JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS / (2001) ** (out of four)
"Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" is artificial energy. It's like drinking a pot of coffee or consuming sugary products-you get the instant buzz, but it wears off fast and the long term results are minimal. Instead, why not consume fruits and juices, which will give you sustained energy and healthy nutrients. Or, in this case, watch a movie that will entertain beyond the external exuberance.
"Jimmy Neutron" is the sugary junk all kids love. With colorful images and high-spirited enthusiasm, what youngster would not like it? They will get a 82 minute thrill, but when the ending credits appear they will probably never think about the film again.
The film does identify with kids well. We meet a boy genius, Jimmy Neutron, who has moronic parents and lots of homemade gadgets and gizmos. He is not the coolest kid on the block, but he is really smart and is kept company by a chubby friend and a mechanical dog.
One day aliens abduct all the neighborhood parents. The kids jump for joy. Who needs those annoying, restrictive, old fogies who won't even let them go to concerts on school nights? But soon enough, Jimmy and the rest of the kids realize they need their parents, and it's up to Jimmy to lead the army of children to save their folks.
Jimmy Neutron was first introduced in a 1995 animated short as "Johnny Quasar." He's everything every kid wants to be: creative, resourceful, genuine, and energetic. I might have enjoyed this character as a kid. But then again, I might have enjoyed this entire movie if I was10 years old. But I'm not. And I didn't.
The movie is heavy on enthusiasm, color, spirit, imagination, and action, but it never puts those variables to use. It attempts to unitize its strengths on a comic level, but it lacks a punch line. Although there is plenty of silly material here-parents do the chicken dance, alien creatures do strange things, a massive chicken attacks the kids-but none of these things evoke laughs. The material is prime for comedy, but the movie never tells the joke.
For instance, the kid's have an old granny, teacher with a very strange voice. At one point, this woman shrinks and becomes the target of a worm. This situation could be funny, but the ideas themselves are not. It's not enough to have a teacher with a strange voice-the movie needs to tell a joke about her strange voice. Laughs need perfect timing, and this movie's watch is off.
And we don't really care about anything that happens in the film. Although, on an external level, the film will entertain younger viewers. This is the kind of movie that kids could watch once a week. Well, I guess that's one use for this movie. Parents, here's the thing you've been looking for to keep your kids occupied.
"Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" is artificial energy. It's like drinking a pot of coffee or consuming sugary products-you get the instant buzz, but it wears off fast and the long term results are minimal. Instead, why not consume fruits and juices, which will give you sustained energy and healthy nutrients. Or, in this case, watch a movie that will entertain beyond the external exuberance.
"Jimmy Neutron" is the sugary junk all kids love. With colorful images and high-spirited enthusiasm, what youngster would not like it? They will get a 82 minute thrill, but when the ending credits appear they will probably never think about the film again.
The film does identify with kids well. We meet a boy genius, Jimmy Neutron, who has moronic parents and lots of homemade gadgets and gizmos. He is not the coolest kid on the block, but he is really smart and is kept company by a chubby friend and a mechanical dog.
One day aliens abduct all the neighborhood parents. The kids jump for joy. Who needs those annoying, restrictive, old fogies who won't even let them go to concerts on school nights? But soon enough, Jimmy and the rest of the kids realize they need their parents, and it's up to Jimmy to lead the army of children to save their folks.
Jimmy Neutron was first introduced in a 1995 animated short as "Johnny Quasar." He's everything every kid wants to be: creative, resourceful, genuine, and energetic. I might have enjoyed this character as a kid. But then again, I might have enjoyed this entire movie if I was10 years old. But I'm not. And I didn't.
The movie is heavy on enthusiasm, color, spirit, imagination, and action, but it never puts those variables to use. It attempts to unitize its strengths on a comic level, but it lacks a punch line. Although there is plenty of silly material here-parents do the chicken dance, alien creatures do strange things, a massive chicken attacks the kids-but none of these things evoke laughs. The material is prime for comedy, but the movie never tells the joke.
For instance, the kid's have an old granny, teacher with a very strange voice. At one point, this woman shrinks and becomes the target of a worm. This situation could be funny, but the ideas themselves are not. It's not enough to have a teacher with a strange voice-the movie needs to tell a joke about her strange voice. Laughs need perfect timing, and this movie's watch is off.
And we don't really care about anything that happens in the film. Although, on an external level, the film will entertain younger viewers. This is the kind of movie that kids could watch once a week. Well, I guess that's one use for this movie. Parents, here's the thing you've been looking for to keep your kids occupied.