Made for a paltry $25 million, Jimmy Neutron was tossed into theaters up against Monsters Inc., Pixars 3rd CG film. Even up against the immense competion, Neutron still hauled in about $80 million dollars and that says alot. This is a fantastic animated film for kids and countless refrences to other films will surely have the adult audience in tears. Oh, and the DVD? One of the best on the market for showcasing your system.
Jimmy Neutron heads off into space (yes, space) with his dog Goddard and his best friend Carl. He launches a toaster which he has managed to turn into a reconaisance sattalite. Eventually, an alien race gets a hold of the invention and after seeing a picture of some parents, decide to sacrifice the parents of Jimmy's hometown Retroville. The kids take to the skies in Neutrons inventions to try and get them back.
This is a briskly paced (less than 80 minutes excising the credits which I do recommened watching for a minute or two) action-adventure for kids. Though it makes almost no sense and is entirely implausible (how exactly do they breath in space?), this is any kids true fantasy world. Some of the jokes are of course somewhat immature, but die-hard movie fans will have a blast with in-jokes from Star Wars to the Night of the Living Dead. Though not up to par with other CG films along the lines of Toy Story, this is an excellent alternative when that movie finally runs out of steam with your kids. (**** out of *****)
This DVD offers up both widescreen (roughly 1.85:1) and full screen options on the same disc. In a miracle of compression technology, all the special features have been included as well on the same side. This is a flawless transfer, one of the best I've ever seen. The few very minor sequences with bright reds show some compressions artifacts, but this in no way detracts from the overall presentation and in all honesty, I'm just trying to find SOMETHING wrong with this discs picture. This is a perfect showcase movie, but you may have some explaining to do as to why you bought a new HDTV to play Jimmy Neutron videos. (*****)
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