1st watched 7/5/2002 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Craig McCracken): Different and interesting animated movie based on the cult-like girl-followed popular television show on the cartoon network. The movie is the story of how they came to be and how they decided to fight crime and evil in Townsville after their first harmless kindergarten game of tag destroyed the town. There is a good message behind this silly superhero story despite the much-publicized violent content. Yes, there is violent content and the evil that they face is `very' evil, but you can't help but love the well-intentioned `Professor' trying to be a parent to these over-achiever kindergartner's and his attempt to make them good little girls made of sugar, and spice and everything nice despite their super-human strengh. Bravo for this very un-Disney like entry by the Cartoon Network!!
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TheLittleSongbird14 July 2011I love the TV show, so naturally I wanted to see this movie. And I really enjoyed it, perhaps it is a little short and one or two parts are repetitive, but as a standalone and as a movie to compliment the series it succeeds wonderfully. The animation is excellent, keeping to the style of the show while adding some promising CGI to it too. The music is energetic and kitsch, the dialogue is hilarious and has a lot of wit and the story with its fast paced kick-ass action and wonderfully chaotic finale is enormously entertaining, it actually felt more than an extended TV episode. The characters are as infectious as ever, the Powerpuff Girls are still cute and Mojo Jojo is a welcome presence, while the voice work is top notch. All in all, great fun and worthy. 8/10 Bethany Cox
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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 -
perni8 July 2002Whoo! 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.
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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 -
ryanperez-19999 December 2018The Powerpuff Girls Movie is an amazing thrill ride for the fans of the show and to anybody who wants to watch a great movie. It's disappointing that the movie wasn't a huge box office hit but it deserves a lot of money. Like $400 million. It's a movie that needs to be rewatched and deserves a big box office.
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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.
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Animany9413 December 2018It was nice to see the beloved TV-series transfer to the big screen which shows in the animation with some well executed 3-D effects added to some elements. We get some good uses of angles and different colours to set the mood for every scene to underline what the film makers were trying to convey. One of the best examples of that was when the girls walk through Townsville alone while it rains. There we feel how lost they are.
But after that praise, I must confess that I still think the story could have been handled better to make it bigger and more engaging.
To sum up the story: it's an origin story of the three girls and one of their most memorable enemies from the series, Mojo Jojo. While I think the final product is good about the girls themselves, I also think it's lacking on Mojo's side, because we only briefly see him in the beginning of the movie living with the Professor before he leaves unfurl his plan. Why did he live with the Professor? How was their relationship? That could have added so much to his character and may have made him more sympathetic and fleshed out.
A few others of the recurring characters from the series make cameos, and for those who know of the series it will bring a smile to their faces, but since its all about the girls the others become rather one-dimensional and leave little to no impact.
What we got was good, but could have been so much more. If you're a PPG fan it's serviceable, but those who are not may find it less interesting. -
Quicksand1 March 2003This 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 -
Almo!15 February 2004ramble
Really neato animation and art direction. Clever bits, like the "News Flash" logo on TV was the one from Sesame Street! I laughed really hard sometimes...
It unfortunately didn't keep its momentum after the first 15 min (when the plot becomes important), but it's only an hour film. I did enjoy the film overall though.
Relatively hard techno music in a kid's film is interesting...
ramble> Recommended if you like the series, or if you're interested in seeing a seriously different animation style. -
gregorykmitchell8 July 2002This ain't no "Meet The Beat-Alls".
Where are ridiculously funny and parodic characters like Lucky Captain Rabbit King when you need them?
Making MoJo JoJo the antagonist-focus of the film seemed like a good idea to me . . .until I saw how humorless and toothless he is in this flick. Where was MoJo's over-the-top hyperbole and his signature ineffective rage?
Also, I question how necessary an "origin of..." type of movie is with a popular brand that's been available to us for more than a couple of years now (and with several volumes of home video releases). They certainly didn't expand upon or improve the story for fans already familiar with the Girls.
The various incarnations of evil monkeys was great, though - a brief moment of what this flick could and should have been.
P.S. - Warning: even the Dexter's Lab short is strangely alien. It seems like they spent a lot of time cleaning up the animation and making it flashy, but for naught; this was the ugliest "episode" of Dexter I've ever seen. Even the voice talent seemed to be on loan - Dee Dee sounded more like Chrissy from Three's Company, and Dexter sounded as irritatingly unlike himself as Mel Blanc's weak successors in recent Looney Tunes projects. What gives? -
pmcollectorboy4 July 2002Amidst a year of big eye candy live action movies that will make a ton of money and lame teen comedies that everybody but me seems to find funny, a movie like The Powerpuff Girls isn't likely to stand out. However, this fresh little charmer should be given more than just a fair shot. Sour disappointments like Attack of the Clones and Undercover Brother pale in comparison in many themes and elements to this bouncy, giddy movie.
Last year was a very good year for computer generated animated movies. For me, though, only Shrek wowed me. Monsters, Inc. was a good if fluffy entry from Pixar. Ice Age was also amusing but left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. And I don't even want to know about Final Fantasy. This year, it seems that low budget traditionally animated movie reign supreme. Two appear to be duds. Hey Arnold the Movie looks like very cheap, rank garbage. I'll reserve judgement on Spirit, but needless to say I won't be rushing out to see it until it's available for rent at a video store. Then along came Lilo and Stitch, and I was overjoyed. Never before have I felt so alive watching an animated movie. Now add this movie to the "good" pile. It's not Lilo and Stitch, but anybody who thinks that it's trying to be needs to have their brain re-wired.
Granted, you need to be a fan of the series to enjoy the movie. Or at the very least, you have to be open-minded and willing to check out what all the fuss is about. No doubt many critics will pick at the movie's "cheap animation". If you're looking for Disney style brilliance, watch another movie. The Powerpuff Girls has its own brand of style that I still find to be superior to flatly drawn, pandering animated movies like much of Don Bluth and fare like Ferngully. Unlike all of the other cartoons-turned-big-screen movies, The Powerpuff Girls is actually fun to look at. Many scenes are positively magical, some where the animation becomes more fluid than usual to suit the need, others that are a dizzying array of exciting camera angles and colors. In fact this movie is so hyperactive, you'll either go "WOW!" or "What?"
The scripting is a hundred times more well thought out than any of its "cartoon based movies" counterparts that came before, whether it's Transformers, Pokemon, or Winnie the Pooh with The Tigger Movie. The Powerpuff Girls is smooth and clean and never overstays its welcome. There are no cliches, no plot points that seem weird, no sudden changes in pacing and direction that plague many animated and live action movies. The characters are oddly endearing, and there are many moments of warmth and just feeling good. The relationship between the professor and the girls is strangely touching. Other moments are genuinely shocking, heartbreaking, and dramatic in a light kind of way. The climax is suitably ridiculous, with bad puns galore, but there is no shortage of excitement. There is also a running gag in this movie that is quite unexpected. Yet ultimately what makes this movie shine is what's buried beneath this cream puff movie, a message about accepting the gifts that make one special and unique as well as the importance of showing love to those that are shunned and deemed "freaks".
Fans of the series will notice that this movie is not as zany as most of the series' episodes or many of Disney's movies. Yet The Powerpuff Girls was a welcome surprise that I was initially wary of. It is a fresh, light-hearted, bouncy break from the mess that is 2002 and is quite the refreshing change from modern Disney. Go ahead and see Men in Black 2 if you want, but I, personally, would wait until Two Towers came out and skip everything else in favor of Lilo and Stitch and this movie. No, The Powerpuff Girls isn't going to floor you. But if Lilo and Stitch is this year's filet mignon, then The Powerpuff Girls is this year's peanut butter and jelly sandwich--simple, sometimes hard to swallow, but ultimately delicious. -
Quinoa19847 July 2002One of the pleasures of going to the movies for me in the 90's was seeing the television shows Beavis and Butt-head and South Park turned into hilarious and thought provoking films for almost anyone (I'd say kids under the age of 9 shouldn't see either). Now in this new millenium we have two movies in just a couple of weeks time span that show what's in store for the rest of us in this decade, the first was Hey Arnold from Nick (later on they also have another Nicktoon Wild Thornberries which I'll wait on to punce, er, review) and this from Cartoon Network. And while I understand that Powerpuff Girls and Hey Arnold are in a different class of characters than that of Beavise and Cartman, I can see the cloud about to pour torrential rain on the animated world that lies outside the realm of Disney.
Powerpuff Girls is a television show that has three hoped up little girls flying around, using their magical powers to uninteltionally destroy and also help out the people of Townsville where there are also a group of monkeys and apes with huge brains sticking out of their heads (led by Mojo Jojo) who are the girls' adversaries. This basic concept is brought forth in this movie where there aren't much sparks of originality, and while I chuckled a few times I was never really impressed, at all, from beginning to end it seemed like a dumb romp. Yet, I know you parents with little girls and other kids might want to take them since this movie is for them and does work on several levels for them, so I reccomend it on that basis. My own personal status was that it kept my attention but it certainly wasn't worth my time. C- -
trvolk5 August 2002The 'mandatory' origin of the girls is WAY too long and uneventful. They should have compressed the first 45 minutes into the first 10. As it is, the movie is like one long diluted episode with all the gore and violence tamed down for a wider audience. Wait for the video and rent it, as this fan has no intention of watching it again.
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Tsubahi10 July 2003The 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. -
KUAlum2610 February 2009This movie,released in 2002,some four years after the PPG phenomenon had planted its flag on Cartoon Network(and onto the merchandise of many a little girl),was meant as a sort of love letter to their fans(mostly small kids,girls particularly)as well as a sort of "How it all started" beginnings story.
As such,this seems to be better at addressing in-jokes with the kids' parents and being sort of a less-than-subtle "It's OK to be different" movie for kids. Given the relentless action,explosive visuals,cacophonous sound and intense emotional tone(contrasting the usually very fun and light feel of the series),I feel like this probably missed the targets of all intended. Still,this is quite entertaining and,if you can withstand the intense elements I just described,you'll probably agree.
THe beginnings for the super-charged,super hero kids is about as expected,as well-meaning but sometimes inept Professor Utonium creates the perfect little girls but accidentally mixes in Chemical X,thus making them more powerful beings. Their powers make them WAY more potent than the average kid,and their infant-like naiveté causes them to not control their powers,thus making them vilified outcasts,perfect patsies for the rogue lab chimp-turned-evil mastermind Mojo Jojo,whose plan to take over the world has a distinctly primate feel.
All the familiar contributors are a part of this effort:Creator and director Craig McCracken,head animator Genndy Taronofsky,voice talent Tom Kenny,TAra Strong,CAthy Cavandini,Elizabeth DAily,Tom Kane,Roger JAckson and Jennifer Hale all reprise their roles from the series. Being a grown man who enjoys his fair share of cross-references in films and t.v.,the collection of references make this film better than maybe your average kids film. I'd have to say I probably enjoy the series eps better,all things considered,but the movie for the most part does the series right. -
homey10421 September 2011When I first heard that this film will be a prequel to the series at first I thought it wasn't a good idea to go with that direction but after seeing the trailers & TV spots I figured that the staff maybe on to something! We already know about the PPG's origin but what this film reveals is something more, it reveals what happens after the girls were born, how everything gets in center staged or come into place and see how the characters that we know develop and becoming who they are today as we know them! Also the film delivers action which made the TV show so appealing to the eyes of viewers! Something we viewers get to see rarely in animated films now-a-days along with the fact that animated films rarely get PG ratings. Practically the film is basically cleverly aimed for both fans & non-fans who don't know PPG since this will give non-fans an introduction of what PPG is all about, kids & adults alike! And as the title says... You'll won't see animated film like this! Not by a long shot you won't!
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voodoo49368 March 2003Sugar, 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 -
The Powerpuff Girls Movie plays less like a film and more like an adrenaline rush for one of the most breakneck seventy-three minutes of your life. The show, unseen by me, was an apparent cult success for Cartoon Network, around the same time as Dexter's Laboratory, along with boasting a similar fast-paced style and brightly colored atmospheres. All kidding aside, this film provided me with some of the most eventful cartoon action sequences in a long time and some of the most rapid fire events in recent memory.
The film gives us the simplistic origins story of the girls who were created by a straight-laced scientist named "The Professor" (voiced by Tom Kane). The girls, named Blossom (Cathy Cavadini), Bubbles (Tara Strong), and Buttercup (E.G. Daily) seem to be normal, bug-eyed sprouts, but they possess uncanny superpowers such as the ability to fly, utilize eye-lasers, and run at speeds unimaginable.
After their game of tag kindly ventures out beyond school boundaries and their damage to the city is ubiquitous and devastating, the girls are reprimanded by The Professor, who urges them not to use their powers in public. But when The Professor is arrested in connection with the girls' destruction, the girls must find their way home from school without guidance. They are misled into the clutches of an ominous figure named "Jojo" (Roger L. Jackson) who forces the girls to utilize their powers for his project that he states will bring good to society. Upon completion, it does the opposite and unleashes a hellish wrath on the town of Townsville with Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup to blame. They must figure out a way to stop "Mojo Jojo," a name he adopts upon creating this plan, and win back the trust of their kind professor and the rest of the town.
A majority of the skinny film is action; almost nonstop carnage. It's quite the blink-and-you-miss-it entertainment. In the day and age of genial sincerity, more often than not with a burdening life lesson, brought to you by Pixar, The Powerpuff Girls Movie is rather low on the meter of animated entertainment, but the film's concise runtime, kinetic action scenes, a cheerily comforting family story elevate it to a level that I can recommend. Its theatrical release is somewhat strange. This kind of thing could fit nicely on Cartoon Network's daytime lineup. And it would be nice if everyone would talk about three octaves lower, but these petty problems do not distract from the kinetic style and animation clearly at hand here.
Voiced by: Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong, E.G. Daily, Roger L. Jackson, and Tom Kenny. Directed by: Craig McCracken. -
rebeccac-3070211 October 2018Decided to rewatch this as a teen as I still love Powerpuff Girls...still great
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Angels_Review7 August 2014This is actually an interesting first movie showing how the Powerpuff girls and Mojo Jojo was born. It's actually rather touching to see how much the 4 actually get along on the first day. It shows they are pretty normal except for the powers. They just want to have fun and be loved. They have trouble finding acceptance in a world that doesn't really want them.
I have no idea how the mayor has even been elected because he is really stupid. Nothing he does really makes any sense. When the town is being destroyed, he goes and gets a pickle instead of wanting to figure out how to stop it. And even after worlds, all he is worried about is how they 'killed' the pickles.
Mojo Jojo is really odd. First off, 2 days after he is given his 'special powers,' he said that he was discriminated for too long. 2 days is not a long time.
The art style is perfect to the actual TV show. I really don't see much difference between the two. Everyone has a very black large outline that makes them stand out from the background which is normally diluted tones of gray or pink. Some characters are overly round where others are exaggerated angles. In fact, the Professor is all angles, and even his shoulders don't move when he is stretching out his neck. The girls are rather chibi looking even though this is an American made cartoon. The whole show is rather stylized in itself.
The voices are alright, it is an American Cartoon so you don't have the choice of hearing two different voices for the characters. Sometimes they do have problems in the script though. I can't stand how Mojo Jojo talks, mostly in third person and has a rather rapid fire monologue with a lot of pauses. Actually, it's like the old Godzilla shows where they were dubbed over in English. He also seems to use really really bad puns too. -
Thoughts from after I saw this in the theaters after its original release: In all the talk about why the Powerpuff Girls Movie failed, they have mentioned almost every excuse from too many animated films to the fact most theatres were not showing it past dinner time, to over saturation of the market, to the "fact TV spin offs usually don't work while the show is still on TV.
What I find curious is that with all the talk no one at any point mentioned the fact is that the movie isn't all that wonderful. Don't get me wrong its not bad, its just not all that great.
I went to see this when the movie was on the verge of disappearing from theaters going to the only one in literally 25 miles that was showing the movie. It was packed with kids and their parents, mostly kids under 7, which isn't a bad thing especially when you have a three or four year old repeating every line of Buttercup's, and the whole thing takes on a surreal Rocky Horror sort of feel.
The movie is essentially the story of how the girls and Mojo Jo Jo were created. In the early going things weren't bad. It was like a good TV episode on the big screen. However once the second act hits- where the girls are shunned after a game of tag goes horribly wrong - the whole thing grinds to a halt. Yes, it has it moments but it tends to just go on and on. Then the movie shifts gears again once the third act hits and Mojo is revealed to be the villain and all of the other monkeys attempt to take over the world. Everything is rapid fire and I know I missed several of the references and jokes that litter the screen. (I didn't catch the words spelled out in the girls color trails until they were fading from the screen.) Where act two was too slow act three is too fast and I couldn't help the feeling that this was taking the term throw away gag to a new level, so much was happening that it was all lost.
Its not bad mind you its just that its an extended TV episode with no real reason to be on the big screen. Hell I bet you there isn't a sharp eyed viewer who won't be able to pick out every place a commercial will appear when Cartoon runs it next spring or summer.
Yes I laughed. No, I don't hate it. But in a year where animated cartoons are coming into their own, with Ice Age, Lilo, Metropolis, Escaflowne, Spirit, Jimmy Neutron and Monsters Inc, in less than 12 months (plus Cowboy Bebop , Spirited Away and Treasure Planet before years end) I really can't see the point of putting out a movie thats just the TV show only bigger. (Is it any wonder Hey Arnold also tanked?) Frankly I'm glad is bombing at the box office since I can not see any reason that this movie exists other than to cash in on the Powerpuff Girls bandwagon. This was a movie that was released for the sake of greed (and to have Baboon Butt Bombs) and no other reason. This was not a story that needed to be told on the big screen since they do nothing with it. Frankly other than a louder ("mommy my ears hurt") soundtrack and "funky" hip movie like freeze frames and shots there is nothing that says to me there was any thought put into how make it a movie, it was simply was and is more of the same.
Even the 5.75 bargain matinée was too much to ask.
I look forward to seeing the DVD. I want to hear the commentary and go back and see what I missed- I want to know the in jokes which I sense are there. But beyond that...Who knows. -
Lebowskidoo22 July 2019Slightly darker in tone, this serves as a prequel to the TV series.
Contains several more pickle puns than I was prepared for.
Has there ever been another villain with such a hilarious evil laugh like Mojo Jojo?
No, I think not. -
planktonrules17 August 2005I'll admit it. I am an adult and I LIKE the Powerpuff Girls. It's a cute show and if my kids want to see it, I'll usually stick around and watch it, too. However, I was very worried about going to see this movie, as MOST TV cartoons translate terribly to the big screen. After seeing this movie, I found that my original thoughts were pretty much on target. The main problem is this--a 15 to 30 minute cartoon is fine, but stretching it and making it something it ISN'T is a very bad idea. If some Hollywood idiot ever thought about doing an Itchy and Scratchy movie, it would be the same--the momentum just CAN'T be maintained. My advice? Watch the Cartoon Network or buy one of their tapes made up of TV episodes.
PS--even my kids didn't like this movie!