So The Drama

Hello & welcome back. Ah, it's been a while since KP appeared on A Look at Disney. Last time, it was not such a warm welcome but today, that's different as I'll be taking a look at the second KP movie, So The Drama.  This film was meant to be the series finale until fans demanded a fourth season and Disney Channel gave in. Though, this would've been a good way to end the series as well.  With that out of the way, let's get going.


DCOM Promo







This a cute little promo gives the audience a behind the scenes  look at the making of this film with cast interviews and I noticed that it featured some traits such as Ron's lying habits that are also seen in the film. It's cute and doesn't let the viewers know much about the film.



The Plot


I have to admit that the plot is a bit confusing in terms of Drakken's plans as it is at best, convoluted.  However, his plan does find a way to tear KP and Ron apart.  There are multiple layers to Drakken's plan. First, there is the fact that he built synthodrones.   Stronger and more capable robot henchmen and uses one of them to put a wedge between KP and Ron. Namely Eric, who Drakken wanted to use to distract KP  and then there is the fact he buys Bueno Nacho and makes unwanted changes to the franchise such as introducing a kid's meal and other changes that Ron does not take to kindly and while lighter, it shows how Ron feels with his favorite joint changing and KP having a boyfriend, he feels as though,his world is changing.   This also ties into KP having boy problems at high school and maybe, it's because I'm a guy but I didn't like these boy problem sequences and while KP is a teen and I assume that she may go through these, it felt uncharacteristic of her.  This for the most part is brought on by Bonnie  but let's go back to what I actually like here, the evil plot of Drakken, besides taking over Bueno Nacho, he also stills technology from KP's dad, cybertronics and he also takes a patent for one of Nakasumi, president of a toy company.   Drakken's plans while odd and done in small doses do add up and almost convinced KP that she's lost.  I will say that at times, the saving the world and the junior prom deal and boy issues feel slightly unbalanced.  I mean, don't get me wrong, the show did this as well on a smaller scale but I can't explain why, this is perhaps my biggest issue in that at least early on in the film, it doesn't seem to know how to handle them and Eric does help to tie the two together.  It's not bad but I still A Sitch In Time has the better plot.



Plot Devices

Before we get to the characters as we have a few characters to cover, this round, there are two plot devices that need touching upon.


Diablo

Diablo is at first, an unassuming kid's meal toy as part of the change that came to Bueno Nacho but that is not the case as we soon learn that they were made with the cybertronic technology that Drakken stole from Kim's dad. That is until we see that when activated, they can grow and become giant monsters.  Also remember, the patents I talked about during the plot, well this is it.

Ron is the first one to see these things come to life and it is clear that they're evil.



Battle Suit

The other big plot device in this film is KP's battle suit. Now granted, we don't see this until towards the end of the film and this is basically a suit that Kim can use for more intense battles. It's shown that it can heal itself and put force fields around KP and it can also morph when needed.  It's pretty cool and I'm glad we got to see it and it did make appearances throughout season 4 but they felt more scattered.

Still, this was awesome.



Characters

For this, I'll be breaking this down into Important, Supporting, & Villains.

Important Characters

Kim Possible voiced by Christy Carlson Romano 

While we do see the strong and independent KP, we also see something else in this film, the vulnerable side that feels she is down and out. I'll get to that in a bit.   This film also reminds the audience that even Kim is a big time hero, she is also just a teenage girl that can easily be swayed by things such as boys and even though, I thought the boy issues were a bit off balance and I didn't like them, they did make sense in terms of both KP's age and that she does have her vulnerable moments, that are seen when KP and Ron are tied up in the Bueno Nacho headquarters and KP has a look on her face of there is no hope.

  

I should also mention that at the end of the film, the show delivers what a lot of fans, myself included had wanted. KP and Ron had become  a couple.  This was confirmed with a kiss at their prom. 

In a way, if the show had ended on this, I would've been happy but looking back, I was so mad when this originally aired as I felt that this was a poor way to end the show as I wanted to see the relationship 

expanded upon and we did get to see that a bit in season 4.

Ron Stoppable voiced by Will Friedle

It's interesting with this film, I feel that they were trying to have the audience sympathize with Ron as it feels outside of the missions, we spend more time with Ron and see his world crumble. This really comes into play when Eric enters the picture as it shows that Ron feels that Eric has taken his place and that he has lost his best friend.  There are two ways to look at this, first, you could argue that the film was trying to manipulate the audience into feeling bad for Ron and I can see that. Because you could make the argument that he should try to be happy for Kim.  The other way, I find that you could look at this is Ron is going through a major change and he thinks that he is losing everything and I'm sure some of us have been at that point in our life. As for my take, I thought Ron was quite sympathetic and I found it easier to relate to his issues than the ones that KP was facing.






Supporting Characters


Nakasumi voiced by Clyde Kuatsu

Nakasumi is a recurring character from the show that appeared in this film and the main reason, I'm bringing him up is that it was his design that was used in Drakken's plans to take over the world.  He was unaware that his design had been stolen and didn't know until he saw kids running out of Bueno Nacho with it. A running gag throughout the show was that he only spoke Japanese but that was disproved in the film as he spoke English for the first time and that was a clever touch.



Dr. James Timothy Possible voiced by Gary Cole

Dr. James Timothy Possible is KP's dad and former co-worker as Drakken. He is a rocket scientist and he is the one that was working on the cybertronic project.  Drakken comes to Dr. Possible place of  work and threatens to steal the cybertronic tech but Dr. Possible deletes it. However for a genius, he makes the mistake of letting Drakken know that he has all stored in his memory. After that Drakken kidnaps and KP comes to save him.  This is one of the few times, where things get personal and I really got angry at Drakken. Not as angry as when he and his cousin Motor Ed, stole a kid's high tech wheelchair mind you. I should also mention there is one cute moment where KP is talking about having boy problems (still feels odd) and Dr. Possible just calls his wife instead who happens to be a brain surgeon. We will get to her in a bit but first, Rufus.

Rufus voiced by Nancy Cartwright 

Ah, Rufus.  Such a fun little guy and a scene stealer in every way. I think his shining moment came in this film though in that he is the one that defeated Eric because as stated earlier, Eric was a synthodrone and Rufus bit him after he said naked mole rats are not cool.  That left Eric as a pile of goo.  He didn't do much but he didn't need to. I may have to review a Rufus centric episode down the road.

Dr. Ann Possible voiced by Jean Smart

Fun fact for ya: Mrs. Possible's name was not revealed until the series finale and it was revealed to be Ann. Throughout most of the show, she was just known as Dr. Possible. The main  reason, I'm bringing her up is because she really seemed important to Ron's story as she sees that Ron is going through something. She doesn't say anything and it's never stated outright but just by the looks that we see her give, it is clear that she knows that something is wrong.  It's minor at best but to me, it shows how caring she is and oh, going back to the phone call that Kim made, her mom put her on speaker while working. It's a funny afterthought but the way, it's played in the film is just so straight.

Monique voiced by Raven-Symone 

Ah, Monique.  KP's female best friend. The one that Kim could turn to. To talk about boys and other things. In many ways, Monique is one of Kim's friends that keeps her grounded when she isn't on missions but really, KP doesn't need that.  Just like KP, Monique is another strong minded character that is fun to be around and we see that here as well. It was minor at best but it worked quite well.

Bonnie Rockwaller voiced by Kirsten Storms 

Bonnie, the bane of KP's existence. She is the one that planted the idea that Kim didn't have a date and would end up with a loser boyfriend.  Once Eric came around, she became jealous and at the end, when Kim and Ron confirmed themselves as a couple,  she started to laugh but she was the only one laughing as everyone was cheering. Plus, how could you not when you saw this?

Music

Now we come to the music and well, it's okay but like last time, it isn't the greatest save for the last song.

Call Me, Beep Me (Movie Mix)

With this and the visuals provided  for the opening credits of this film, it felt as though they were trying to emulate Bond and well in my opinion,  I don't think it works. This is a nice version of the theme but for my money, I'll stick to the original version as it is done better.

Get Your Shine On

The trend of using teen pop stars was still in practice back when this aired but oddly, this was one of the few times that Disney Channel didn't use a Disney Channel star for this song. Instead, it was Jesse McCartney. As for this song, I have nothing to say on it as I heard words but I didn't hear a song.  

Could It Be

For those that couldn't figure out, this is KP's voice actress singing and she does a decent job.  This song, I really like.  It's not perfect but I remember it from childhood and I think it sums what KP and Ron were going through and how their relationship changed for the better and they didn't realize.  Just a sweet moment and I think this song reminds why that kiss is so meaningful to this show.

Villains

Shego voiced by Nicole Sullivan

Sadly, unlike A Sitch In Time, Shego was just the sidekick and didn't really have much to do other than fight KP.  Granted, she had some great moments of banter.  Perhaps, my favorites are these

Shego: You know, one day we really need to take that hairdryer from her.

Which for those that are unfamiliar with the show, this is referencing KP's main weapon. the hair dryer gun that also works as a grappling hook.

 

Now besides that, there were a lot of great fighting moments between the two.   As seen below.  

Eric voiced by Ricky Ullman 

When we are first introduced to Eric, we think that he is a goody two shoes.  Honestly, he comes across as being a Gary Stu that is so perfect at everything and just loves Kim. He was so boring that I'm surprised that when I watched this film, the first time, I couldn't believe that I couldn't figure out that he was evil. Honestly, when KP is tricked by thinking that Eric had been kidnapped, she has that feeling of her world had been crushed but that's when she finds out that he is actually and he's actually a synthodrone. 

Honestly, when it's revealed that Eric is evil, there is a bit more personality to him.  Not much but he isn't as boring as when he was pretending to be a good guy.  He goes from being a perfect boyfriend that is boring to someone that is evil and actually a bit interesting. 

Dr. Drakken voiced by John Di Maggio 

Drakken actually proved himself to be a capable villain with all of his plans.  Sure, they seemed to be out of whack with his plans as they weren't revealed at the beginning. This is one of the few times that Drakken actually came close to winning because he actually put a lot of thought and research in to how to take down KP but in the end, he was upped by Kim. As I said,  when talking about the plot,  Drakken's plans seemed odd but they worked in conjunction.  I honestly think that his plan could've worked but I'm sure there was a flaw in it but I can pinpoint it right now.  I will say it was really fun to watch though.

My Final Thoughts

While I think A Sitch In Time is the better film, this is still a good film and it would've been a decent way to end the series.  There was a lot of tension and drama filled moments in this film.  Honestly,  I feel that if the series had ended on just this scene...

I would've been happy as it gave fans, something they'd wanted and unlike other series that do this, it didn't feel out of nowhere because there did seem to be a slow build up to it in this film and it was obvious that these two cared for each other.  This is a film that I highly suggest as it is a KP film and just a good film in general.