Search - The Secret of NIMH 2 - Timmy to the Rescue on DVD

Alexa W. (Awood) from ASHLAND, OR
Reviewed on 9/12/2010...

You don't need to have seen the first movie to understand this one, mostly because it stands so nicely on its own. I won't spoil it but my favorite part was the song the mad-scientist brother sings! It was just so catchy! lol Overall, I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone! :)

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Blashphemy

Eli Bishop | virginia | 05/07/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This abortion of a sequel should have never been made. I won't watch it. I can tell just from the front cover art and the title that this is a trainwreck of what the original story was. Look how cute the main rat is! I hope he dies in this sequel."

KEEP THE EXISTENCE OF THIS SEQUEL A SECRET... 4 OUT OF 10

ACEMAN1 | Ripon, California | 01/04/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"When it comes to finding good sequels, it's a tough challenge. When it comes to finding good animated sequels, you will have even more difficulty because you must swim through an ocean of crap generally polluted by Disney sequels as well as other miscellaneous animated films you forgot existed. I'd have to say my personal favorite animated sequel ironically is All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 which I felt was unfairly victimized by fans of the original (Even though I'm also a big fan of the original, and it is certainly better). Despite the gaping plot holes in that film, it managed to work as a standalone film and I managed to thoroughly enjoy it. However, The Secret of Nimh 2: Timmy To The Rescue pretty much deserves the criticism it got. Not only does this film not work as a sequel that pales considerably compared to its nearly flawless predecessor, it doesn't work as a standalone film. This is definitely not one of the rare exceptions of animated sequels, but it's just like most of the others; IT SUCKS. While the film isn't quite as bad as you've heard (There are Disney sequels that are much worse), that doesn't mean you should watch it.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The makers of this film felt that it was necessary to alter events from the first film, claiming that at some point the leader of the rats in the first film; Nicodemus laid out a prophecy saying that Timothy Brisby is destined to be a hero that follows in the footsteps of his father (When did this happen? I've watched the first film dozens of times, and there was no such prophecy!). So, when Timmy becomes of age he is sent off to Thorn Valley to be taught the basics to one day be a great hero by characters from the first film such as Justin and Mr. Ages. He isn't particularly happy with what he's been taught and he doesn't bother to listen at times. When he's brought with Justin and other rats on a scouting mission to find food (Didn't they promise they weren't going to steal anymore?), the group is almost killed when Timmy wanders away from his post and meets a female mouse named Jenny (With breasts for some odd reason) who can read. It is discovered that she came from NIMH, where the missing six mice are still located (The mice that were supposedly killed during the escape from NIMH when they were sucked down a ventilation shaft, but it turns out that landed in the basement on a mattress. HOW CONVENIENT!). When the council of Thorn Valley rejects going to NIMH to save the mice, Timmy and Jenny run away to go and rescue the mice at NIMH with the help of old friends (Jeremy the crow, as well as others) and some new ones (Floyd the annoying caterpillar), but it's more personal since Timmy must rescue his older brother Martin from NIMH as well. Sadly, the plot just isn't interesting like the first film. Nothing in the dark fantasy world of the first film could have prepared you for the true horrors that lie in this film.
MUSIC: The score itself isn't so bad, but I sorely miss Jerry Goldsmith's presence because the music he wrote for the first film was practically perfect. However, that's not what kills this area. The real killer of this film is the musical scenes. Of the 5-6 songs in this film, only two are actually good (Just Say Yes and All I Had Is Gone). All of the other songs are torturous and will literally make you cringe and squirm because they're so awful. The other songs are not clever, they are not catchy, but in fact, written by Satan himself. This is what happens when you turn a sequel to a film that was never a musical to begin with.
ACTING: Most of the voice-actors aren't bad, which is why I can't blame them for the bad dialogue. No one could make most of this dialogue sound good. Only two actors from the previous film reprise their roles (Dom DeLuise as Jeremy and Arthur Malet as Mr. Ages), and you will sorely miss the voice-actors from the first film (The new voice-actor for Justin is the worst of them all, he's completely God-awful). However, most of the voice-acting for the most part is passable, and it does seem at times these actors try to save this awful, ham-fisted script, but no amount of acting abilities could save it.
ACTION: The animation by itself isn't so bad, until you compare it to the animation of the first film which released sixteen years prior to this sequel. How in the hell does the first film look vastly superior to this sequel? It came out in 1982 for godsake! I also noticed odd frame-rate problems in the animation in which at times it seemed too slow or too fast and the camera couldn't keep up with it. Sadly, unlike its predecessor, this film is either boring, filled with awful musical scenes, or it tries to be more action-packed (Wow! Explosions! Surely this will make up for the lack of a good plot, character development, music, and well, everything!). This film has been noticeably toned down in terms of violence compared to its predecessor, such as in the introduction of the film that shows scenes from the first film that have been altered, with the violence cut out and at the same time altering events. It was reported that MGM thought the first film was too scary for kids, so they made this sequel as stupid as possible. Congratulations, MGM, mission accomplished! There's never a single point in this film in which you will ever care about these lackluster and uninteresting characters (Yet one idiotic raving review on this site called Timmy an "inspirational" character, which he is far from). In fact, at times, you'll be rooting for the bad guys because they're a lot cooler and hoping they'll just kill everyone off.
OVERALL: With a lack of a good plot, practically no ties with the original film except for character names with such characters being put in boring situations, awful musical scenes, mediocre animation, and no real character development, we are left with a nonsensical mess that will only please small children and no one else. This is yet another bad sequel to a great animated film that is very unmemorable and very little effort was put into making it any good. By the way, if you're one of those people who adamantly claims that this sequel is better than the original... YOU'RE AN IDIOT. This film can't hold ground as a sequel nor as a standalone film, and will forever be condemned to bargain bins at video stores. As said before, you're better off keeping this sequel's existence a secret, because this is one secret best left secretive. Too bad.
THE GOOD: The musical score by itself isn't so bad, there are a couple of good musical scenes, and okay voice-acting.
THE BAD: Awful and nonsensical plot, no character development, bad dialogue, most musical scenes are awful, sub-par animation, annoying voice-acting, and it tries to be action-packed."