WARNING: This review contains spoilers of the 2019 Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) Kim Possible. If you haven't seen the movie yet I will advise you to wait with this review as it contains everything happening.
Okay, so before I start my review I want to tell you that I haven't seen the complete Kim Possible TV series. My opinion in this post is based on my experience and the seasons and episodes I have seen, which here includes the complete Season 1 along with a few episodes from both Season 2 and Season 3. My opinion is therefore based on everything I have seen in these episodes.
Actors:
Although Sadie Stanley's first role was in the live-action movie she was indeed the best girl to play the title character, Kim Possible. Sadie delivers an almost real world identical copy of the animated character. One of Kim Possible's most known characteristic is her ego, and Sadie shows the same reactions as Kim did in the series. Besides, Sadie also shows a more optimistic Kim, she seems happier in the live-action than in the series.Sean Giambrone makes a great clumsy and fun Ron Stoppable. The way he falls into the ground and makes an explosion at the beginning of the movie is a classic Ron. Ron has probably never done that in the series, but he has surely done many other things. The way Sean Giambrone act is perfect and there couldn't probably be any difference between him and the animated Ron. When Kim, Ron and Athena enter the place under the earth, and Ron asks how the brain can be inside a human's head, or when he, Kim, Nana and Ann are captured in a forcefield and is kinda worried for Rufus, it feels like the real Ron, both his reactions and his emotions are so accurate.
Ciara Riley Wilson is playing an all-new character named Athena. She is a robot created by Dr. Drakken and Shego and her mission is to destroy Kim (not physical but mental). Ciara is great to switch from good to evil. When she befriends Kim and Ron and they are hanging out or something, you wouldn't even think off of Athena being evil, she's so nice. But when the time comes, Ciara shows her wicked side and it's perfect. She makes Athena an awesome character in so many ways.
Isaac Ryan Brown is better known for playing the role of Booker in the Disney Channel series Raven's Home, but in the Kim Possible movie, he plays Wade. Wade has a minor appearance in the TV series besides helping Kim and Ron on their missions through the Kimmunicator. Although Wade is a little bigger originally, I still think Isaac is a good match to portray Wade in the movie. I don't think that Isaac's reactions are like Wade's in the series, but I couldn't either think of another actor, and it is different how humans show their reactions, so I don't think it does anything for the movie. And actually, I'm glad another Disney Channel star could make it into a DCOM.
In the series, Shego almost has the same high as Kim Possible, but Taylor Ortega who plays her in the movie is some higher than Sadie Stanley, but she is still lower than Todd Stashwick and Dr. Drakken, which is also seen in the series. No matter how high Taylor Ortega is, she is great to be evil. Her attitude is exactly the same as Shego is in the series, and she uses her power just the same way. It is easy to recognize Taylor Ortega is Shego in the movie.
Todd Stashwick is perfect as Dr. Drakken. In the series, Drakken doesn’t seem to be so evil as Todd Stashwick portrays him in the movie. Yes, he is evil and laughs evil, but he isn't shown as this the entire time which he is in the movie. Todd does a great job as a real Drakken as it's much easier to show the evil in the real world than it is in animation as you have to make both emotions, mouth and face to look like it. I really like the scene before the theme song in the Season 2 episode "Partners". Even though Drakken isn’t as blue in the movie as he is in the series, Todd Stashwick makes a great live-action Dr. Drakken.
Movie:
Besides Dr. Drakken and Shego as the villains in the movie, the beginning also brings another well-known villain to the movie: Professor Dementor. Professor Dementor was a villain in the series as well, but he only appeared in a small number of episodes during the four seasons. In the movie, he will take over the world with a deadly slime created by Dr. Glopman who he has captured. Kim flyes with her jetpack to the place and meets with Ron. They enter the place and fight against Professor Dementor and his goons.And then, the theme song goes on. The theme song uses recreated live-action shots of some of the shots shown in the animated series' opening sequence.
The movie is about Kim and Ron attending Middleton High for the first time. While Ron is having a great start, Kim isn't even close. After the school is over, Kim and Ron find a new student named Athena, they befriend her, and they are hanging out. Dr. Drakken and Shego are ready with a new plan, this time to steal Kim's spark, her "Kimination". Drakken needs something for his machine and he sends Shego out to pick it up. Wade tells Kim about it, and her and Ron are picking up Athena to go with them on a mission. Ron finds a naked mole-rat whom he calls Rufus. But not all things go well anyway, and Athena becomes a hero and more popular at Middleton High after a video showing Athena fighting against Shego. Kim becomes upset and doesn't know what to do. She visits her grandmother Nana and wants to learn how to use a Bo Staff. Kim tells her about her problems and Nana tries to help her. Kim realizes she doesn't know who she is and go crying from Nana's house.
At the school, Mr. Barkin is holding a ceremony to congratulate Athena, but soon Dr. Drakken and Shego will visit. With some mistakes by Kim, Drakken and Shego capture Athena. Kim must save Athena, so she asks her mother and grandmother for help. They all three take on a mission with Ron and Rufus to save Athena and stop Dr. Drakken and Shego. They enter the cave and soon Kim finds out Athena is a robot of Drakken's who is created to destroy Kim. The four get caught in a forcefield. Rufus is free and with help from Wade and a drone, the four now become free too. While Drakken transfers Athena's brain to his, Kim and the others try to stop Shego and stop the machine. It goes well but Drakken becomes younger of age, and he and Shego escape. After saving Athena, Kim and the others must leave with Athena back to destroy the machine. The cave becomes destroyed with a big explosion. After then, the four finds part of Athena who's still alive. They take home and recreate her. And then, Athena becomes a student at Middleton High.
Along with the credits coming at the end of the movie, a scene is shown between a younger Drakken and Shego. Shego is driving a car and plays Drakken's mother, and with Drakken's age, he can be a student at the same school and Kim won't know Drakken is there.
The movie is amazingly assembled, and the script is pretty good if you compare the series and the movie. The story is also well shown as well as the emotions throughout the movie. But not only do the characters feel emotions, but you do the same when watching the movie. The beginning feels pretty nostalgic because it shows Kim on a mission, which was shown in many episodes in the series too. And the presentation of Ron, making a clumsy first appearance, was also fantastic. You probably laughed when Kim, Ron and Athena were late for class and Athena explained they were at a cat shelter where Mr. Barkin is almost heartbroken. And you've probably been touched during the sad scene in Nana's house where Kim cries because she doesn't know who she is, and the scene where Kim's finds out the truth about Athena.
Series vs. Movie
The movie is said to be a prequel, and if it's a prequel to the TV series there are many facts that do not connect in any way. Of course, the movie could be an alternative start of the franchise, but let's take a look of the things that don't connect.Athena. Athena is created by Dr. Drakken and given the mission to befriend Kim and destroy her. She actually becomes destroyed herself at the end of the movie, but the Possible family recreate her so she can live a normal life. There are no clues in the animated series after a character named "Athena", so either the movie takes place long before the series and something has happened to her, or again, this is an alternative version.
Another fact is Rufus. In the Season 1 episode "Low Budget", Ron tells Kim that he bought Rufus in a Smarty Mart store. In the live-action movie, Ron finds a naked mole-rat in the "Institute for Advanced Neurodynamic Studies and names him Rufus.
When Dr. Drakken shows the profiles of Duff Killigan and Señor Senior, Senior on Villainstagram to Shego in their cave, something is totally wrong. It's a well-known fact that Señor Senior, Senior wasn't evil before Ron gave him some ideas to make his and Señor Senior, Junior's island a great villainous lair in the Season 1 episode "The New Ron".
At the end of the movie, Dr. Drakken tells the four that he wanted to steal Kim's "Kimmitation". An episode in Season 1 was actually about the same topic. The episode is named "Kimmitation Nation" where a woman steals Kim's outfit to make a collection. Of course, this hasn't anything to do with the continuity.
Animation vs. Real Life
It can be a difficult job if you want to transfer animation into live-action. You can do several things when it comes to animation: the style of the world, the characters, the buildings. Animation can differ so much from what would be natural in the real world. But the Kim Possible movie is a perfect example of transferring animation into live-action. I have wondered many times how animated characters would look like if they were alive in our world, and the Kim Possible movie delivers it all. Maybe Sadie Stanley doesn't look like Kim in the series, but that's because how Kim is created and shaped, and also the other characters too. If you look at the buildings, places, and the school it feels pretty real compared with the series. But overall, the movie is amazingly created.References:
When Dr. Glopman says he will use his slime in a good way, Ron says "Maybe the occasional kids' awards show." This might be a reference to Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards where slime is one of their main things.Later in the movie where Kim and Athena are hanging out in Kim's room, Athena asks Kim why she isn't using her outfit anymore on missions, where Kim answers the question with the sentence: "I don't know, I guess wearing the same thing all the time kind of felt cartoony, after a bit." This is clearly a reference to the TV series where Kim (almost) always used the same outfit on missions.
Overall
The Kim Possible movie is one of the greatest DCOMs of all time and of the 33 movies I've ever seen. The movie is the first non-musical DCOM since 2016. Even though the movie is based on an already existing franchise, this does not do anything. It pretty awesome to see how Kim Possible and her friends, family and enemies could have looked like if they were real humans. The movie clearly deserves 5 stars and it's with no doubt that it can be watched all over again. The Kim Possible movie isn't my favourite DCOM as my all-time favourite DCOM is StarStruck from 2010, but the new movie has of course gotten a second place (just please don't tell Kim!).What do you think of the new movie - and how many stars out of 5 would you rate it?
Image: Disney Channel Denmark
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