Dude, you made good points...the show became mean-spirited and even turned the nicest characters (Jimmy and sometimes Edd) into jerks overnight, and it'll help if you marked spoilers for the Big Picture Show.
As much as I usually hate the use of this excuse, I think you're taking this show waaaaaaay too seriously. You seem like the kind of person who would analyze Looney Tunes and call it horribly mean-spirited. Ed, Edd n Eddy is meant to be a lighthearted, strange, off-color slapstick cartoon, not a sitcom mostly grounded in reality that ends up being really mean-spirited. Rule Of Funny and The Law Of Disproportionate Response are the order of the day and, like in Looney Tunes, the main characters getting the crap beaten out of them for seemingly trivial reasons is part of the joke. Whether or not you find it funny is based on how seriously you take the show.
As for the climax seeming rushed and a weird switch of tone... I think that was supposed to be the point. Part of the joke, even; the kids spend the entire movie, not to mention the entire series, hating the poor Eds, and then all of a sudden they love them because Eddy's brother did what they did to the Eds the whole series? That's totally illogical when you think about it... and pretty funny, honestly. It highlights the amusing hypocrisies in our society.
...Dammit, now even I'm getting philosophical.
The main reason Eddy's Big Brother beating up Eddy is treated differently is because Eddy's Brother is an ADULT. This guy is in his late teens to early twenties and he's beating up on Eddy who is maybe half his size. Compared to that, a bunch of kids getting into a scrap isn't anywhere near as serious.
As a "retired" fan (the show was cancelled and I stopped being involved in the video games), I guess I can say The Movie was good enough, and was satisfying in my book (although it felt not as good as it could have been), but your review did point out some very good flaws. But I still like it, though, if only because it answered a lingering question: who is Eddy's brother, and what does he look like?
Who could have known? Eddy's brother went from being an offhand reference in one episode (I forgot which one) to a plot point of the small-screen film. Kind of a large jump for a character who was only ever mentioned (and even then sparingly), but I was fine. However, I was a little disappointed that a person elevated to Memetic Badass levels of cool and awesomeness turned out to be a huge jerk.
There was an episode that gave hints about Eddy's brother. When Eddy spreads a rumor that his brother his coming, Kevin and Rolf are absolutely terrified at the prospect. Then, when Eddy is tricked into thinking his brother really did come, he grovels and doesn't find it unusual when his "brother" threatens to beat him up.
More subtly, an earlier episode had Eddy's brother send Eddy a package of baby items. Maybe there were other hints I forgot. The point is, his portrayal did not come out of nowhere.
"What's out there? What's waiting for me?"
^ Put that on the Firdge Brilliance page if you can. That's an awesome observation.
I didn't care too much for the show - some episodes I still like today, others I can't stand watching because they're either just too mean or derail characters pretty wildly - but I really liked the movie, although I acknowledge that it pretty much stomps of the closest thing the show had to consistency in the characters. Could even be part of why I like it so much. Also, for better or worse, Eddy's brother was, erm, one hell of a character.
I want to believe that Eddy's Brother's abuse towards Eddy is meant to be a way of showing that while kids can be cruel, adults can be even worse.
I loved this show when I was a kid, and I still think several episodes hold up well today. However, I agree that at times, the show became way too mean-spirited and uncomfortable. When the Eds were getting their comeuppance for ripping off the other kids, the punishments they received were funny. But I remember many episodes where they were given cruel punishments out of nowhere, and the stuff with the Kankers was always disturbing and wrong. I stopped watching the show (and kids shows in general) when I reached teenagehood but I've occasionally re-watched my favourites on YouTube.
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Slightly disappoint-ed
After a few years of break I rewatched a couple episodes. How do I feel?
On one hand they've managed to make a realistic (by cartoon standards of course), long-running series. The slapstick and amusing, the characters are likable (most of the time), but...
Kankers. Good God, Kankers. No depths, little redeeming qualities, one unfunny schtick (if you think offscreen molesting and desperate pleas for mercy are funny, please contact the nearest mental ward), appearing only to make the protagonists' life more miserable. Eddy's brother got more character development in five minutes than they got in five seasons!
Some of the episodes exist solely to utterly humiliate the main characters. The Eds ain't saints of course (especially Eddy, who became a cowardly jerkass in later seasons), but after you see Eddy and Edd getting beaten because Ed alone went mad, you simply stop caring. Idiot Ball and Jerkass Ball are held tight as long as it will make Eds look more pathetic (case in point: the Halloween special).
Ed Edd N Eddys Big Picture Show made an attempt to fix what ailed, but why couldn't the writers do so in the series? Okay, I'm glad Eds earned their happy ending and Kankers evolved beyond Diabolus Ex Machina: The Trio, but the whole climax seems a bit rushed. Because reviews don't allow spoiler tags: suddenly the show starts treating Domestic Abuse seriously. Really?! The main characters were beaten, blackmailed, molested, framed, and generally treated like shit during the show's run, and no one in-universe gave a damn. Also, how much time did the kids need to became BFFs with Eds? Five minutes. It was enough to switch from "KILL 'EM!" to "LEAVE OUR FRIENDS ALONE!". *Head Desk*
But, all in all, it stands quite well. As long as the writers weren't lazy, it's still fun to watch. The concept as a whole wasn't bad, though it sometimes got poorly executed. The show got a happy ending, but fans demand a spinoff. If they'll find a competent writer and remove all the flaws mentioned above, it'd be a huge success.