Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

I saw the trailers for Jimmy Neutron and was not at all impressed. The premise sounded way too kiddy and the fact that it was going to be a TV show made the whole thing scream, "Marketing!" Thankfully I just caught it on video and was wonderfully surprised. The animation is very good and nicely detailed, the humor is simple and G-rated for kids, which will please adults, and the story is fast-paced and creative. I liked all of the characters, from the whipped-cream hair sporting Jimmy to his nerdy friends and the evil booger aliens. There were some genuinely cool touches too, like the fight between a tiny teacher and the deadly apple worm or the detailed alien chicken. My only real complaint is the fact that the soundtrack is packed to the brim with dumb pop songs that pop up at the weirdest times and basically interrupt the flow of the whole movie. Also, any movie with Aaron Carter singing in it quickly gets a few points demoted from it. You can stick around after the video's credits for some music videos, one with the C arter kid and another with some girls singing "We're the Kids In America." They are not spectacular extras, which makes me yearn for a DVD player even more, now. All in all, though, Jimmy is a pleasant, short flick that won't keep adults in a coma and will definitely get the kids quiet for an hour. It may not be up there with the Pixar films or Shrek, but it is decent nonetheless. 3/4 stars.

So it's by Nickelodeon. So,It's animated. So, I'm 25 with a 3 year old. I love this movie! Maybe I'm one of the few lucky people to be born with a healthy sense of humor, but when my son and I can sit down together and laught at the same parts of the movie, it's definitley worth it's wieght in gold. Don't you people remember being kids? What would you do if you found out there were no parents anywhere around? Yep-the same thing they did, party until you're constipated.THEN wonder where your parents are. Kids like burp and fart jokes because they're kids. How many times can you recall in your childhood when a well-timed burp would disrupt a class for the remainder of the day? And just to add my son't two cents: the part where Poultra is conked on the head by the getaway ship and is going to fall on the audience... my son finds nothing funnier than the thought of a chicken with butt cheeks. Why don't you people see the movie for the entertainment that it is and not pick it apart like some Oscar Nominations Panel? I have two words for you people... UN PUCKER.

An elementary school student has to save his parents from evil space aliens with the help of his classmates (who all had their parents kidnapped as well) in this fun and overall enjoyable animated feature from the Nickelodeon Studios. "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" was a surprise Best Animated Feature nominee in 2001 (the category's first year). It seemed to be the oddball production in a group which included "Shrek" and "Monsters, Inc." (there were only three films nominated in that category that year). Overall though "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" is on par with "Shrek" (one of the more over-rated films of the past few years) and stands tall with the superior "Monsters, Inc.". Admittedly the movie is excellent for children, but only fair for hardened adults. It lacks the charm for wide audiences that most other animated features have these days. Still, "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" serves its purpose to the paramount and continues to be a money-maker for Nickelodeon (there is a regular series airing now on that network). First-rate animation (that has that striking aquarium-style appeal to it) and good voice characterizations (Martin Short and Patrick Stewart in particular as the comical aliens) make the movie one of the better films of 2001. 4 stars out of 5.

I never watched the show as a kid so when I watched the movie, I knew nothing but that Jimmy is a genius so this movie was a fresh take on the show for me. Obviously just like the show, the CGI didn't age well but I found the characters kinda alright and the voice acting was pretty good. The jokes were ok and the story was good. I thought the sence where they used the rides to go to space was amazing. I give it a 7 because the CGI isn't the prettiest to look at and often the characters are unenjoyable but for a show that I knew nothing about, the movie was passable and is easily one of the better movies to come out of Nick

The Jimmy Neutron TV show that this film spawned kind of lost its marbles towards the end of its run, from what I can remember, but this film is a genuinely solid comedy film for kids and adults alike.

The visual aesthetic of the film, at the beginning, gives it the feeling of a 1950s, cheesy scifi film which, I felt, was a great match for this. There is also a discreet (possible) Star Wars reference which I noticed when I was a kid that I'm still convinced is there.

The animation, I was a bit surprised about. Being a CG animated film from 2001 that wasn't coming from Pixar or Dreamworks, you don't expect animation quality to be very high, yet seeing this film again, I'm impressed with how good it still looks today.

The voice acting is right where it needs to be for a film of this sort. The villain and his henchmen are funny and over-the-top, Judy is a sensible parent, Hugh is her comic foil, and all the kids sound the way they should for a film like this. The interactions sound like all the actors were simultaneously present while they recorded their lines and it is all very cohesive and tonally appropriate.

The writing is surprisingly good. I enjoyed the film well enough as a kid, but all these years later I have only managed to find it more enjoyable- not in the meta, meme sense, but on the film's own terms. Many of the jokes I didn't catch as a kid land for me now, and the ones that did land for me as a kid, have only gotten better. The premise is pretty creative and the execution very efficient. There are some plot cliches in this film that aren't played up for laughs, but they are forgivable. The film's pacing is perfect. There's never a scene that feels like it drags, or scenes that come and go for no reason. Only the necessary things are ever shown and things move along swiftly and steadily, which is great for a kids' film, I think.

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a well-crafted film. It's not necessarily groundbreaking but it is a fun, solid film that is deserving of repeated viewings.