ironhorse_iv Review of Rugrats Go Wild

Rugrats Go Wild (2003)

It was pretty wildly entertaining. Not the best, not the worst. Don't castaway it, just yet.

[5/10 · 23 April 2014]

Being a huge fan of both Nickelodeon animated 1990s television series, Rugrats and the Wild Thornberrys. I was pretty happy to hear that they were getting combine for a feature length 80 minutes crossover movie. Directed by Norton Virgien and John Eng, Rugrats Go Wild didn't disappointed. It's the third movie, in the Rugrats film series after 1998's The Rugrats Movie & 2000's The Rugrats in Paris. It's the second movie, in the Wild Thornberry's film series after 2002's Wild Thornberry movie. The movie is about the Rugrats families going on a cruise, that Tommy's father, Stu (voiced by Jack Riley) has rented. On the way, the boat sank in a storm, forcing everything to board a life raft. They soon found small tropical-island, in which the adults think is uninhabited. The children lead by Tommy (Voiced by Elizabeth Daily) believe otherwise, and go into the jungle searching for life. Both, not knowing that on the other side are the Thornberry family, their only hope back to civilization. What I love about the film is the type of humor, it brings. I love the whole misinterpretation humor of adult themes from the viewpoint of the babies. It always bring me a laugh. The potty humor and crude repartee jokes were pretty good. I didn't mind the pop culture and other movie references and spoofs like 1997's Titanic, 1975's Jaws, 1976's Taxi Driver and others. The movie also do call backs to previous episodes of both TV Series and also reference, the first movie. Most of all, I love Tim Curry as Nigel Thornberry, the quirky, adventurous wildlife documentarian who often rambles in indiscernible English accent. Nigel Thornberry is indeed, smashing. The animation was pretty good and the CGI animation kinda mixed well. I was pretty surprise how good the production, the film had. It was beautiful to watch. I wouldn't say, the movie is the best Nickelodeon cartoon movie out there. It was indeed, the lowest grossing Rugrats film for a reason. Some of the jokes really hit flat. The Mirror Routine is so overused. I have to say, that Bruce Willis as the voice of Spike was really not that funny, and out of place. His scenes really waste any ideas of character development. There seem to lack emotional development. In the first movie, it was about Tommy dealing about having a brother. In the second movie, it's about Chuckie (Voice by Nancy Cartwright) getting a new mother and sister. In this movie, it's really hard to figure out what the movie is really about, due to sheer number of characters and the randomness sub-plot play out. I thought it was about Tommy and his dog, but most of Tommy's quest, is to help his father feel better, and get right with his friends. Honestly, who knows! I really don't like the idea of Lil and Phil (voiced by Kath Soucie) disagreeing with each other over if they should eat bugs or not. Nobody pay to see that. People came to see them, be twins and do gross stuff like every other previous episode and movie. Susie (voiced by Cree Summer) gets to join in on the adventure after being an only minor character in the first two movies. Still, she does nothing or add anything. Honestly, she didn't need to be here. I hate most of the original songs here. I can do without the Angelica (Cheryl Chase) "Island Princess' song. It was awful. Bruce Willis 'The Big Bad Cat' lyrics sounds pretty sexual, but it just forgettable. 'It's a jungle out there' was pretty mediocre. Most of the establish songs were used right, but some are bit out of place for a kid's movie. Aerosmith "Lizard Love' is just bad. Another bad idea was that film used "Aroma-Scope," which allowed people to smell odors and aromas from the film via scratch and sniff cards. Very similar to 1960s Smell-O-Vision. Most of the smells, if I remember, were really bad odors. The Odorama card was somewhat of an homage to John Waters' decidedly adult-oriented film 1981's Polyester. The smell gimmick was just one of the things in the dirty diaper of bad ideas. Another is the crossover idea, the movie is mostly about the Rugrats as the Thornberrys are pretty much, just shunted into second billing. Eliza Thornberry (voice by Lacey Colbert) doesn't do much, but babysit Spike, most of the film. Honestly, the whole Thornberry family really don't play a part in the film, until 15 minutes in. What storyline do they have besides helping the Rugrats families?? Nothing. Overall: From a child point of view, it's not that bad. My young nephew and niece love it and they weren't even born in the 1990s or when this movie came out. There is a few adult humor, that I can get behind, and say, that was pretty funny. Some parents might hate the gross jokes like bird excrement landing on characters' faces and material involving nasal mucus, pooping and urinating. Still, it's pretty harmless. Overall: It was OK. It's a must rent for any parent, but not a must buy. If you have to, watch it on Netflix, like myself.