I want to know who decided that making this movie would be a good idea.
Like, seriously.
Now, don't get me wrong, I usually love Drake Bell. However, he isn't Timmy Turner. The only person who can pull off Timmy is Tara Strong, who's voice work I missed during this movie. Bell just seemed more confused than anything, while Strong's work just... fits. This was a problem shared by the entire cast, however, so I figure I should just get that out of the way first.
In all honesty, it was as bad as I thought it was going to be as soon as I saw that there was a live action Fairly Odd Parents movie in the works. With a 23-year-old Timmy still in fifth grade. Yes, it gets stupider.
There's a reason why cartoons aren't shot in live action; gags such as Crocker's fairy breakdowns just don't... work. And yet they tried to push it as if it did work, which just took away from the entire movie as a whole. You could see Lewis trying to become Crocker, but it just didn't work. And its not anyone's fault, either. There are just some things you cannot do in live action, especially with a small budget.
The ending was abysmal. A slap in the face.
Throughout the series when Timmy is 'forced' into giving up his fairies (most notably in Channel Chasers, which was spit at and stomped to the ground in this movie), you can see him at first try to avoid this by acting childish and never wanting to grow up, but eventually he does. He grows into a mature person who's willing to put aside his wants for the good of others. Remember that selfless moment near the end of Abra-Catastrophe! when he sets his fairies free in order to save the world? Of course, he gets them back (obviously, this isn't a cartoon with much continuity at all) and reverts back to his normal, selfish self, but at least in the movies there's a sense that he has grown. Again, I bring up Channel Chasers, where he actually ended up giving up his fairies and losing his memory of them. It's a part of growing up that in past movies dealing with the subject - he does.
Well, this movie decided to be 'different', I guess. While it's a happy ending that makes a little bit of sense (Timmy has saved Fairy World a lot), it doesn't fit in with the rest of the series. Channel Chasers is at least believed to be canon (and Timmy getting together with Tootie at the end of Grow Up Timmy Turner! fits in a bit with the Channel Chasers ending (if visual clues are to be looked at, anyway)), but this completely disregards it. All that growing up and character development he does throughout the entire movie is completely pointless, and he gets to keep his fairies anyway.
Cosmo and Wanda are also ridiculously out of character. While Cosmo is still stupid (does anyone else remember the days when he wasn't as stupid as he was just a bit dim and gullible?), Wanda is oddly attached to stopping Timmy from growing up (she's stupid, too, by the way). I can't imagine that either of them would be happy about leaving him, but trying to stop him from having a family and a life beyond elementary school? It's very selfish and unlike either of them. Fairy Godparents are supposed to help children with difficult issues - whether parents that ignore you or evil babysitters - and help them grow up happy.
Also, Vicky is just... weird in this special. I don't know who wrote her that way and why, but they need to be fired. Now.
Blatant disregard for such a beloved series should really not be tolerated by anyone. How this movie is so highly rated is beyond me. The writing is bad, the jokes are bad, the characters that are usually at least semi-tolerable become gratingly annoying, and the story is stupid from beginning to end.
Oh, and Randy Jackson shows up and speaks one line as Poof.
I still have no idea why that was such a big deal, or if it was supposed to be funny.
One out of ten stars.
Like, seriously.
Now, don't get me wrong, I usually love Drake Bell. However, he isn't Timmy Turner. The only person who can pull off Timmy is Tara Strong, who's voice work I missed during this movie. Bell just seemed more confused than anything, while Strong's work just... fits. This was a problem shared by the entire cast, however, so I figure I should just get that out of the way first.
In all honesty, it was as bad as I thought it was going to be as soon as I saw that there was a live action Fairly Odd Parents movie in the works. With a 23-year-old Timmy still in fifth grade. Yes, it gets stupider.
There's a reason why cartoons aren't shot in live action; gags such as Crocker's fairy breakdowns just don't... work. And yet they tried to push it as if it did work, which just took away from the entire movie as a whole. You could see Lewis trying to become Crocker, but it just didn't work. And its not anyone's fault, either. There are just some things you cannot do in live action, especially with a small budget.
The ending was abysmal. A slap in the face.
Throughout the series when Timmy is 'forced' into giving up his fairies (most notably in Channel Chasers, which was spit at and stomped to the ground in this movie), you can see him at first try to avoid this by acting childish and never wanting to grow up, but eventually he does. He grows into a mature person who's willing to put aside his wants for the good of others. Remember that selfless moment near the end of Abra-Catastrophe! when he sets his fairies free in order to save the world? Of course, he gets them back (obviously, this isn't a cartoon with much continuity at all) and reverts back to his normal, selfish self, but at least in the movies there's a sense that he has grown. Again, I bring up Channel Chasers, where he actually ended up giving up his fairies and losing his memory of them. It's a part of growing up that in past movies dealing with the subject - he does.
Well, this movie decided to be 'different', I guess. While it's a happy ending that makes a little bit of sense (Timmy has saved Fairy World a lot), it doesn't fit in with the rest of the series. Channel Chasers is at least believed to be canon (and Timmy getting together with Tootie at the end of Grow Up Timmy Turner! fits in a bit with the Channel Chasers ending (if visual clues are to be looked at, anyway)), but this completely disregards it. All that growing up and character development he does throughout the entire movie is completely pointless, and he gets to keep his fairies anyway.
Cosmo and Wanda are also ridiculously out of character. While Cosmo is still stupid (does anyone else remember the days when he wasn't as stupid as he was just a bit dim and gullible?), Wanda is oddly attached to stopping Timmy from growing up (she's stupid, too, by the way). I can't imagine that either of them would be happy about leaving him, but trying to stop him from having a family and a life beyond elementary school? It's very selfish and unlike either of them. Fairy Godparents are supposed to help children with difficult issues - whether parents that ignore you or evil babysitters - and help them grow up happy.
Also, Vicky is just... weird in this special. I don't know who wrote her that way and why, but they need to be fired. Now.
Blatant disregard for such a beloved series should really not be tolerated by anyone. How this movie is so highly rated is beyond me. The writing is bad, the jokes are bad, the characters that are usually at least semi-tolerable become gratingly annoying, and the story is stupid from beginning to end.
Oh, and Randy Jackson shows up and speaks one line as Poof.
I still have no idea why that was such a big deal, or if it was supposed to be funny.
One out of ten stars.