Recess - School's Out (2001) review: teacher, leave the kids alone
One of my guilty pleasures is to go through the wide catalog of streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max or Disney Plus in order to find silly, short and entertaining movies, movies that allow me to have a good time without having to go deep in a very complicated story.
Although these films are not usually the epitome of quality, many times they are an unexpected source of wonderful ideas that, without trying to revolutionize the industry, know how to take a good idea and execute it solidly.
A custom that has been lost in the last two decades is that of movies that go directly to DVD. Disney, at the time, used to use this mechanism to release low-budget sequels that took advantage of the success of their classics, as well as adapt the premise of their original television shows to a longer format.
"Recess: School's Out" fits into the latter category, but unlike the other films in the Recess series it's the only one that really raises the bar for production considerably, featuring much more detailed and ambitious animation in widescreen format.
You see, Reccess is an animated series by Walt Disney released in 1997 that showed us the life of a group of children belonging to the 4th grade of primary school, the main attraction of Reccess was to follow the lives of its diverse group of characters, boys who fit into different stereotypes that we usually associate with school life, facing the ups and downs of any childhood.
The key to its success was not only in the creativity that the premise of each episode implied (with which it was always easy to identify), but in how well written the main boys were: T.J, Gus, Espinelli, Vince and Gretchen, the writers treated the children as intelligent human beings, but with a level of innocence very characteristic of their respective ages.
Going back on the subject of the movie, one of the biggest challenges when looking to adapt an animated series into a movie format is to take the same formula that made the show so successful in the first place, but, at the same time to to look for a bit of a conflict more "greater" than justifies its existence, all this without the need to abandon its own essence.
And although School's Out is obviously not a masterpiece by any means, we must admit that it has been able to complete this task perfectly, creating an adventure that not only retains all the elements that made us fall in love with these characters, but also manages to move us. an unexpected level.
While on the surface it's school's out on an over-the-top story that deals with government conspiracies, ninjas, and evil men seeking to permanently alter the course of the moon, it's also a nostalgic and painful exploration of all that childhood stands for, as seen through the eyes. from a group of young people who know that their carefree days will eventually end.
Apart from this, School's Out has a great soundtrack, showing that while they didn't need to put in that much effort, those behind the project had a genuine love for it.
Although the main focus of a movie like this will always be children, it is not crazy to think that we can all find something of value in it, either out of longing for the times that have passed, or to appreciate the moment we are living a little bit more.
The score was taken from my Letterboxd Account.
Uno de mis gustos culposos es ponerme a revisar el amplio catálogo de servicios de streaming como Netflix, HBO Max o Disney Plus con la finalidad de encontrar películas tontas, cortas y entretenidas, peliculas que me permiten pasar un buen rato sin necesidad de tener que adentrarme en una historia muy complicada.
Si bien estos filmes no suelen ser la epitome de calidad, muchas veces resultan una fuente inesperada de ideas maravillosas que, sin pretender revolucionar la industria saben tomar una buena idea y ejecutarla solidamente.
Una costumbre que se ha perdido estas dos ultimas decadas es la de las peliculas que van directo a DVD, Disney, en su monento, acostumbraba a utilizar este mecanismo para estrenar secuelas de bajo presupuesto que aprovechaban el exito de sus clasicos, asi como adaptar la premisa de sus shows de television originales a un formato mas largo.
"Recess: School's Out" encaja en esta última categoria, pero a diferencia de las otras peliculas pertenecientes a la serie Recess es la unica que realmente eleva el nivel de producción considerablemente, presentando una animacion mucho mas detallada y ambiciosa en formato widescreen.
Veran, Reccess es una serie animada de Walt Disney estrenada en 1997 que nos mostraba la vida de un grupo de niños pertenecientes al 4to grado de primaria, el principal atractivo de Reccess se encontraba en seguir la vida de su diverso grupo de personajes, chicos que encajaban en diatintos estereotipos que solemos asociar a la vida escolar enfrentándose a los altos y bajos de cualquier infancia.
La clave de su exito no estaba únicamente en la creatividad que implicaba la premisa de cada episodio (Con las cuales siempre era facil sentirse identificado), sino en lo bien escritos que estaban los chicos protagonistas: T.J, Gus, Espinelli, Vince y Gretchen, los escritores trataban a los niños como seres humanos inteligentes, pero con un nivel de inocencia muy caracteristico de sus respectivas edades.
Volviendo al tema de la pelicula, uno de los desafíos mas grandes que se presentan cuando busca adaptarse una serie animada a un formato cinematográfico, es el tomar la misma formula que hizo que el show fuese tan exitoso en primer lugar para buscar un conflicto un poco más "grande" que justifique su existencia, todo esto sin necesidad de abandonar su propia esencia.
Y aunque obviamente School's Out no es una obra maestra bajo ningun termino, debemos reconocer que ha podido completar esta tarea a la perfección, creando una aventura que no solo retiene todos los elementos que nos hicieron enamorarnos de estos personajes, sino que aparte logra conmovernos a un nivel inesperado.
Si bien en la superficie school's out en una historia exagerada que Lidia con conspiraciones gubernamentales, ninjas y hombres malignos que buscan alterar permanentemente el curso de la luna, tambien es una exploración nostálgica y dolorosa a todo lo que representa la infancia, vista desde los ojos de un grupo de jovenes que saben que sus dias sin preocupaciones se acabarán eventualmente.
Aparte de esto, School's Out cuenta con una banda sonora estupenda, demostrando que si bien no era necesario que hicieran tanto esfuerzo, quienes estuvieron detrás del proyecto sentian un amor genuino por el mismo.
Aunque el enfoque principal de una pelicula como esta siempre van a ser los niños, no es alocado pensar que todos podremos encontrar algo de valor en ella, ya sea por añoranza de los tiempos que pasaron, o por apreciar un poco mas el momento que estamos viviendo.
El puntaje fue sacado de mi cuenta de Letterboxd.
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