The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002)

I'm actually a fan of the Powerpuff Girls because my daughters watch the cartoon in the morning on the kitchen TV while I cook breakfast. It's funny and entertaining. The movie was neither. It was dark, mean, and very boring. I was disappointed in this movie (but I'll never tell my kids).

Fmovies: "The PowerPuff Girls" {Movie} should have gone straight to video. The animation does not work well on the big screen. There are some attempts to involve adults but this film is just for small children and not that great for them. GRADE = "C"

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 Powerpuff Girls Movie fmovies. Well, I can't say I was not entertained! But the endless repetitions of everything made the movie a bit tedious at times.

Genius to see all the different creatures they've created for this movie. And thankfully, the PPG's haven't been made into family friendly puppets in the movie.. they can still kick ass and even kill.. which they certainly do..!

What has been done to strengthen the PPG's as a movie:

Far too many puns and playoffs of movie classics and far too many tedious repetitions, as mentioned. Many things for some reason happen in rhythm and sequence as they would in a musical, this is also cool sometimes in the series, but only in small portions at a time. None of these elements add too much positive stuff to the movie.

In addition to special effects and an avalanche of cool characters (which are both good stuff), this is what has been done. They also seem to have changed the mayor's voice and behaviour somewhat - he's not really that funny in the movie.

If the entire movie was going to be set in Townsville (except a small scene on an asteroid), it might've been better to play off the misc. genius characters from the movie, Fuzzy Lumpkins, Him, etc..

And/or take the girls on a voyage/trial (underwater? space?) that would give us a different setting than (misc tall grey concrete buildings) in faceless Townsville (which we've seen so much from already).

Boring, unchanging setting, some annoying bad elements, annoyingly different mayor character - BUT - some phat effects, fun story, exiting graphics and interesting characters. Ah well! 7/10

Sugar, spice, and everything nice: that's what little girls are made of. Add in a dose of Chemical X and you've got the Powerpuff Girls, a trio of crime-fighting tots with some freaky-cool super powers and huge bug eyes. They're also really, really cute. Like, painfully cute. Sickeningly cute. But they're also tough. Kick-ass tough. 450-lightning-fast-punches-per-second tough.

Actually, that's a fairly apt description of the Powerpuff Girls series itself, one of the many jewels in Cartoon Network's crown. Created by Craig McCracken in 1998, the show has equal doses of humor, heart, razor-sharp comic timing, kicky visuals, and good old-fashioned anime-style butt kicking. It's this potent mix that makes The Powerpuff Girls such a riot, and the same applies to the movie. Released in 2002 to a rather pithy box office take (read: bomb), The Powerpuff Girls Movie is nonetheless a great way to kill 80 minutes.

In case you're new to the whole PPG phenomenon (and it is indeed a phenomenon, now a multi-million dollar industry spawning every conceivable form of merchandise from keychains to breakfast cereals), the story goes like this: Professor Utonium set out to create three perfect little girls by mixing the above ingredients. However, he accidentally spilled some of the mysterious Chemical X into the mix, and the Powerpuff Girls resulted. These little tots can fly, run at amazing speeds, shoot laser beams out of their eyes, and even talk to squirrels (well, one of them can). Unfortunately, during their first day at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten in the city of Townsville, they get into a, shall we say, "rough" game of tag. Much property damage ensues as the girls fly around, smash into buildings, tear up the roads, and just generally trash the whole town with their super-powered shenanigans. No one in Townsville is impressed, the girls are labeled "freaks" and become social outcasts, and they soon end up wandering the streets of Townsville on their own. Hope arrives in the form of a mutant monkey named Mojo JoJo, but unfortunately, Mr. JoJo is not all that he seems....

The series' trademark visual style is here in full force, and with some slick CGI added to the mix in certain scenes. The colors are bright, the animation is simple and effective, and the action is as fast and furious as ever (if you thought Pokemon was seizure-inducing, get a load of THIS stuff). The plot is fast-paced and funny, with some hilarious pop-culture references that may require a second viewing to fully register (let's just say that Bill Maher and Van Halen are involved, not to mention King Kong) . The last 20 minutes of the film are delightfully chaotic (so....many....monkeys), and the whole production oozes cleverness and fun. The creators set out to make the best possible movie they could, and they've passed with flying colors.

The DVD includes some great extras, including "character interviews", director commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and even the Dexter's Laboratory short "Chicken Scratch", shown in theatres with the movie. Overall, it's a great rental, and an even better buy if you're a fan. Either way, check it out. It's by no means an animation breakthrough, but The Powerpuff Girls Movie is a blast from start to finish, and that's good enough for me.

My Grade: 8/10

This movie rocks... so hard.

Not in a teenage boy "XXX" kinda way, or in a preteen girl "Barbie" and/or *NSync kind way... but in a Cinematic, Fun Time at the Movies kinda way.

The cartoon is cute enough, and the writing is always sharp, with little in-jokes or puns thrown in... but how often do grown-ups watch Cartoon Network, anyway? (not often enough, I tell you!)

The film is storyboarded within an inch of its life... each little dramatic beat during the opening credits and up to the girls first day of school is hysterical. Things start to lag again once Mojo Jojo is thrown into the mix, however...

Jojo's trademark repetitive speech seems to have been toned down a bit, unfortunately, as he only occasionally breaks into those spiral Yoda-on-drugs monologues that are so fun to listen to. ("I will now speak the words that I must be speaking to you, for these are the words I will speak until they are spoken..." or whatever).

This is a minor complaint. The girls have to have an arch-nemesis, and to throw Mojo Jojo into the mix (voice of Roger L. Jackson-- a genius) is the best possible choice, like when Batman fought the Joker in the original Tim Burton classic. All other villains pale by comparison.

"PPG" doesn't talk down to kids, nor does it make adults feel like they've wasted their time sitting through this-- like just about every Disney film has that I've seen in the last 2 years. Too bad it didn't get marketed like a real movie.... many people are missing a real treat.

Here's hoping the girls never grow up.... but if they do, I hope I marry one like Buttercup. She kicks butt.

10/10