Fantastic Fest 2012: NEW KIDS NITRO- He Said/She Said

NEW KIDS NITRO

Directed by: Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil

Written by: Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil

Starring: Huub Smit, Tim Haars, Wesley van Gaalen, Steffen Haars, and Flip van der Kuil 

Synopsis: Our favorite five dutch friends are back for more drinking, crazy antics, and zombie fighting. 

Javi: So NEW KIDS NITRO is the sequel to one of our favorite movies of last year's festival, NEW KIDS TURBO, and was on both of our most anticipated lists for Fantastic Fest. So what did you think of it?

Jonesy: I really enjoyed how it's one of those films that is the same dingbat characters and humor, and that it feels like they haven't grown up at all. Because if they had changed, it would have felt like they were trying to be something they're not. It's like they say, "Hey we're here; we're gross, crude, and crazy, and if you don't like it, so be it!" They sort of remind me of Jackass. 

Javi: Except I don't want to hyperbolically hurt myself whenever I see them. 

Jonesy: Just like Jackass, they have that don't give a shit attitude. I actually liked this movie more than the first one because it's tighter and shorter film. I know that in the Q&A, the director said that it was mostly because they were running out of money. 

Javi: Seriously, they ran out of money?

Jonesy: I guess with all the extra stuff they wanted to do with this one, funds began running out towards the end.

Javi: It's crazy that the original was the highest grossing movie in their country whenever it came out and yet now they ran out of money? That's a shame.

Jonesy: It sounded like they wanted to make it longer, but had to cut it short. They did blow a lot of money on bigger set pieces. In TURBO, I didn't like how the movie just seemed to drag a lot especially in the middle whereas this movie was more of a hurried type of pacing. I loved it. The beginning of the movie is so hysterical.

Javi: I will say I hate how sequels to certain movies try to get all meta and be about people that are fans of the first movie watching the sequel. What I did like is that the humor and characters changed ever so slightly for me to notice while still staying true to the spirit of the original. Another cool thing is that I tried to pick up on potentially culture-specific jokes like the director was saying that the region of the Netherlands where a certain incident occurs is a lot funnier because they're very stuck up. 

Jonesy: Yeah there was a lot of stuff where if you didn't know the culture or the TV show, you wouldn't get it. Like the man that kept on joining the race was weird, and it felt like some sort of cameo we were supposed to get.

Javi: He shows up in TURBO. I forget what his role is but I remember he was in the climactic gun battle of the first movie. Let me just get on a tangent here. Let's set it up; this is a movie based on a TV show, right?

Jonesy: Right.

Javi: Movies that are based on TV shows have a tendency of trying to justify the movie's existence by finding some dumb way of getting the characters out of their regular setting, and that's just the plot of the movie. Examples that come to mind are mostly cartoons, but I'm thinking THE SIMPSONS, SOUTH PARK and randomly, THE JETSONS cartoon movie. What I really like is that we have no clue what the hell the "regular setting" of NEW KIDS might be. So what we're experiencing is a completely weird and strange version of these characters. I want to go back and watch the TV show.

Jonesy: But part of me doesn't because now we've seen the super polished version of it, and we're only taking these characters in one sitting. I'm not sure I could handle those characters week after week. I think it might get a little repetitive with the same gags and plots. I liked just our one screening of each of the films.

Javi: I thought that the jokes were overall cleverer this time around however; I really hate some of the dumb physical humor with the little dude was doing, like those dumb back flips. (Jonesy laughed at this) And I get it, it's funny the first time, but this is a recurring thing that just gets a little grating. The more I think about it the majority of the characters have somewhat grown up. One of them reminds his mom to take her medicine and cares about not getting arrested because he's on probation, but all the while still being a complete idiot. It's almost a shame that we're not going to see a third movie. I'd love to see what it would turn out like.

Jonesy: But where else would they go after the events of this movie?

Javi: They battle Kaiju monsters

Jonesy: Huh?

Javi: Like Godzilla, homey. The whole "man in a rubber suit" thing?

Jonesy: Or space or time travel?

Javi: Imagine NEW KIDS VORTEX

Jonesy: Or NEW KIDS RETRO. I'd watch it.

Javi: I'd let you watch it.

Jonesy: In regards to the humor, I like how no one was spared of humorous violence. Especially children. I'm pretty sure there were more child casualties in this movie than any other movie I saw at the festival. Also, there's a very specific scene at the end where the imagery is dark, smart, and just downright hilarious. I lost it when I saw it. If you have seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about, otherwise come ask me. They never comment on it at all to bring attention to it. It just works. Don't get me wrong there is very little groundbreaking stuff here, but it's "smart" stupid fun. 

Javi: I am really curious to see what our friend Marc from Go See Talk thought about it since he only saw it based on our recommendation.

Jonesy: He says that he enjoyed it, but didn't know a lot of the characters and didn't know what to make a lot of it. I agreed with him. I don't remember much of the characters either; I only know them by traits, like the tall one with black hair, the short one, the quiet one, the guy with the car, etc. You can definitely see this one without watching the first, and you won't miss anything. 

Javi: I appreciate the hell out of this movie because it's a very douchy and stupid type of humor but with undertones of something clever and intelligence to it. I really enjoyed the fact that this was such an improvement over the first movie and that I got to see this movie. It actually exemplifies exactly why I love Fantastic Fest so much. I would have never heard of this franchise or even have gotten a chance to see it had it not been for this festival. 

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