Some movies are simply bad. Others are so bad they become unintentionally funny. That is exactly what happened when I watched Mac and Me and Robo-Dog after seeing videos from MissaSinfonia, a YouTuber who reacts to these kinds of films. Honestly, I expected a few strange scenes and some low-budget special effects. What I did not expect was to laugh so much during moments that were clearly meant to be serious. 

What caught my attention the most about these movies is how confusing they can be. Mac and Me, which premiered six years after E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, feels less like an emotional story and more like a very strange copy. The alien design and the film’s special effects made me ask myself, “What am I watching?” almost every five minutes. 

One thing that becomes obvious almost immediately in Mac and Me is the extremely visible collaboration with several brands. Instead of appearing naturally, companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Skittles and Sears show up so often that they almost feel like the main characters of the film. 

The movie does not even try to hide it. There are long scenes inside McDonald’s restaurants, shots that clearly display Coca-Cola products, and moments set in Sears that feel almost like commercials inserted into the movie. Instead of helping the story, these scenes end up reminding the audience which companies helped finance the film. 

Without a doubt, the strangest part of the movie is how Coca-Cola becomes part of the story’s logic. In the film, the aliens somehow survive by drinking Coca-Cola. In some scenes, the drink even seems to restore their energy and keep them alive. For a movie about extraterrestrials, that is already pretty unusual. 

If Mac and Me sounds bad, then you probably have not seen Robo-Dog. The film premiered in 2015 and had a limited theatrical release in the United States. It stands out for how simple—and sometimes absurd—its premise is. From the beginning, there are details that make you raise an eyebrow. 

At the start of the story, the protagonist Tyler Austin says something like: “This is my dog. His name is… Dog.” Yes—Dog. It is a small detail, but also a funny one. It feels as if someone came up with the idea five minutes before writing the script and simply kept the first name that came to mind. It is less of a name and more of a description. 

Then the main plot begins. The boy’s father is an inventor who creates a robotic dog using his technology and the body of the family pet after it dies from being accidentally locked in the hot attic while the family is away. At first, the protagonist is not comfortable with the idea, but he slowly grows attached to the robot dog while they try to save the city. 

I know—it sounds good, right? There is action, a bit of romance, comedy, and most importantly, a robot dog. The idea seems promising, but the way the movie presents it is fairly basic and predictable. 

There are also scenes involving villains who want to steal the dog’s technology. Their plans to capture it are exaggerated and sometimes unconvincing, which makes those moments feel more strange than exciting. 

Even so, Robo-Dog ends up being entertaining. Despite literal names, technology that appears and disappears whenever the plot needs it, and scenes that try to be dramatic but end up absurd, the movie can still be enjoyable. 

If I had to choose one as my “favorite,” I would probably pick Mac and Me. I know I criticized it a lot earlier, but it was honestly the one that made me laugh the most while watching it. There was hardly a moment when I was not laughing. With Robo-Dog, everything felt simpler, and I did not laugh nearly as much as I did with the first film. In the end, even though both movies have their flaws, Mac and Me stands out to me because it turned out to be unexpectedly entertaining despite everything