The kids of the Third Street School make their big screen debut in what is frankly a disappointing waste of time. TJ (Lawrence) and the gang fight to save their school from the evil former principal, Dr. Benedict (Woods), who has opted their school as the hatching ground for some nonsensical plot involving secret weapons and the overall abolishing of not only recess, but all school holidays. Bummer!
Both of the series developers, Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, previously worked on Rugrats, but Recess shows little of the wit or imagination of that show. Even the often wonderful Dabney Coleman is ill-served in his role as Principal Prickly (although James Woods chews whatever scenery is available in the shoddy-looking animation). A perfect excuse to watch television instead.