Not since “Celebrity Deathmatch” have I found animated characters so elusive of charm. Oh, charm certainly tried – the clumsy rubbery animation does indeed merit a smile or two, but charm itself here proved as elusive as humility to Paris Hilton. To coin a phrase, charm went to Hell and Back to avoid being found.
It helps if you have something to say. Really, it does. You remember South Park, Bigger, Longer and Uncut? We visited The Devil in that film – he certainly had a point of view, a well-considered agenda and even a song of yearning. Hell and Back sees the Prince of Darkness as a feeble, ninnified charlatan. I wouldn’t mind so much if he just had the semblance of leadership. Hell has got to be thriving in the 21st Century – evil is so massive there is clear overflow into our world; how else would anybody explain otherwise reasonable people arguing –and believing– we need more guns, not fewer? So how can anybody view The Devil as something less than a Donald Trump-like CEO? But I digress; Hell and Back was a piece of crap and its understanding of theology is a Devil (voice of Bob Odenkirk) trying to score. Does The Devil really need to try?
Three doofy carnies, Remy (Nick Swardson), Augie (T.J. Miller) & Curt (Rob Riggle) get sucked into Hell. How? They make a bet on a Satanic bible of sorts and the kinda guy who always welches, welches. I should point out that only one moron gets sucked into the vortex; the other two follow. Instead of setting up shop at Motel Hell – when in the underworld, stay at the Hell Ramada! It’s everything you expect in a Ramada, only Heller – they hit on a plan to visit Orpheus (Danny McBride) and ride the coattails of minor demon Deema (Mila Kunis) to get there.
Judging by the sexualization of eternals Deema and Barb the angel (Susan Sarandon), it’s nice to know that even in the afterlife, there is plenty of sexism to go around.
Lemme get straight to the “highlight.” Orpheus, imagined here as less classic Greek and more like a British Raj game hunter, delivers a touching ballad to an audience of underworld dwellers about being raped 
by a tree. The title of this piece? “Mourning Wood.” Yup, that is the level of humor here. Hell and Back never opted for a funny joke when a raunchy one could be made.
I won’t say I didn’t laugh once or twice – I thought it was pretty funny that the Hell combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bell was only a Taco Bell; the counter clerk had his ghostly customers repeatedly request pizzas so he could get a good chuckle. If you bother watching Hell and Back, get ready for two questions I asked over and over again, “why are they doing that?” (psst, writers – start writing) and “where is he looking?” (psst, animators – start animating)
Hell claims three rubbermation friends
How do they leave? It all depends
They aren’t bright blokes
Making sexist jokes
Just animate the part where this ends
Rated R, 84 Minutes
D: Tom Gianas, Ross Shuman
W: Tom Gianas, Hugh Sterbakov, Zeb Wells
Genre: Theological exploration — naw, I’m kidding; this is all rape jokes in Hell
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Boys. Very childish boys.
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People with any sense of taste
