Rugrats Go Wild! Review
by Marshall Garvey (hunter48 AT goodpeopleunite DOT com)July 21st, 2003
"Rugrats Go Wild (2003)"
Review by Marshall Garvey
Rating (0 to 5): ** Grade: C-
Featuring the voices of Elizabeth Daily (Tommy Pickles), Nancy Cartwright (Chuckie Finster), Lacey Chabert (Eliza Thornberry), Tim Curry (Nigel Thornberry), Flea (Donnie Thornberry), Danielle Harris (Debbie Thornberry), Bruce Willis (Spike), Cheryl Chase (Angelica Pickles), Kath Soucie (Phil, Lil, and Betty DeVille), Tom Kane (Darwin), Jodi Carlisle (Marianne Thornberry), Cree Summer (Susie Carmichael), Dionne Quan (Kimi Finster)
Directed by John Eng and Norton Virgien
Produced by Gabor Csupo and Arlene Clasky
Written by Kate Boutilier
Original music by Kevin Kliesch
Paramount Pictures
84 minutes
Rated PG for mild crude humor (fine for all ages)
"Rugrats Go Wild!" incorporates two of Nickelodeon's most popular cartoons-"Rugrats" and "The Wild Thornberries"-and spins them into a totally uninspired and practically lifeless film that would have been better off as a made for TV movie. Instead, the otherwise imaginative formulas for both shows are stretched to their limits, and combined they make a film as colorful and enjoyable as tracing the crevices of a blank white wall with a pen. Even in the aftermath of recent gems like "Holes" and "Finding Nemo", "Rugrats Go Wild!" still has little to offer, and it pales dramatically in comparison to the other two.
The first "Rugrats" movie sent our diapered heroes out on a little adventure in the woods, while the second brought them all the way to Paris. Here they end up on a remote island, even though they first planned on heading to paradise on the luxurious Lipschitz Cruise. But the ever-eager Stu Pickles (voiced by Jack Riley), decides to bring his family and the ones of Phil and Lil DeVille, Chuckie and Kimi Finster, and Angelica Pickles (along with Susie Carmichael by herself) onboard a rinky-dink tugboat and head off in the same direction. On the way, however, they're caught right in the middle of a storm, and their boat is sunk by a towering wave (a la "The Perfect Storm"), leaving them stranded in a life raft.
The next day, the raft ends up on the shore of an island marked "unknown" on the map, although the world-traveling Thornberries also happen to be there shooting a nature documentary. Once the adults head off to build shelter and leave Stu (already preoccupied with constructing a radio out of everyday objects) in charge of the babies, they set off on their own adventure through the rainforest, hoping to find Nigel Thornberry for help. In the meantime, Angelica and Spike the dog head out as well, and while Angelica finds her teenage altar ego in Debbie Thornberry, Spike gains the ability to speak from his encounter with Eliza Thornberry, who, as many kids already know, can talk to animals.
This alteration, however, turns out to be one of the lower points of the entire film, for in the "Rugrats" TV series Spike is already a likeable character because of the far-fetched and extraordinary visions the babies have had of him. Giving him a voice, especially one as obnoxious as the one he now has, not only destroys his charisma; it also overshadows his great character values. Worse, his dialogue is so repugnant that even his intentionally unfunny lines still made me cringe.
"RGW!", much like the first two, carries several movie references. While "Rugrats in Paris" gained a little notoriety for its parody of "The Godfather", this one stays behind the lines with references to "Jaws" and "The Swiss Family Robinson" as well as "The Perfect Storm" and spoofs of "Titanic", "Planet of the Apes", and "From Here to Eternity". While these references are still funny, it becomes rather tiring watching them pile up quicker than the diaper jokes. In all honesty, let's just hope they don't spoof "The Exorcist" and have Angelica's head spin around 360 degrees.
The main problem with "Rugrats Go Wild!" is that it tries too hard (or better yet, too little) to match the characters from both cartoons. Although the film felt like an eternity for me, I wish some of the segments had been lengthened a little. That way it could have been as satisfying as the second "Rugrats" movie, although instead it easily ends up being the worst of the three.
I've got to confess I did find some bits of the humor to be funny, namely the scene in which Angelica sings the song from "The Poseidon Adventure" to perk up everyone's spirits. Another example is a little dilemma in which Lil orders Phil to stop eating bugs after witnessing one being eaten by a predator flower. Otherwise, with the exception of a few gags here and there, the film resorts to the usual batch of generic diaper and poopy jokes. While the far superior "Finding Nemo" lets kids use their imagination, this film does nothing but restrict them to these jokes. And whereas "Nemo" was an extremely easy and completely painless sit for my family and I, this one was rather difficult. During the film I squirmed in my chair, struggled to keep my eyes open, restrained a few yawns, and was constantly nudged by my sister Morgan, who rolled her eyes at me at least five times. Why, had I not kept this review in mind, I could very well have fallen asleep.
Now I don't want to sound like a mean critic-meister here, but if you really want your kids to see something worthwhile, take them to see "Finding Nemo". That way they'll see a film that not only benefits them; it also blows away "Rugrats Go Wild" almost instantly.
A while before seeing "Rugrats Go Wild!", I saw a commercial on Nickelodeon that cited praise for the film from its online message board. The film was "Da bomb!" according to one user, and earned "1000 stars!" from another. "It was awesome, dude!" proclaims one more, and yet another praises, "It's the best movie ever!" Of course, while this ad is nothing more than a cheap ploy to fool kids into thinking the film is good, I still wish it had been what this "praise" had made it out to be.
On a side note, the film is presented in "Odorama", which enables you to smell different onscreen scents, such as root beer and Phil's feet, by scratching a scent card from Burger King when a smell's respective number appears in the lower right corner of the screen. Fortunately, we didn't go to Burger King before we saw the film, although the flashing numbers did manage to keep me awake. In fact, they could very well be the only interesting things about the film in general.
Note: This review is late due to my three-week vacation, during which I saw the movie. This review is also purely of my doing, and I do not copy off other reviewers.
E-mail me at [email protected]
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
