Amy Reviews JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS

Cleverly transforming Retroland Amusement Park rides into space ships, Jimmy and his friends and schoolmates soar into the heavens in scenes of surreal visual beauty and execrable science, unless the creators of this CGI cartoon universe really intended to feature fully breathable atmosphere and comfortable pressure and temperatures in every bit of the vast regions of the void between solar systems.

Nit-picking aside, the hapless grown-ups (in the thrall of mind-control devices), become the entertainment in a coliseum-like arena where they will be sacrificed to Poltra, the Yokians gigantic, Godzilla-sized, unearthly-looking poultry god. The youthful, heroic rescuers endure near-disasters attempting to free their Moms and Dads and also engage in an exciting space skirmish when their squadron engages King Goobot's foul fleet of fowl-shaped spacecraft.

Brimming with energy, zest, dazzling visuals and lots of puns, genuine wit and laughs amidst the goofy silliness, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, never meant to be taken seriously for a second, still contains enough sentimentality, feeling and common-sense wisdom to emotionally satisfy without sermonizing. The design concepts for the characters and their environment work perfectly to portray the zany, over-the-top, sci-fictional happenings intersecting with the idealized, mundane and refreshingly multi-racial community of Retroville. The chicken-and-egg-themed Yokians and their homeworld manage to be visually gorgeous and funny simultaneously while robot dog Goddard and his array of ready-for-anything, built-in, gimmicky devices artfully amazes and amuses, especially when combined with believably canine behavior.

John Debney's music, ranging from dramatic to peppy, rock-beat pop tunes to parodies of genre soundtracks, works perfectly. This movie offers nearly non-stop colorful action to keep the young folks happy, and plenty of yokks along with the yolks to please the adults, the most savvy of whom should be on the look out for a truly delightful Dune parody in the very last scene, alone nearly worth the price of admission!

© 2002 Amy Harlib. All Rights Reserved

Photos used courtesy of Paramount/Nickelodeon Movies and O Entertainment

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