Recess: School's Out (February 16, 2001)

I have a little experience with the Recess show from when I was a kid and this movie serves as a great refresher on the personalities of the main gang and the school they attend. It shows their interests and strengths as well as their roles in their friend group. The attempt at creating a CGI environment, however, is extremely poor. It is akin to a bad video game but the characters themselves are passable. This film would have been better as a tv movie. But as it stands it is a visually poor film with a passable story and likable characters. The story is that school is out for the summer and the main characters are all have their own plans so they will not see each other until the fall. However, the night before they all leave, T.J (the leader of the group and the only one with no plans) uncovers a plot by a former principle, Dr. Phillium Benedict, of their elementary school to get rid of summer vacation. Benedict is actually against recess in general because he believes it causes test scores to be lower and he wants to increase scores because they lead to more funding for the school as well as prestige and power for him. The main gang then have to put a stop to this evil plot with the help of their classmates and teachers. This is a simple story and is entertaining watch. Recess: School’s Out is by no means one of Disney’s best films, but it is exciting enough and great for fans of the Recess series as well as being a solid primer for the series.

Final Rating: 5/10