_Recess:_School's_Out_ (G) ** 1/2 (out of ****)
At one point in this film, an adult character says something along the lines of, "Even grown-ups know the value of recess." Similarly, the appeal of _Recess:_School's_Out_, a big-screen extension of the popular TV cartoon series, won't be lost on the older viewers in the audience. Make no mistake--this is a film made for the kiddies, and it's the young 'uns who will take the most from the animated antics. But there's enough likable qualities displayed here to keep the parents interested though not entirely bowled over.
Part of the problem is the film's no-frills animation style, that makes the film look exactly like what it is: a big-screen blowup of a Saturday morning cartoon. Even the _Rugrats_ films exhibited some greater ambition with its visuals, however slight. Here, all we get are a couple of too-obviously computer-generated overhead shots, one for the very beginning, and one for the very end. Making matters worse is the fact that the CG shots hardly feel of a piece with the traditionally drawn bulk of the film.
This complaint is of little consequence to the target audience, who will certainly eat up this amusing kids' fantasy. As the title suggests, school is out, and mischievous T.J. Detweiler (voiced by Andy Lawrence) is looking forward to a summer of fun with friends Gus (Courtland Mead), Gretchen (Ashley Johnson), Vince (Rickey D'Shon Collins), Mikey (Jason Davis), and Spinelli (Pamela Segall). However, that doesn't appear it will be the case, for he is the only one of the gang not going to a special camp for the summer. But when he stumbles upon an evil plot involving what appears to be a large laser cannon (!) being cooked up within the closed walls of Third Street Elementary, T.J. must break out his friends to set things right.
The kid-aimed story is interesting and fast-paced enough to keep the adults somewhat amused, but there are also touches in _Recess:_School's_Out_ blatantly designed to engage the adults: an extended flashback to the late-'60s-set early careers of Third Street Principal Prickly (Dabney Coleman) and the main bad guy, a former secretary of education (James Woods); and an especially effective running gag involving Mikey's impressively developed singing voice (provided by Robert Goulet). But when it all comes down to it, the comedic fights (some involving ninjas) and slapsticky chases that make up most of _Recess:_School's_Out_ were meant for viewers that are in the same age range as the main characters, and unless you have kids, there's nothing here that's compelling enough to merit buying a ticket.
©2001 Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina twotrey@juno.com | jordan_host@sportsmail.com | mrbrown@iname.com Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://www.mrbrownmovies.com CinemaReview Magazine: http://www.CinemaReview.com on ICQ: #25289934 | on AOL Instant Messenger: MrBrown23
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews