KIM POSSIBLE (2019)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*

The KIM POSSIBLE series was one of the better Disney Channel offerings of the early 2000s. Like most teleserials, the show had its moments of repetitiveness or lame humor. But its simple mission-- to portray a female super-agent as an indicator of "possibilities" for young girls-- was handled with a light touch, in contradistinction to the "toxic femininity" movies of Marvel's Phase Four and onward.

The script for the 2019 movie, co-written by the cartoon's creators and one other writer, zeros in on the fantasy behind Kim Possible, that of "the overachieving high school student." With her goofy partner Ron Stoppable, non-animated Kim (Sadie Stanley) starts out the film by saving a captive scientist from the evil Professor Dementor, and still having plenty of energy to go out for cheerleading the next day. Kim and Ron even find time to take pity on a poor, friendless student named Athena (Ciara Riley Wilson). They show Athena how to come out of her shell and be more assertive, like Kim. The only trouble is, Athena learns her lessons too well. Soon she's eclipsed Kim as the Alpha Female at the high school, and even faithful Ron remarks that she's "out-Kimmed Kim."

It's a devious plot, of course. Possible's favorite fiends, the goofy Doctor Drakken and his acerbic henchwoman Shego (Todd Stashwick, Taylor Ortega) created Athena, a robot able to duplicate Kim's feats so as to undermine the super-agent's confidence. The diabolical duo lure Kim, Ron, and their helpers (Kim's mom and grandmom, both of whom are also ass-kickers) to their sanctuary, where they reveal Athena's nature. With customary nonsense-science, Drakken plans to use a machine to drain off Kim's confidence to make himself a superman, or something. Further, the process of transferring this emotional state from Athena, his go-between, will destroy the young girl robot-- unless Kim, Ron, and Kim's toughgirl relatives can stop the evildoers.

For a Disney TV movie, production values are very good, and the fight-scenes are well-handled both in terms of action and comic timing. I could have done without Ron Stoppable coming across his wacky pet from the cartoon show. Why does the comedy relief need another comedy relief? But the histrionics that result when Kim gets depressed at not being the Number One Worldsaver, and then critiques herself for her unseemly ego, are much better than I would have expected. Stashwick and Ortega get across the same constant backbiting relationship seen in the animated versions of Drakken and Shego, and I give the flick extra points for casting BUFFY's Alyson Hannigan as Kim Possible's live-action mother.    

Though Dementor doesn't share any scenes with Drakken and Shego, I rate the movie as a crossover just for having two independent "villainy-generators" in the narrative.