I am a big fan of the Hey Arnold television series as it's one of Nickelodeon's best shows putting SpongeBob aside in my opinion. Hey Arnold: The Movie is mostly a decent film, although it definitely has some flaws and missed opportunities. As The Jungle Movie was originally meant to get a theatrical release, we got this in theaters instead.
The storyline of the film is actually not that bad, it's actually exciting to see Arnold as well as Gerald and Helga to save the neighborhood. It still has a lot of humor and heart just like the television series and doesn't feel too much like an extended episode of the show. The only problems is that the pacing can be quite slow occasionally as the runtime is stretched to the hour and sixteen minute mark and there could've been more scenes that gave the plot a more intense tone.
Many of the characters from the series are in the movie and quite a few get a good amount of laughs and screentime, although many of Arnold's friends specifically aren't in the film that much as they're reduced to minor roles or some only being one-shot. It also doesn't help that we never get to see P. S. 118 in this film which could've given Arnold's gang more screentime like everyone else. Helga however does have some character development in this film as she tries to help Arnold in disguise to save the neighborhood instead of bullying him so much, and Arnold's grandparents have some of the best parts in this movie humorously. Arnold himself is even proven to be a great person who eventually goes through the disbelief of saving the neighborhood after feeling the loss of his confidence. The villain Scheck is okay at best, he can be underwhelming for a movie villain but he does have an intimidating side as he even tries to attempt murder failing to run over Arnold and Gerald. I'm also glad they kept all the voice actors from the show while including a few big time stars for the movie characters as well.
The animation isn't that much better than the television series. Some of the characters have a smooth shading effect and the backgrounds do look a bit bigger and prettier, but other than that it looks like the animators could've put more into a theatrical style if they had a bigger budget.
Overall it's not a great film, but it's still enjoyable if you're a fan of the show and just want to see a movie-length adventure with all your favorite characters in their setting. It has flaws and does arguably feel like it should've been a TV movie, but if you put that aside it can still be a fun experience that captures what made the television series so great.
The storyline of the film is actually not that bad, it's actually exciting to see Arnold as well as Gerald and Helga to save the neighborhood. It still has a lot of humor and heart just like the television series and doesn't feel too much like an extended episode of the show. The only problems is that the pacing can be quite slow occasionally as the runtime is stretched to the hour and sixteen minute mark and there could've been more scenes that gave the plot a more intense tone.
Many of the characters from the series are in the movie and quite a few get a good amount of laughs and screentime, although many of Arnold's friends specifically aren't in the film that much as they're reduced to minor roles or some only being one-shot. It also doesn't help that we never get to see P. S. 118 in this film which could've given Arnold's gang more screentime like everyone else. Helga however does have some character development in this film as she tries to help Arnold in disguise to save the neighborhood instead of bullying him so much, and Arnold's grandparents have some of the best parts in this movie humorously. Arnold himself is even proven to be a great person who eventually goes through the disbelief of saving the neighborhood after feeling the loss of his confidence. The villain Scheck is okay at best, he can be underwhelming for a movie villain but he does have an intimidating side as he even tries to attempt murder failing to run over Arnold and Gerald. I'm also glad they kept all the voice actors from the show while including a few big time stars for the movie characters as well.
The animation isn't that much better than the television series. Some of the characters have a smooth shading effect and the backgrounds do look a bit bigger and prettier, but other than that it looks like the animators could've put more into a theatrical style if they had a bigger budget.
Overall it's not a great film, but it's still enjoyable if you're a fan of the show and just want to see a movie-length adventure with all your favorite characters in their setting. It has flaws and does arguably feel like it should've been a TV movie, but if you put that aside it can still be a fun experience that captures what made the television series so great.