REVIEW: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE “THUNDERCONE”

Episode Synopsis:2 Episode Series Premiere on SUN Jan. 15 at 8:30/7:30c and 9:30/8:30c, on FOX! The series premiere of an animated take on the absurdist 2004 live-action movie about an Idaho high-school über-nerd, his geeky brother, Kip, and their biker grandmother. In the opener, Napoleon’s FDA-unapproved acne cream makes him impervious to pain. Soon he’s featured in the main event at the local underground fight club. Meanwhile, Kip begins dating a girl (voice of Amy Poehler) whose taste in boys usually runs from bad to very bad. The movie cast returns as the series’ voice cast. Original Air Date: Jan 15, 2012

Spoilers Below

Ahh yes…the Dynamites and their chicken, but as most people know greasy chicken to the face means a zit attack for Napoleon. As a possible cure Nap, finds a sort of ointment if you will to help clear his acne, however it has a side effect as it causes Napoleon to go in a sort of rage mode while in school impressing the football coach enough to ask him to join an underground fight club called the PPC ran by the man himself Rex of Rex Kwan Do fan. Its here where Napoleon has to pass through a number of different tests to get to the top of the Thundercone!

Kip meets a new girl online but she only likes him for his sprayed on abs. And hes a winner too, first he takes the girl named Misty to a Chuck E. Cheese type place, and then takes her home only for her to catch the rigorous workout of Napoleon getting ready for his fight. Impressed by his hot bod, Misty trades up which causes Kip to go to war to get the only woman he ever loved…back!

So here’s the good news. If you were a fan of the film Napoleon Dynamite you will like this show, all the characters are back and they are just as wacky as ever. However there are some differences, for one the characters and scene cuts are more uptempo then that of the movie. This might estrange some who are looking for a faithful adaptation. But, I actually like changes and it definitely helped brighten up the setting for Napoleon and his friends. I’ve read other reviews of this show and some were WAY off in comparing this show to Beavis and Butthead, The Simpsons, and Family Guy none of which fits an accurate description of this show. I saw elsewhere a comparison to King of the Hill or a The Goode Family which I thought were closer options, but the former had more to with a range of adult themes, where as Napoleon had more to do with being a kid in school. Which is great, but Napoleon still has a lot of growing up to do before it can reach the class of Hank Hill both as a lead character AND as a show. To be honest I think FOX misses ol’ Hank, and this rotating door of new programs to go along with mainstays Family Guy and the Simpsons is getting difficult to gauge a good mix and match of the different shows. Allen couldn’t do it, Bob’s Burgers maybe, and Napoleon? Maybe MTV would’ve been the better fit.

(7.0 out of 10)