miru
Since: Jan, 2001
02/12/2012 19:39:15
•••
Film WTH is this?
This film is not a good treatment of the FOP licence in any way, shape or form. For one thing, the CGI is epic fail, especially the Fairies, who don't look as realistic as they should. Then, there is the villain. Given the actual series you would expect him to be some kind of magical entity. But no: IT'S A FUCKING LAND DEVELOPER. Why is Timmy fighting this land developer, why did we go from sadistic babysitters, biker gangs, man-eating aliens, universal conquerors, and Lovercraftian horrors to a FUCKING LAND DEVELOPER? Where are all the other setablished characters, especially Trixie. Overall, this movie is epic fail. This series should die already. Let it die.
Film A worthy attempt, but lets not try it again
The smoke having cleared from this movie's arrival, one could say that the FOP fandom is in an even more precarious state than it was after the release of similar big movie events such as Channel Chasers, Fairly Odd Baby, and Wishology. But how does this movie, a live action adaption of the Fairly Odd Parents, measure up to the competition?
Its best to start where this movie started. When it was first announced at Comic Con 2010, the timing was incredibly mind boggling. Nickelodeon had just seen one of their most popular toons, Avatar: The Last Airbender, attempt to make this jump from cartoon to live-action, only to end up plummeting into the valley of uncanny. Not long after the announcement, photos of Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines in Cosmo/Wanda wigs emerged from the set, and their Oompa Loompa appearance did not do much to quell the fears. Still, many people were intrigued by the idea, either to see how awful it turned out, or to see if Hartman's crew could pull it off. So... did they?
...To an extent, yes. Many of the casting choices were perfect. Daran Norris reprises his role as Timmy's Dad from the actual cartoon, and you can tell the character was made for him. David Lewis as Mr. Crocker is a new comer, but succeeded in making many people think he was Crocker's actual voice actor from the cartoon as well. Daniella Monet played a great Tootie, and although her character lacked the exposition it deserved, she still looked and felt like a girl still genuinely in love with Timmy. Finally, despite the scary Oompa Loompa pictures from earlier, Cheryl Hines and Jason Alexander pulled off a good Cosmo and Wanda, some may argue they felt more genuine than the fairies themselves have been for the past few years after Cosmo's voice was increased a few hundred decibels.
While Drake Bell tried, I do not feel like he managed to pull off Timmy that well. He felt awkward, out of place, and the scene where he parts with his fairies by kissing Tootie felt rushed and lacked the emotion it should have had. Steven Weber also did a good job, but his villain's character felt out of place. Lastly, the actors who played Chester, AJ, and Vicky, look like they were hired off the street.
Final thoughts: A great adaption, but a relatively mediocre FOP movie. A step above the other Poof-era movies, but lacking compared to Chasers.