Jett Jackson: The Movie, on Disney Channel
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Caution: spoilers
This first aired in 2001, and I'm sure I saw it around that time. It concluded the TV series The Famous Jett Jackson, though I guess a couple of episodes did air after the movie (but were set before it, I'm pretty sure). I'm reviewing the movie in 2025 as part of my Summer of DCOMs. I definitely found it more fun than I did the series, but it also made me kind of wish I could re-watch the series, which I feel it's possible I might like a bit more, now. Then again, maybe not. Anyway, this movie has a sort of silly sci-fi premise to it, completely unlike the series itself. But that's what makes it fun.
To recap the series, there's a teenager named Jett Jackson, who stars in a TV series about a super spy called Silverstone. He has a couple of best friends, J.B. and Kayla, and in this movie, he makes a sort-of date to hang out with Kayla at the upcoming prom. Unfortunately, filming of his show runs late, and he misses the prom, which upsets Kayla. (Though she doesn't really stay upset for long, which seemed a bit weird to me.) Partly because of this, and missing out on lots of other kid stuff, as well as being tired all the time, Jett considers quitting the show, right when his agent brings him news that the network wants to renew it for three years. This makes a lot of people in town angry, because a lot of local jobs depended on the show being filmed there. At the same time, on the show, Silverstone wants to take a break from his work as a spy, despite there being a new threat to the world that he and his partner Hawk are supposed to try to stop.
Then one day, a prop on the show malfunctions, and ends up causing Jett and Silverstone to switch places in each other's worlds. Jett is shocked to find that everything on the show is real, and at first he thinks his costars are playing a joke on him. But of course they're actually the characters from his show, Artemus and Hawk, and they're concerned that "Silverstone" thinks he's someone else. Meanwhile, Silverstone is similarly surprised to find himself in the real world, but he enjoys having friends and family for the first time in his life, and ends up wanting to stay there. But back in the world of the show, the heroes have to try to thwart the evil plans of a villain named Dr. Kragg (Michael Ironside), which naturally isn't as easy for Jett as it would be for Silverstone. Eventually, when reading a script for what would be the show's finale, Silverstone realizes Jett would be walking into a trap, so he returns to his world through the prop archway, and sends Jett back home. But when Jett reads that Silverstone is going to be killed off, he returns to Silverstone's world to help him defeat Dr. Kragg, and rescue Hawk and Artemus. Then Jett returns to his own world, having learned to appreciate what he had. And he decides to continue acting on the show, much to the town's relief. Silverstone had also learned to appreciate his own life, and not keep holding Artemus and Hawk at a distance, as he always had before.
Well... there, I've said too much. But it really was a fun movie, I can't stress that enough. Absolutely ridiculous in some ways, especially the reason for the prop becoming a real gateway between worlds. But there's plenty of both humor and personal drama. And I think it was a pretty good way to end the series. And Kragg was a fairly cool villain, with a genuinely disturbing scheme. He also had a sort of knife that could cut portals between dimensions, which reminded me of The Subtle Knife. So that was cool, too. And I guess I don't really know what else to say, except that I'm really glad I finally re-watched the movie. And it's something I probably wouldn't mind watching again, someday. (It's a shame it's not on Disney+ or DVD.)