Review of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001) by Andy M — 06 Jun 2009

James Isaac Newtron is, as the title suggests, a boy and a genius. He is always creating things, and testing them out. Very much like Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, he too has a secret vault under the house where his base of operations exists.

Yup, Nickelodeon have released the CGI animation of Juimmy Newtron onto the big screen. Origionally conceived as a TV series, the creators decided to start it all off with a bang, and go for a feature length film.

The set up for his big screen adventure is nothing too origonal. After recieving a message from outer space, Jimmy sends a toaster (modified into a satellite) out into the depths of space to contact an advanced species. Unfortunately, the race that finds the toaster then arrives and kidnaps all the parents. Only Jimmy can lead the band of kids to save the day.

Jimmy Newtron is really just your typical Nickelodeon cartoon, just CGI. Thus you can expect the usual brand of Nick humour evident in shows such as Rugrats, and boy, is it fun! Jimmy's pet (robot) dog is entertaining enough, with enough gimmicks to wow the kids, and a few sly jokes to amuse the parents (such as him dropping nuts and bolts on the porch from his backside).

There are subtle jokes in the backgrounds too, and it will take a few viewings to appreciate the hidden extras (look out for posters of The Space Girls band, and Outta Sync boy band pin-ups). The fun of the fairground whizzing through space is amusing too, with the roller-coaster rocket ship dipping and climbing and looping, like a roller coaster should.

The animation is pretty standard stuff, and there are no 'leaps forward in technology' that we see in films such as Shrek, or Ice Age. This doesn't matter though, as the film is meant to look, and feel, like a standard cartoon. It works well, making the film so distant from reality that you don't care that conventions of science are being broken.

The voice talents on offer are pretty standard, with Martin Short and Patrick Stewart standing out from the crowd (a different choice of film for Stewart, who apparantly had fun making it.).

Simply put, after watching this, I will be keeping an eye out for the TV show. Whilst not on par with Monsters Inc., Shrek, or Ice Age, Jimmy Newtron still tickles the funny bone better than the adult comedies of recent months (Rat Race anyone?).

If you have kids, or know someone who does, treat them to this film to give yourself an excuse to see it. If you don't, well, go in the early afternoon so that you don't feel silly (or go with a bunch of students and pretend it is the new cool thing!) Either way, make an excuse to see it, it's funny!!