Subject: Review: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)

From: Shannon Patrick Sullivan <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2002 22:11:03 -0000

JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS (2001) / ** 1/2

Directed by John A Davis. Screenplay by Davis, David N Weiss, J David
Stem and Steve Oedekerk, based on a story by Davis and Oedekerk. Starring
Debi Derryberry, Rob Paulsen, Carolyn Lawrence. Running time: 82 minutes.
Rated G by the MFCB. Reviewed on January 5th, 2002.

By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN

Synopsis: Boy inventor Jimmy Neutron (Derryberry) accidentally makes 
contact with an alien race, which abducts his town's adults as food for 
their awakening deity. At first, Jimmy and his friends are delighted to be 
able to do whatever they want, but a day of unbridled indulgence reminds 
them how important it is to have Mom and Dad around. Rallying his friends 
and classmates, Jimmy builds an armada of spaceships so that they can 
follow the aliens and rescue their parents.

Review: Unlike the recent "Shrek" or even "Monsters, Inc", "Jimmy Neutron: 
Boy Genius" is firmly aimed at the younger set. Adult-targeted jokes are 
few and far between, the plot is simple and straightforward, and the 
lessons learned by the end are gapingly obvious ones. But there is a real 
sense of fun to "Jimmy Neutron", made manifest in the enjoyable style of 
animation which (much like "The Simpsons") indulges in exaggeration 
without resorting to the grotesque. The filmmakers are clearly most 
interested in exploring the many zany inventions Jimmy comes up with. Not 
only is there his loyal robot dog Goddard, but also such concoctions as a 
bubble-gum travelling machine and, inspiring the film's most beautiful 
scene, a fleet of spaceships built from the rides at an amusement park. 
The story itself is actually rather tedious, and the alien monsters (who 
apparently owe much to Kodos and Kang of "Simpsons" fame) aren't terribly 
interesting, wasting vocal performances from Patrick Stewart and Martin 
Short. A bloodthirsty final frame comes across as unnecessary. This is a 
movie narrowly focussed on about the late-single-digit age group. Parents 
and older kids will probably be glad that the runtime is less than an hour 
and a half, while very young ones may find some sequences (including one 
featuring an horrific alien chicken) too frightening.

Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
Archived at The Popcorn Gallery,
  http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html

  |     Shannon Patrick Sullivan    |         [email-masked]          |       
  +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+
/  Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel)   go.to/drwho-history  \
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X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/4