If you are a die-hard fan of the Nickelodeon television show Hey Arnold!, you will enjoy this feature length film. If you enjoy the show and don't feel the need to pay to see a 90-minute episode, you can wait for it to be broadcast.

The story treads no new ground here. Borrowing scenes straight from such popular films such as "Men in Black", "Speed", and even "Scooby-Doo", Hey Arnold! The Movie revolves around a greedy developer who is about to tear down Arnold's neighborhood to build a shopping mall ("in the name of progress"). The neighborhood, of course, feels differently, but Arnold is the only one with the optimism to believe that he can fight the power, and stop the developer from destroying their homes, and the history that goes with them. Armed with the knowledge that their neighborhood may have once been declared a historical landmark, Arnold and friends set out to stop the construction.

The characters from the show are all in the film, but for some reason, the humor is not. Jokes aimed at the kids often went unnoticed, and those aimed at the adults seemed forced and dated. Is it funny that 'vanishing cream' could be used to hide a building? Do kids even know what 'vanishing cream' is? Unfortunately, there was more grimacing than grinning here.

Overall, this film should have never been released in the theater. The animation is drawn exactly as it is for the television show, and transfers poorly to the big screen. When trying to make something grand, Hey Arnold! falls flat.