TV Review - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs. the Reverend

The comedy series, created in 2015 by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, came to an end in 2019. It represented a kind of ridiculous and absurdist humor that isn't in abundance. Fey and Carlock's style is light and airy, as well as wacky, sometimes nonsensical and meta. Their protagonist was also so upbeat and bubbly that it stood in great contrast to the dark, dreary and cynical comedies that are in over-abundance on the current television landscape. What was also great is that Fey and Carlock had a joke ratio that was very high. Almost every line of dialogue was some kind of joke and those jokes came in rapid succession. The pace of the comedy never let up. Fey and Carlock did not like to waste a single second without having some kind of punchline, insult, wisecrack, quip, pun, witticism or gag. It's very fast-paced and energetic in that way.

Fey and Carlock have decided to bring back that fast-paced and energetic comedy for one last adventure. Instead of a half-hour episode, this is a feature film. The wrinkle is that this feature is actually an interactive film. Interactive films are akin to "Choose Your Own Adventure" books where the person reading it could jump around and follow diverging or alternate plot lines. These interactive films were only possible with the use of laserdiscs. Eventually, they became a format for video games. A couple of years ago, Netflix brought the concept out of the video game realm and back into the cinema world with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018), which ended up winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. It only makes sense that they would try it again with another of their popular properties.

Ellie Kemper (The Secret Life of Pets and The Office) stars as Kimmy Schmidt, a girl who was kidnapped as a teenager and was forced to live in a bunker underground for years. When she was rescued, she moved to New York City to restart her life. She became friends and roommates with a crazy group. She struggles to acclimate to modern-day life and understand the ways of the modern-day world. Through whatever problems though, she always remains positive and cheerful. She's fun-loving, loyal and loving, and she simply wants to do good in the world.

The movie picks up some time after the end of the series with Kimmy preparing for her wedding to a British royal named Prince Frederick, played by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). However, when she discovers that the man who kidnapped her might have also kidnapped other women who haven't been found, she sets out to confront her kidnapper named Reverend Richard Wayne, played by Jon Hamm (Mad Men), and find the other kidnapped women.

Tituss Burgess (Dolemite Is My Name and 30 Rock) co-stars as Titus Andromedon, the black and flamboyantly gay roommate who becomes Kimmy's first friend. He's an aspiring actor who is supposed to be training and especially dieting to be in an upcoming action flick, but he abandons the movie in order to help Kimmy with her search for the kidnapped women. Along the way though, he makes it known that he doesn't like exercising in any way, including walking, and he's always very hungry.

Carol Kane (The Princess Bride and Annie Hall) also co-stars as Lillian Kaushtupper, the former landlord who also befriended Kimmy. While Kimmy is away on her adventure, Lillian is helping to take care of the wedding arrangements and make sure things are ready for when Kimmy returns. This includes making sure Prince Frederick who is essentially a man-child or a guy who has lived a very cloistered and sheltered life is also ready for the wedding.

Jane Krakowski (30 Rock and Ally McBeal) also co-stars as Jacqueline White, the talent agent who is representing Titus in his big action flick. While he's gone helping Kimmy on her adventure, she has to stall the people working on the film until Titus returns.

As an experience, I had a better time with this than Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. This had the benefit of being a continuation of characters who were already established, so the audience could simply have fun with them. It was also a nice wrap-up of a story that was started four seasons ago. It was a full-circle moment. As specifically an interactive film experience, there's about 18 prompts where the film will ask you to make a choice between two and four options. If you do nothing, the prompts will automatically be chosen and the automatic path will take you through the narrative without too many stumbling blocks.

However, if you start making choices that don't follow the predestined path, the film will usually hit a narrative dead-end fairly quickly. Once you've hit a dead end, a guest star or supporting actor will appear on screen to scold you or steer you back to the predestined path. Often, making choices off the predestined path will result in alternate versions of one scene that's akin to outtakes one would find on a DVD but instantly accessible as you're watching the film.

As far as I could find, the interactive film has only two places where you can veer off the predestined path for a long time. There's also three places where if you veer off the predestined path, it will result in an outcome at the end of the film that's completely different from the original ending for three particular characters, namely Titus, Jacqueline and Frederick. The first choice also has an effect on the very last scene, depending on which you chose. It's fun exploring those various outcomes.

Rated TV-14.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 20 mins.

Available on Netflix.