The Rugrats Movie

This is a loud movie which was fun for about 40 minutes but then it just gets to be too much, too abrasive with the yelling. Do they think kids are hard-of-hearing? Are they trying to make kids deaf?

Whatever. . I guess this is geared a lot more for young kids who are used to the TV blasting away at them. For me, that loudness is okay for awhile, but it gets tiresome. In fact, the simple storyline in here goes on for too long, too. This is an 81- minute film, which is not long, but would have been far better at no m ore than 70 minutes. An hour would have been just right.

Still, on the plus side, there are plenty of interesting scenes, the colors are bright and visually attractive, the sound is very good and there are some decent subtleties as well as slapstick humor. There are things in here adults would enjoy.

As a big fan of the Nickelodeon television show, "The Rugrats", I was really itching to see this when I first heard they were making a movie, and I am a teenager, too. I was there opening weekend, and lemme tell ya, you don't have to be a toddler to love animated movies. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. There was very good animation, a good little story, upbeat and catchy songs as well as lyrics, and the action will keep the little ones entertained. ***** out of *****.

Why do filmmakers find it necessary to try to turn cartoons into musicals? I found the many star-studded music numbers irritating, and a poor attempt to appear "cool" to the adult viewers. The entire plot element of the train-wrecked monkeys added nothing to the film, and seemed senseless. My 7 year old son enjoyed it except for the singing. The TV show is better.

The Rugrats Movie was enjoyable, not quite as good as Rugrats In Paris, but it is solid and colourful. Of course the film isn't without its flaws. The second half was rather loud for my liking, and while the story is simple, which is fine by me, there are bits where the film drags and it doesn't quite have the sense of fun that makes the show so enjoyable. That said though, the film is very, VERY cute and means well. While it is by all means a kids movie, there are a handful of laughs and references to other films for adults. I particularly loved Phil's "I didn't know she could fly"(in reference to Angelica) and Lil replies "I think it's because she's a witch." The animation is colourful and true to that of the show, and the soundtrack is great. The voice cast is especially strong, with Tara Strong, EG Daily and Christine Cavanaugh as standouts. Though as much as it pains me to say this, great actors like Whoopi Goldberg and Tim Curry have very little to do, and did disappoint. Overall, it's a decent movie, it is colourful cute and fun, but does have a tendency to drag and a bit loud in places. 7/10 Bethany Cox

RUGRATS RULE! I love this movie. It's like one of my favorite cartoon movies ever. If you don't like Rugrats you are crazy. Everything about it is cool. The plot was good. The music is very cool. I recommend this movie to anyone who loves rugrats and likes cartoon movies.