Summary
Kimmy is back for one last hurrah and like Jamberoo, you control the action! Just don’t disrespect Skynard.
It’s been five years since they’re alive, dammit. Since then, Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has made a fascinating transition from Tina Fey’s 30 Rock follow-up to a cult favourite in its own right.
Following the end to the somewhat awkward two-part fourth season in January, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT: KIMMY VS. THE REVEREND sees all of the characters successful in their ventures. Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) is about to marry Frederick (Daniel Radcliffe), 12th in line to the throne. Titus (Tituss Burgess) is set to star in the lead role in an action film, managed by Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski).
So, it’s all sorted for our merry crew, right? Well, not so fast! Using a similar interactive approach to 2018’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, we (sort of) get to direct Kimmy through a choose-your-own adventure. The discovery of a book in Kimmy’s talking backpack (stay with us) leads to a race against the clock to discover Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne’s (Jon Hamm) potential second bunker.
The interactivity works pretty well, with fourth-wall breaking moments of the characters standing around uncomfortably while you make decisions. There’s no ‘wrong’ answer, although a few of them led to dead ends. I ran into trouble when I chose to snog Harry Potter, left a baby with a monobrow alone, and committed the ultimate crime of disrespecting Skynard.
The script itself is like an extended episode of the show. Ranging from drug trips to puns about a school named Louis Gossett Jr. Junior High, it’s a grab bag of a jokes that mostly hit the mark. (If you had Carol Kane kissing Radcliffe on your 2020 pool, congrats: you win). Fey sticks to recent form by making at least three gags at the expense of the #MeToo movement, and that’s sure to leave a few of us scratching our heads.
My only major gripe is a technological one: the interactivity option is still not available on the Apple TV’s Netflix app, even if you have the latest version of the device. It’s a massive oversight for the millions of people who must use these to access their smart content.
So, did we need another Kimmy Schmidt? Probably not, but as we all continue to sit in our homes and contemplate at least another couple of weeks of isolation life, a film you can literally watch again with different results can’t be a bad thing. Now, let’s see if I can go for the super happy ending this time.
2020 | US | DIRECTOR: Claire Scanlon | WRITERS: Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Sam Means, Meredith Scardino | CAST: Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Carol Kane, Jane Krakowski | DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix | RUNNING TIME: 80 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 12 May 2020 (Global)
