by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Making a movie or TV show out of a game is tricky. Video game adaptations are in their heyday, and board game adaptations have historically been hit-or-miss (if we’re being honest, mainly miss). Movies like Clue, Battleship, and Ouija capture part of the fun of playing the game while trying to expand the story that doesn’t exist in the first place. However, you won’t find many movies or TV shows based on card games.
Exploding Kittens is about the immortal battle between good and evil. As reeducation on what it means to help humans, God (Tom Ellis) is sent back to earth as a house cat, and the Higgins family takes him in. Complicating matters is Beelzebub (Sasheer Zamata), who is also sent to earth in the form of a cat. I’m still figuring out what this has to do with the card game.
Adult animation is making a niche for itself on Netflix. Exploding Kittens is an addition to the war chest with its zany hijinx and toilet humor. Credit where credit is due, the humor is the show’s greatest asset. Ellis and Zamata do a fantastic job of making jokes at the expense of the Higgins family and each other. The animation is also outstanding. I give props to the animation department for creating a fun-looking show that has an old-school feel of something that was initially on MTV.
The humor will be the thing that keeps enough people entertained and watching the show until the end. Your tolerance for Exploding Kittens depends heavily on whether you like shocking and gross jokes. At this stage of my life, the jokes were hit-or-miss. I’ll admit I laughed at least once per episode. It wasn’t even the cats that got me the most. The Higgins family is made up of four misfits that somehow fit together. Each family member brings a unique dynamic to the show that helps show their personality quirks. In addition to the family, the minions of God and Beelzebub are hilarious. Angels and demons feel like middle management at a department store that doesn’t know how to handle a situation when the manager is gone.
If this kind of humor isn’t your cup of tea, this show will be pretty unwatchable. The story doesn’t make any sense, but I highly doubt that is the reason someone would watch in the first place. In fact, I have no idea why it’s is even called Exploding Kittens, because it feels like a show about the game in name only.
Exploding Kittens is a fun show that offers little in the way of substance. You’ll laugh, but it’s not going to make you think or emote. Unfortunately, I’m not the target audience for this anymore, but I certainly hope some of you were entertained by it.
Rating: Didn’t Like It
Exploding Kittens is currently streaming on Netflix
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