The Powerpuff Girls Movie

I, for one, loved the movie. There was enough action, humor and fun to make this a movie well worth paying for. The animation is simplistic, yet very cool and there are movie references galore. Quick warning for parents: One of the girls utters the word "damn." There's also some violence, so this isn't for real little children (under age 7). But if you can read this review, you're old enough to see it. PS-If you hate the show, don't bother. It's great, but it doesn't stray from the teevee show.

****Excellent

***Good

**Fair

*Poor

As a recurrent viewer of the Powerpuff Girls cartoon series I was a bit hyped to catch this film. The film is a prequel to the cartoon series and it is meant to explain how everything came about. However, the Professor isn't developed to the maximum. The film begins with his character and quickly explains how he is fed up with society and wants to create his `own' perfect race.

With sugar, spice, everything nice, and Chemical X he not only created the crime fighting perfect little girls (Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup) but he created the evil Mojo Jojo as well.

Mojo Jojo is perhaps the best part of the Powerpuff universe. It's great how his character is also suffering the same things as the heroes and he takes advantage of the situation to battle his own demons.

Like the cartoon series the film is full of action, charm, and a lot of social and pop culture satire. It's fun for the whole family.

RATING: 3 STARS

The animation is so fast-paced it's actually like the staff is hyper-high on...well, sugar and spice. And the way the Girls fly around SO FAST it makes you think of those mini-M&Ms you see on TV commercials that are out for trouble and mischief-making. Just like tiny, tiny little elves with BIGGG eyes that can drive any adult hopping crazy and desperately reaching for aspirins!

At least that's how someone outside the PPG fandom sees this movie...if he or she doesn't get too giddy from all the startling, dizzying sequences first, that is. But like the kindergarten-going superheroines themselves, the movie itself can be far "more than meets the eye". So, it carries a pretty interesting story that reveals the very origin and birth of Townsville's littlest crimefighters and of course, it's not a pretty sight to behold. Still in their infancy, the alien-like Girls suddenly lose their scientist-parent (who's a real mouth-watering hunk!) and thus are doomed to wander the dark, lonely streets as everyone detest their very existence. And then a homeless lab monkey with distended brains picks the wee tots up and gets them to join forces with him to DO EVIL IN THE WORLD! No wonder so many parents are spooked away from this pretty bizarre film in the first place!

The use of many different kinds of monkeys (with distended brains, of course!) as a part of evil force is a very interesting concept indeed and some CGI effects are fascinating to witness, like a whole army of gigantic monkey robots ravaging the innocent little city of Townsville. And the graphics aren't so bad, either. But whewww...what a ride!

So this curious little movie is best made for those who like the world's oddest-looking female toddlers with eyes the size of moons and the weird, strange little world that they inhabit...for whatever reason, that is.

The success of "The Rugrats Movie" inspired a whole host of animated TV shows to hit the big screen, but none of their movies - apart from the first "Rugrats" sequel - have had anything like the same popularity (don't bet on a sequel to "Hey Arnold! The Movie" turning up any time ever). The Cartoon Network's first movie "The Powerpuff Girls" does deserve credit for ambition; this is an origins movie (and unlike some movies based on TV shows, this does feel like a proper movie) and it's not afraid to be serious. In fact, that's the biggest problem with the tale - for a lot of the time it's almost too serious to be as much fun as its source.

As explained on one TV episode (and here - score points for continuity), Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were invented when Professor Utonium's chimp assistant pushed him while he was blending sugar, spice and everything nice, and caused him to accidentally add an extra ingredient to the concoction... Chemical X. Here we learn that their superpowers did more harm than good at first, which said chimp turned to his advantage. The movie assumes enough familiarity with the series so you'll know that the Professor threw the chimp out after the Girls were born, and that chimp (also affected in the explosion) was Mojo Jojo, who hogs the screen here as well - the show's other recurring villains either have walk-ons (notably the Gangrene Gang) or don't appear (Him is particularly missed).

The low point is, sad to say, from the Powerpuffs themselves; not their characters, but the scene where they play the most destructive game of tag in history (it does set up a reason for the crime-ravaged city of Townsville to hate them, but it also goes on far, far longer than necessary). And as said before, a lot of the fun and energy of the source is lost here (as is, apart from the opening and closing scenes, the narrator) - but the design is still great, the action speedy, we're spared songs (except for the end credits) and when the movie gets its act together it's as inventive as the source at its best (it can't resist making pop culture references to the likes of "Planet of the Apes" and other simian jokes, but at least they're good ones). So it's hardly a pain to watch, but being a fan is a prerequisite. And happily, I remain one. Plus it's infinitely better than the "Dexter's Laboratory" short that precedes it.

Oh yeah, they rock hard.

Whoo! Talk about the noisiest roller coaster ride you can watch right now! The Powerpuff Girls is 90 minutes of bright neon fun, and it is definitely worth a look, but be warned: some kids and adults may find that the experience is too loud or taxing. I think the creators of the film just didn't know when to quit at some points, throwing a thousand images at the screen in succession for over half a minute until my eyes were just watering. Like when the monkeys are screaming, "I!" "I!" "I!" at the screen one right after the other, or when the Girls are punching everything in sight. After a while, it gets tiresome. If you can take the ride, however, it's a hoot and a holler. There are some groovy action sequences (like the destructive game of tag), great jokes for the kids, adults, and movie-buffs (Jay and Silent Bob are there, man, just look for them!), and some amazing animation. More humor would have been welcome, however, since the Mayor doesn't get a lot of screen time and the Narrator, who's always good for a laugh, only talks at the opening and closing of the movie. Also, we don't get nearly enough of the Girls just by themselves, in moments where the audience can have some down time and just connect with the characters before moving on to the next action sequence. Despite these flaws, PPG is still a must-see flick for those who can bear down and take the pulse-pounding imagery (seriously, Grampa may have a seizure with this one). 3 out of 4 stars.