Mulligan is an animated comedy on Netflix, featuring a bro-dude who becomes president of the post-Apocalyptic U.S. The trailer shows a lot of jiggly ladies, but I'm going to try it out anyway, because...well, I'm paying for the Netflix subscription, so I might as well use it.
Scene 1: Chittering insectoid aliens led by a caped Dark Lord attack the Earth, wiping out the Great Wall of China, the Sydney Opera House, Hollywood, Nebraska, and a French hipster ("Oh, I've wasted my life," he says, like Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons). They zero in on the White House.
Matty the Bro-Dude (Nat Faxon) and his girlfriend Miss America, still wearing her sash, hang- glide onto the alien ship and kiss. Then Matty proceeds with his sabotage plan. Wait -- they're not working together? She's just there to gaze at him and imagine the wild sex they're going to have when the crisis is over?
He lobs a hand grenade into a shaft that leads directly to the bridge and blows up the ship, a parody of the ventilation-shaft design flaw in the Star Wars Death Star. All of the other ships fall to the ground, too, since the Darth Vader was the leader of the hive mind. Matty and Miss America kiss again.
But Washington, and the rest of the world, is in ruins. Someone has to lead the disparate band of survivors as they rebuid. Senator LaMarr, the only surviving politician, appoints Matty President (and makes himself second in command, with his own nefarious goal). Matty and Miss America kiss again.
Scene 2: Matty sits in the ruins of the Oval Office. He has just realized that he's really stupid, and has never had a real job, so he might be in over his head. The First Lady is equally stupid. The world is doomed.
Scene 3: Matty and the First Lady inspect the flaming ruins of DC. They make a list of what they need: cell phones, the internet, electricity, food, Dunkin Donuts, drinking water, a water park, the Fast and the Furious franchise. Meanwhile, the Senator has fun passing bills in the ruined Capitol: "Money is now legally a person."
Scene 4: They recruit a Cabinet to take care of the "food and water and stuff:. I don't know who will become a main character, so I'll list them all:
1. A "female scientist" (Tina Fey) whose two preteen sons are trying to get video games to work.
2. A Prince (Daniel Radcliffe) who was hiding out at the British Embassy: "are we to take Molly and listen to the silence? Radcliffe gets top billing on IMDB.
3. A "Georgetown postdoc iwth a focus on 19th century fonts" (Sam Richardson)
4. General Scarpaccio, actually a little boy wearing the General's uniform: "As an important army man, do I get to shoot guns and stuff?"
Plus a singer, a carpenter, and a guy whose shoe store didn't get blown up.
Scene 5: Their first concern: A victory parade. A captured Insectoid (Phil LaMarr) is forced to pull the car that Matty and the First Lady are riding in, but he admits "I actually like this. It was an honor on my planet." Wait -- why don't cars work? On the Walking Dead, they're still driving cars around 10 years after the Apocalypse.
Matty stole the generator at the National Zoo to keep his beer cold, so the zookeeper ws forced to free all of the animals. They run rampant throught the parade.
Scene 6: The zoo animal scandal is all over the media (a news-crier on a bicycle). The survivors are incensed by Matty's lack of concern, and picket the White House. The Cabinet discusses damage control: how about a distraction, like a celebrity wedding?
Problem: The First Lady is also upset about the zoo animal scandal, and refuses to marry Matty.
Scene 7: The Female Scientist is in her lab, working on a water purification system, when the History Professor drops in. The museums are still on fire, and priceless artifacts are being lost. Can she put out the fires with science? She's overwhelmed with the responsibility of being the smartest person alive, and suggests that they get drunk instead.
Scene 8: Matty at the Insectoid's cage. He complains hat everything is going wrong: the people hate him, and the First Lady won't marry him. The Insectoid can relate: his plan to conquer the Earth went wrong, too. "How can I be a hero again?" Matty wonders, looking at the Insectoid....uh-oh.
Scene 9: Matty chasing the Insectoid with a hatchet, yelling "He escaped!" "I did not escape!" The Insectoid protests. "He let me out!", as Matty punches and kicks him and cuts off one of his limbs.
The survivors are angry. "This is pathetic!" The First Lady yells. "You're terrible at president-ing. And by the way, I was piloting that hang glider!" She throws his ring at him and stomps off.
Scene 10: The wedding, in the ruins of the National Cathedral. The Senator, Matty and a surviving priest wait at the altar for the First Lady. It's obvious that she won't show up, so the Senator has helpfully provided a back-up bride.
Meanwhile, the Female Scientist and the Historian, who is black, complain that there's only like 40 people left in the world, but white men are still in charge.
Scene 11: Matty has a heart-to-heart with the Insectoid: "I couldn't go through with the wedding. I love the First Lady." More about how he's been a screw-up his whole life; he needs a chance to start over. Um...the Apocalypse?
Meanwhile, at the ruins of the Capitol, the Senator has passed a bill allowing for gun ownership beginning at conception.
Scene 12: Matty tracks down the First Lady at the National Zoo, and convinces her to accompany him to the National Mall. He has organized a water brigade to put out the museum fires and rescue the artifacts. Realizing that he can be a good leader when he wants to be, the First Lady accepts a date with him ("anywhere but Olive Garden"). The end.
Beefcake: None.
Gay Characters: None
Gay References: None
Heterosexism: Yes
My Grade: This is standard Adult Swim stuff, making fun of a bro-dude for an intended audience of bro-dudes, a standard snake-oil politician, some obvious digs at institutional racism and sexism, and absolutely no conception that LGBT people exist. At least it's not homophobic. D