Unleashed (2016)

• Year: 2016
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4587780/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/unleashed
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language:
• MPA Rating:
• Genre:
• Runtime: min
• Director:
• Cast:
• Keywords: cat, dog, astrology, wishes come true, signs & wonders,

	6.4/10
	false% – Audience

Unleashed Storyline

When a cosmic event turns Emma’s dog and cat into two perfect guys, Emma reconsiders her outlook on dating, hilariously works out her trust issues, and ultimately learns to love herself.

Unleashed Photos

Unleashed Torrents Download

Unleashed Subtitles Download

Unleashed Movie Reviews

odd rom-com

Emma (Kate Micucci) is an animal lover who looks to the stars. Her boyfriend Luke Andrews is allergic and steals her star-gazing app to make millions. She decides to get a dog and a cat, and move to San Francisco. She is befriended by Carl (Sean Astin) who gets her an apartment. She and her co-worker Nina are trying to create an astronomy program. She makes a wish and the stars turn her animals into Diego (Justin Chatwin) and Sam (Steve Howey). Diego becomes an overnight modeling sensation and Sam gets paid training a bunch of guys.

There is a bit of uncomfortableness with the faux-bestiality. It’s heightened whenever Diego and Emma get too close. At least, they don’t consummate the relationship. It’s weird. There is no real chemistry with Sean Astin. Otherwise, this is kinda cute. I like the awkward Kate Micucci. There is some nice fun but it isn’t enough.

Quirky and nice – and funny

Greetings again from the darkness. Quirky is an overused word to describe far too many offbeat independent movies and unconventional actors. However, sometimes no better word exists, and that’s exactly the situation with writer/director Finn Taylor’s latest. A full moon cosmic event results in a collision between astronomy and astrology, and just like that … Emma’s faithful pet dog and cat are transformed into hunky human boyfriend material.

Adding to the high level of quirk (in the role of Emma) is the extraordinarily multi-talented Kate Micucci (“Garfunkel and Oates”) – an actress, comedian, writer, musician and artist. Plus, she is just so darn likable and nice! In fact, “nice” may be the only challenger to quirky in how best to describe this film. Sure it’s cute and sweet and delightful, but above all, it’s a nice movie whose nice characters will leave you with a nice feeling.

Steve Howey and Justin Chatwin (both from “Shameless”) are spot on in their portrayals of Sam and Diego – the humanized dog and cat, respectively. Howey and his bleach blonde hair and boundless energy capture the devoted pooch, while Chatwin is downright hilarious with his feline tendencies that attract a public following. Given much leeway with the roles, we never lose sight of their original connection to love-lost Emma.

While the premise may offend some (though nothing else in the film will), the humor stems from this being a woman’s fantasy. Her beloved pets, with full knowledge of her likes and dislikes, and with blind commitment, take on beautiful male human form without losing the lovable pet traits. What more could a women-done-wrong desire? It’s also quite a scathing commentary on modern day dating, with the ne’er-do-well Luke (Josh Brener, “Silicon Valley”) contrasted to the too-nice Carl (Sean Astin). Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect) is Emma’s spunky best bud and co-worker, and Illeana Douglas plays their boss.

There are some terrific Bay Area film locations utilized, and the music is so perfectly matched that we find ourselves saying “of course” as each new song pops up. Filmmaker Taylor certainly could have gone a bit harsher with the commentary and humor, but let’s enjoy this quirk for what it is … a really nice time.

Unleashed is a cute bargain bin type of film which you may not remember in a week, but you will certainly enjoy as you view it.

Summary

Emma (Kate Micucci) is an app designer whose focus is astrology/astronomy. She makes one app named “Nightsky” which her boyfriend at the time, Luke (Josh Brener), says will be a hit! So he steals it. Thus sending her into a slight depression for, with her being an orphan, trust is a major issue. Making her pets Ajax {Human form: Diego} (Justin Chatwin) and Summit {Human form: Sam} (Steve Howey) life savers.

Especially sometime later, after moving to San Francisco, when she starts her next app. One similar to “Nightsky” but slightly different? It isn’t necessarily made clear what the difference is. What is made clear though is that thanks to Emma’s Jupiter transit, her two pets get to become human. Leading to them battling for Emma’s affection due to the understanding of her only being able to have one live-in male human at a time.

But, in the long run, they provide as humans what they provided as pets: Comfort. They help Emma with the launch of this new app, deal with Luke who appears at the summit for the app’s launch, and even point her in the direction of Carl (Sean Astin). The guy partly responsible for them turning into humans in the first place. Thus giving us a very light romantic comedy.

Highlights

Kate Micucci

Being that Micucci is adorable, it makes her being a protagonist an easy thing to get on board with. Especially when paired with a bit of a sob story for, as noted below, she has this sort of smile which looks like it has a bit of darkness behind it. Which helps with what we learn about Emma, be it her ex stealing her app or being an orphan.

But perhaps the thing she does best, which I must admit I was sort of surprised to see, is that she is very good at making her co-stars look good. Take Emma’s friend Nina (Hana Mae Lee) for example. In a way, she kind of seems like a jerk who claims to be friends with Emma yet seems to spend a good amount of her time insulting her. To the point, it often seems they are only friends because, outside of their boss Monty (Illeana Douglas), they are one of the few women in the company.

Yet, thanks to Micucci’s charm, she helps you get past how Mae Lee plays Nina and you grow to like her. The same goes for Chatwin as Ajax, or rather Diego. For the way Chatwin, like Howey, plays up pet stereotypes, it seemingly is supposed to be comical, but often falls flat. However, Micucci is able to bring about this idea that what likely was supposed to be a joke is just her pet friends being odd, adjusting to human bodies, and being carefree. It is like, she, with her presence and interaction, is able to guide the aforementioned to crafting more interesting characters. Ones which don’t seem either two-dimensional or terribly bland.

Criticism

Story Wise, It Doesn’t Do Anything Noteworthy

Unleashed is like that person who you see if you buy breakfast. It’s friendly, likable, but the interaction you have with them doesn’t have much depth. It is pretty much all pleasantries. Making it when Emma reveals she is an orphan, just like if that breakfast person was to tell you the same thing, it is awkward and you have no idea how to respond. If only because it seems to come out of nowhere and oddly becomes a topic that seems to suddenly infiltrate a lot of your small talk.

Now, dropping that analogy, the issue with this film is that the whole orphan thing comes halfway and seems like they are trying to add a layer to Emma. One which is supposed to make you feel worse about her ex-boyfriend stealing her app. Yet, in the long run, it feels somewhere between a cheap ploy and something which underestimates Micucci’s talent. For while Micucci is known for usually playing eccentric, yet adorable, characters, like most comedians, you can see this sadness in her. Something that doesn’t require what first feels like a random fact but then is grinded into the story to make up for the fact it wasn’t mentioned earlier on.

Overall: Mixed (Divisive)

I think this film will be noteworthy for Micucci’s filmography, if only because she plays the undisputed female lead and handles it well. She owns the film and makes sure when you share a scene with her, you benefit from the interaction. However, the film as a whole is so forgettable. Not just because it lacks the comedy you can see it was going for but it also seems to not pursue being romantic or even allow Micucci to show the heartache of losing two major things in her life in one false swoop. Add in dropping she is an orphan midway through the movie to try to craft some reaction and there is your reason for a Mixed label.