But now Amadeo must build a proper football team with people from the village to beat Flash and his superstars.

Imagine a football table figure who looks a little like Ruud Gullit from back in the day when he had long hair but having him talking about seagulls in an Eric Cantona kind of way. If that doesn't make you smile I am not entirely sure whether "The Unbeatables", which is also known as "Underdogs", is going to fully work for you although it is colourful and amusing enough that I am sure young children will still be entertained by it. But in truth this feels like a movie made for those who grew up watching football during the 90s and since with a series of characters which have been wonderfully influenced by real football stars past and present with Flash having the ego of one of the World's current football stars. It does make it a lot of fun with some funny lines especially when the dodgy agent says "Trust Me, I work with FIFA".

But it isn't just that "The Unbeatables" has a lot of fun football references it also has a lot of escapism as we see the table football players come to life and end up on a series of adventures at a fairground where some end up on a rollercoaster whist another ends up dancing with some puppets. It isn't so much the fun of toys coming to life but the series of adventures which they end up on which makes it entertaining. As such the writers have put a lot of fun in to every scene in this movie whilst the animators have done an equally good job of bringing this adventure to life. Throw in some great dialogue and a nice selection of actors to voice the characters and this ends up surprisingly good.

What this all boils down to is that "The Unbeatables" ended up a lot more entertaining than I was expecting and I would say that anyone who has grown up with an interest in football will enjoy all the in-jokes, references and characters which are clearly influenced by various football stars over the years.


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