KIM POSSIBLE:
LIVE-ACTION DCOM ADAPTATION TRIES TO BE FAITHFUL TO ITS SOURCE MATERIAL BUT MOSTLY FALLS FLAT!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: ** out of 4
DISNEY CHANNEL
Sadie Stanley as Kim Possible
Okay, so I’ve reviewed a lot of strange things on this blog before from a documentary film about the Brony fanbase to a positive review of a Teen Titans Go! movie as well as reviews of pilot episodes of shows based on Sonic the Hedgehog and The Powerpuff Girls. But then duty called not at a movie theater but on the Disney Channel with a live-action television film based on the beloved animated series, Kim Possible.
Confession time, I did not watch very much of the Disney Channel growing up and was more of a Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network kid. But I always had a great time watching Kim Possible whenever it was on with its unique blend of action and comedy, a colorful cast of memorable characters, and an interesting premise of a teenager balancing her social life and life as a crimefighter, it was legit fun for the entire family long before Phineas and Ferb and Gravity Falls.
The series ran from 2002 until 2007 becoming the longest-running show on Disney Channel at the time and even spawned two movies during its lifespan, 2003’s Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time and 2005’s Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama. Even after the series finale people still have fond, nostalgic memories of this show through cosplays at Comic Con, a Disney Parks attraction which opened in 2009, and the voice actors and character designer, Stephen Silver often make appearances at conventions.
So yeah, I love Kim Possible and when I heard a live-action movie was in development I was honestly a bit curious. Unlike Garfield, The Smurfs, or Alvin and the Chipmunks, Kim Possible is one of those shows that could be adapted well into live-action…and if they’re doing it the Mole Rat will be CGI, that way he can talk (Watch the show and you’ll get the reference).
However, I still had some concerns because while we had some successful live-action adaptations based on cartoons in the past like the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie or the recent Transformers spin-off, Bumblebee, very few of them were able to capture the same magic as their animated source material…I’M LOOKING AT YOU DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION AND LAST AIRBENDER! But I tried to keep an open mind until the night of its premiere and…big shock, it’s not as good as the series.
Here’s the Sitch, it isn’t one of the worst adaptations of a cartoon and it tries to be faithful to its source material with the costumes and set design. But, when they throw modern talk and references to Instagram and Live-streaming, it really doesn’t work and gets painful pretty fast.
After a mission to stop the evil, Professor Dementor (Patton Oswalt-The King of Queens, Ratatouille, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; who previously voiced the character on the show) from taking over the world, teenage crimefighter Kim Possible (Newcomer, Sadie Stanley) and her best friend/sidekick, Ron Stoppable (Sean Giambrone-The Goldbergs, Clarence, Ralph Breaks the Internet) are starting their first day of high school which according to Kim should be “No Big. Well, she and Ron are constantly late to class, humiliated by Kim’s rival, Bonnie Rockwaller (Erika Tham-Make It Pop, The Other Kingdom), and even after an amazing soccer tryout Kim is downgraded to the team’s equipment manager.
However, that is the least of their worries as arch-nemesis, Dr. Drakken (Todd Stashwick-Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Riches, 12 Monkeys (TV series)) and his flame-fisted henchwoman, Shego (Newcomer, Taylor Ortega) plan to extract what makes Kim “Possible” through a machine and transfer her spark over to Drakken so he can rule the world. To battle these baddies Kim and Ron enlist two new recruits to their team, a naked mole rat that Ron befriends named Rufus (voiced by Nancy Cartwright-The Simpsons, The Critic, Disney’s The Replacements; who previously voiced him on the series) and their new best friend Not Monique I mean, Athena (Newcomer, Clara Wilson) who is a huge fangirl of Kim’s and even has a few tricks of her own and hopefully save the world.
The film also stars newcomer, Issac Ryan Brown as ten-year-old computer genius Wade Load, Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, American Pie franchise, How I Met Your Mother) as Dr. Ann Possible, Connie Ray (Hope Floats, Stuart Little, Flags of Our Fathers) as Nana Possible, and Christy Carlson Romano (Even Stevens, Cadet Kelly, Kingdom Hearts franchise; who previously voiced the titular character on the series) as pop star, Poppy Blue.
Overall, Kim Possible is a harmless TV adaptation that may satisfy younger viewers but will most likely leave die-hard fans fuming or scratching their heads in confusion. I will give the film credit for capturing visually what a Kim Possible movie should look like and the lead actors are doing the best they can, unfortunately they’re not enough to make up for its generic plotting and weak script.
One of the major factors of the series was its sense of humor and even as an adult the show still brings some clever and witty jokes to the table that I’m laughing at to this very day. This on the other hand, I didn’t laugh much not even from the usually hilarious Dr. Drakken, while the actor portraying him does a solid job impersonating John DiMaggio’s voice, a lot of his gags felt extremely forced and desperate like a Disney executive stitched his dialogue together from rejected jokes cut from the original show.
Nobody is really “Bad” in this movie, everyone plays their roles well even Sean Giambrone as Ron who I was really scared about at first. Ron is meant to be the comic-relief and naturally has an annoying high-pitched voice and I was worried that he would be ear-gratingly obnoxious and unfunny, but Giambrone proved me wrong and captures some of Will Friedle’s vocal skills even if the material given to him is subpar at best.
I said before that the movie’s production design looks like the series come to life, but I can’t exactly say the same thing about the makeup and costume designs. The costumes on Kim Possible, Ron, and Shego look fine, but Professor Dementor and Drakken I have some serious issues with, Dementor is dressed like an army general without the yellow skin, red coat, or black helmet/mask thing on his head whereas Drakken to his credit has the trademark blue coat and scar under his eye but his skin is pale with only a few streaks of blue on his face, I know this is a TV movie but I think the filmmakers could have made him blue, I’ve seen better looking Drakkens at Comic Con.
Hopefully newcomers will watch the movie and decide to check out the original animated series afterwards because it’s still a very entertaining show seventeen years later. It may not be the worst live-action adaptations of a cartoon (I wouldn't even put it in my Top 10), but it's still a disappointing and misguided “Sitch” that doesn't do the source material justice nor does it try to be different enough to stand out on its own, it's a film I’ll likely forget about in a few days.
Sorry KP, but this is "So the Drama".
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