FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

Fat Albert and the gang are going about their normal cartoon lives, when all of a sudden they hear an ominous crying sound. They discover that a teenage girl, watching the show is deeply saddened and the tears are penetrating their world. Being the proud problem solvers that they are, the whole gang (minus pipsqueak Russell, who stays back to guard the junkyard) leaps through her television set. Now the gang has problems of their own. First, they have to help the crying girl Doris. Then they have to find a way to get back to their cartoon existence before they fade away into celluloid dust.

I’m glad this movie is not just a live action version of the cartoon, like the horrendous “Scooby-Doo.” Not only does this film acknowledge it’s animated roots, it embraces it and makes the original show a driving force for part of the plot. All new animation was created for the film and it turned out very nicely. I would have liked to see a little more back and forth between the two worlds, though. And as ridiculous as it all sounds, the plot actually is made to make sense (in a fantasy-world way) by the end of the film. Overall, it’s a good way to bring a cartoon to a live action setting without having to go the expensive and usually disastrous “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”/”Garfield” route.

The problem with incorporating the show into the film like it did (besides the shameless DVD plug, which never comes into the narrative like I half-expected it would), is that the kids at Doris’ high school have never heard of it before, it seems. Fat Albert and the gang are a pretty recognizable group. You’d think they’d have a passing recollection of the cartoon from their childhood, especially if the little children in the film do. Instead, everyone just acts like they’re dressing funny or they mock Albert because he is Fat, in an intentionally un-clever way. Another flaw is automatically assuming that everyone watching is familiar with all the characters. I’m sure that some of the audience hasn’t seen the show in a while (or at all) and may not exactly know what’s going on.

The casting worked out pretty well as far as matching up the looks. As far as acting goes, it was pretty hit or miss. I’m not expecting great stuff here, but at least put a little effort into it. The biggest offenders were those lead actors/half-brothers from “You Got Served.” One plays the most pathetic villain I’ve seen on screen in a long time, while the other plays Dumb Donald. You’d think if a little nepotism like this was going on, we could have seen Keenan Thompson (who plays Fat Albert just fine) get his former partner Kel Mitchell involved. Out of the rest of the gang, I really liked Alphonso McAuley’s performance as Bucky. It’s a good example of how to play a cartoon character without overdoing it. Just say the words naturally. The appearance will do its job. With a cast this big, it’s tough to get them all involved or to make them all noticeable. Maybe a couple more of them should have stayed back with Russell, who’s obviously not live action, because they couldn’t find a suitable match.

Part of the reason for the bad acting is that it’s a cartoon related project and it’s a kid related project, so I can excuse it. As a kids movie, I think it could be better. The jokes are rather blah, but I still laughed more than I have at similar films. I don’t think there’s enough conflict and the bad guy is never put out there as a formidable threat, so you can’t cheer for Fat Albert. However, it has the Bill Cosby (who not only created the cartoon, but also co-wrote this picture with frequent collaborator Charles Kipps) trademark good message complete with a touching ending sequence. It’s not a bad film for your kids to see by any means and it’s very family friendly. However, there’s a chance both you and your kids may get bored. After all, there’s a overly long song and dance sequence and an over done fish out of water mall sequence that was done much better in both “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and the Howie Mandel classic “Walk Like a Man.”

I can’t say I was exactly clamoring for this picture to be made, but I certainly don’t think it’s something I would immediately throw back into the junkyard. I wish the Brown Hornet could have made an appearance. Maybe next time. This film will just have to hold you over until we finally get a big screen version of “Picture Pages.”

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