You're probably wondering why I'm starting off like this? Look at it like this, when you compare what I said to movies/shows I watch, the sewage is a familiar scent to me, hence I'm familiar with the worst aspects of most shows/movies. I'm more tolerant of them than others. When it comes to the scents I hate, they're movies/shows that I have absolutely no love for, I'm more than happy to crap on them until someone makes a fleeting reference to me on Kiwi Farms.
The Secret of NIMH 2 is like the combined odors of an apartment complex in Flushing, mixed with a basement to a fish market and with the texture of the crap you'd find in a Chinese restaurant's grease trap. (it takes a man to work with shit.)
Personal Background
I'm just going to be upfront with this, the only reason I know about this film is because of the Nostalgia Critic. Bear in mind that I saw the review well before the show went from mediocre to pure shit. The reason I bring him up is because while I'm against his method of reviewing, I'll admit, it did give me what equaled a decent experience of the more important aspects of what was covered. I saw enough to make my own judgment. I'm also someone who's able to catch what amounts to a soulless cash grab, and this one is enough to make me want to go on a Wii shovelware marathon.
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| Much like how I don't want to look at EZ PZ's obnoxious video thumbnail, I don't want to stare at this movie's images every time I'm on my phone. |
Background
I don't have much info on this film, but it does support a theory I have. The film was made to cash in on the popularity of the original film.
I haven't seen the original film, beyond some bits and pieces, but you don't have to have seen the original film to know just how bad this film is. It's bad whether you love the original film or not, a bad film is a bad film (and the Nostalgia Critic clued me in on the more crucial continuity fuckups for the record.) The film was directed by Dick Seabast, who's work is rooted in television animation, though he also has experience as an animator at Disney since 1972. Beyond some involvement in multiple positions on Rover Dangerfield, working on the animation for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and a writing credit on The Rescuers, this is really his only major production, at least as a director. Points for going with someone who has experience in the animation industry, but that's like producing a Metallica album and using trash cans for drums.
Another aspect that's interesting (to me, I doubt anyone else is as anal about production trivia as me) is that the writers for it are Paul Sabella and Jonathan Dern. If you don't know who they are, beyond some involvement in some movies related to the Bratz line of figures, they were the headliners for My Little Pony, generation 3, which is apparently the lowest point in the history of My Little Pony, not that I would know.
It's also fair to note that Metro Goldwyn Mayer was behind this. Okay, they distributed the first, but it seems that MGM is always attached to the craziest of films. They were the last distributors who signed on to distribute Clownhouse, the directorial debut of Victor Salva, who molested one of the lead actors and is still working to this day. They also would've distributed Freaky Flickers had the film been completed.
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| This would've been far more interesting. |
Premise
I won't go over the entire premise because honestly, it isn't that interesting. Instead I'll offer insight on the more interesting aspects. The people behind this film didn't care that much, why should I give them the satisfaction.
For starters, the film opens with a summary section, fair enough, it'll help bring viewers up to speed, but it's at this point things begin to turn. It goes over Jonathan Brisby, but more or less writes off Ms. Brisby as less than an understudy. Okay the point is her actions aren't the focal point as far as I know, real bold since she's the star of the first film.
Here's a summary of the opening, done through the power of Wikipedia.
"The film begins with a prophecy from the first film, telling how one of Jonathan and Mrs. Brisby's sons would save Thorn Valley from "the secret of NIMH". Timothy is chosen to go, but his older brother Martin believes he should have been the one chosen. Martin decides to prove his quality, and goes off to find his own adventure."
Don't you just feel the life emanating from that paragraph? Come to think of it, not even a plot summary on Wikipedia could do this film justice. To demonstrate, right after that paragraph it goes into the main character encountering someone who doesn't appear until later in the film, even though a bunch of stuff happens before then.
Speaking of, who's the star of this film you ask? To further support my theory that this is just a soulless cash grab, the star of the film was a very minor character in the first film who spent most of it ill. He was a plot device in the first, and that's what his character amounted to there. I say this because he has no personality beyond what you'd find in some adventure fodder. Are you feeling excited?
A bulk of the film centers on foreshadowing and character building, blatant and dull respectively. Timmy's brother Martin is jealous that the former was chosen to help stop NIMH, take a wild guess what happens to Martin, I mean really think about it. I'd say this is taking the piss out of The Phantom Menace, but that came out in 1999, this came out in late-1998. Points for being the first but the overall lack of subtlety is keeping you in negative numbers.
How dull is the character building? Timmy mopes about how he'll never be like his father who died well before being fully established in the first film (hell, all he was was a friend of Mr. Ages, that's as much as the first film summary will give on the guy). I know this has been mentioned in other reviews, but how could it not? Timmy can't sing. At all, and as he gets older he still can't sing. Pro-tip, most films that involve singing switch out the characters' actors with musicians or actors capable of singing.
From there, not a lot happens that's noteworthy. It isn't until the villain is established that the film goes off the rails. You could say I'm going by the Nostalgia Critic's review too much, but if I was I'd go over the scene involving Jeremy, which amounts to a temporary lack of transport to NIMH.
Timmy and a generic love interest, (yeah I know her name but she's more or less along for the ride and exists solely to further the plot, but even then not by much.) reach NIMH, where the workers have been turned into dogs. Blame was previously put on a mad doctor (because that's in style), but it turns out that the real villain is Martin, where the aforementioned doctor caught and made him insane. I'll admit, this is one of the better character turns. I dunno why, I guess I'm a sucker for character turns where one is driven to evil due to jealousy, or something like that.
Anyway, shit happens, Timmy and the others escape and Martin is taken and later rehabilitated. And what better way to round off the film than a statue made in the name of shameless cash grabs.
Animation
Given that this was a direct-to-video release, I didn't expect award winning animation. The animation in this is... okay. It's as good as it needs to be, it gets the job done, it's the least harmful aspect of this film, aside from the acting I guess. The original film had better animation, but that's a given since it had Don Bluth at the helm. When you're pitted against one of the better regarded animators of course he would do better than you.
While the animation itself is okay, the overall design is iffy. It does keep with the overall look of the original, but it just looks bland.
Acting
This film does have some recognizable actors... from years ago. Yeah par the course for D2V movies, we got plenty of familiar voices from familiar shitbombs. We have the Karate Kid (the original) Ralph Macchio as the grown up Timmy (the rest aren't known), Hynden Walch joins as the token girl, adding to a roster of unfortunate roles in her resume (seriously, with Adventure Time, Teen Titans and Aladdin and the Adventure of All Time on her resume, I hope she's getting some good paychecks out of this)
William H. Macy is in this as well, I'm only bringing him up because it was around this time he became tied to numerous stinkers. We also got the second voice of Arnold from Hey Arnold! as the first voice of Martin, and for his second voice, the voice of Fievel Mousekewitz from An American Tail, one of the few Don Bluth connections that's harmless. Eric Idle's in this too, I'd say Burn Hollywood Burn brought him to this, but that film also came out in a later year.
Interestingly, Dom DeLuise reprises his role as Jeremy, but this is marred by the fact that Dom has lent his voice to many obscure shit animated films. I don't think his kidneys killed him, I think it was the unholy dollar. Peter MacNichol does the narration, and interesting fact, both Dom and Peter were in Baby Geniuses. I will say this, they got a decent replacement for Ms. Brisby. Who knew that the voice of Meryl from Metal Gear Solid could pull off an okay Elizabeth Hartman?
Overall
The Secret of NIMH is based on a book written by Robert C. O'Brien, and for the most part does it justice. The Secret of NIMH 2 feels like it was based on a fan fiction, where the author seemed to love Timmy a little too much, paired him with their OC and just winged it. I'm tolerant when it comes to shit movies and shows. This movie did to me what depression did to every big YouTuber ever. As a sequel to The Secret of NIMH it sucks because beyond having familiar characters it fails to hold the same charm as the first. As a lone entry it doesn't work because it doesn't even have its own charm. It hits every note in every generic adventure flick possible, plus bland characterization.
According to IMDb, Don Bluth had some ideas on how he wanted to make the film, and I doubt it'd be much better. Apparently the biggest change he would make is reversing the roles of Timmy and Martin. I would say proper directing would save this film, but it was at this time that Bluth was kicking back on quality flicks. He was brought on to produce the sequel (production began as early as 1995, but he and his team left to work on Anastasia. Whether that's for better or worse is up to speculation.
The trivia section also takes the piss out of this film by pointing out that Timmy's only significance in the first was giving a single line of dialogue.
To close off, the film is officially non-cannon. Let's call this a fever dream Timmy had while Ms. Brisby went to save them. A crazy, crazy, stupid dream.
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