The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie

Rating:
Summary: It's OK
Review: If you are a fan of the PPG you will love this movie. I sometimes watch the TV Show and decided to see this movie. The movie is basically what happened in Townsville before the PPG and when the city was first learning to accept them. I would recomend this movie for people 12 and under. If you like the PPG TV Show you should deffinetly see this movie. It did not fall short of my expectations at all.

Rating:
Summary: Powerpuff Power! Yay! Yay! Happy Smiley Fun! Yay!
Review: I'm newly 24, slightly deranged, and I wear lots of black. Naturally, I've only heard OF the Powderpuffy Girls, yet have never seen an episode. I try to avoid kids movies, because they're all the same: brainless, corny, and inane. Why I rented this movie, I don't know. But I'm glad I did. The Powerpuff Girls Movie does everything a regular kid's movie doesn't: good voice-acting, good plot, a sense of humor not just for lil' kidz, a great score, and the dialogue isn't stupid! Yes!
Even though there's a detailed description of the plot above, I will still yak about it. The movie is like this: it takes place before the TV series and explains how the Powerpuff Girls became crime-fighting...girl...thingies.... Anyhoo, the Powerpuff Girls are these odd little mutant girls with special powers, made by Professor Utonium with sugar, spice, everything nice, and a dash of...*dramatic chord*...CHEMICAL X! Naturally, the town doesn't respond well with the girls' freakish powers, and the girls feel all alone. Then there's a bunch of monkeys. And stuff. I dunno.
The thing that bothered me about the movie is the Powerpuff Girls themselves. They have no fingers. They just have little stumpy things. Everyone else has fingers, but not them. And their heads! They're huge! Way too big for their bodies. Why don't they tip over? Their super powers hold them up? Or is it their freakishly enormous eyes? Look at the size of them! You know there's a problem when your eyes are bigger than your torso. Freaky.
The DVD is fun, too. Special features include: cast interviews (with the characters, not the voice actors), additional (AKA 'deleted') scenes, behind the scenes stuff, character commentary, the trailer, trailers for other stuff, and probably more.
The point being thus: this is a good movie. If you don't rent, buy, or see this movie, then you are a fool.

Luv,
Muttz!

Rating:
Summary: A good flick to watch while munching your cereal
Review: "The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie" is my first exposure to The Powerpuff Girls. Lacking cable, I have never seen the show on The Cartoon Network, nor have I seen any of the other DVDs available. Of course, I knew the characters but only from the various merchandise.

With that in mind, I really enjoyed the flick. It has pretty much everything I want from a film like this; good, stylistic animation, well-paced, clever multi-level humor, cute character design, and a plethora of monkeys. A really good movie overall! I am pleasantly surprised, and will probably check out some of the Cartoon Network DVDs now. The animation and story is not up to the level of Samurai Jack, but it is great for what it is.

As to the DVD, it is a little lackluster, but not too bad. For any theatrical film, a widescreen presentation is expected, and pan-and-scan is never welcome. The character interviews are great, maybe one of the funniest extras I have seen on a cartoon DVD. All in all, a fun DVD to have.

Rating:
Summary: A guilty pleasure
Review: My wife just rolled her eyes when I purchased this one. But I have to confess that I thoroughly enjoy the Gendy Tartakovsky/Craig McCracken cartoons. They're kind of a throw-back to the best of the minimalist school of animation that took hold back in the late'50s/early '60s, and they're genuinely funny, unlike a lot of the fare that passed for cartoons since the MGM studios stopped producing them and Hanna-Barbera went off on a 20-year tangent.

I always perceived the Powerpuff Girls to be a take-off on the anime cartoons of the '60s, like "Astro Boy" or "Gigantor", complete with an arch-villain (Mojo Jojo) who delivered his dialogue like some Godzilla movie voice-over reject. Add to that the whimsical character of The Mayor and that knockout, the well-drawn Miss Bellum, a virtual galaxy of cleverly framed villains -- the show could only be a hit.

However, this film reminded me of _Beavis and Butt-Head Do America_, derived from another wildly creative television show that also got pimped out to the big screen. Let's face it -- 6 minutes of focused, themed and funny animation and dialogue trumps 90 minutes of screenplay any day. I thought the inclusion of CGI in the Powerpuff Girls Movie detracted from the simplistic, albeit mannered, art direction of the film.

And someone help me make sure I have this straight. Professor Utonium is sent to jail because he doesn't have a handle on his kids. Their game of "tag" has all but leveled the City Of Townsville. Property damage, personal injury (if not worse) lay in the wake of their game of tag. Upon his release from prison, he tucks the girls into bed and bemoans the fact that they're "misunderstood". No consequences were meted out, other than Utonium's imprisonment. No lessons learned. Reminds me of a lot of parents nowadays who take no responsibility for teaching their children how to interact with society, and who make lame excuses for their children's misbehavior.

Then, there's Mojo Jojo. The script was written such that the malice and especially the kung-fu overdub grunt wasn't utilized to its full comic potential. It didn't ramp up until just toward the end of the DVD, and by then I didn't care anymore.

I found the production values to be inferior to the Cartoon Network episodes, particularly on the bonus cartoon ("Dexter's Laboratory - Chicken Scratch"). It's clear that Genndy farmed out a lot of his work, which is understandable, having to tackle a feature-length film, plus a short feature. It just seemed to lack quality control.

Rating:
Summary: A touch disappointing.
Review: There's nothing really BAD about this movie--it's got the same sense of humor and the same witty voice performances that effervesce through every episode of the series.

But it all feels too familiar, like there was nothing new to offer. The story is a prequel to the TV series--we all know how the girls were created, but we've never seen their origin story played out. Problem is, once the Chemical X spills into the mix, the rest of the film is just filling in blanks. What did they do on their first day of school? How did they become the heroic trio that Townsville has come to depend on? How did Mojo Jojo first make himself known? The answers to those three questions are pretty much the whole film and, honestly, there's not a single surprise in any of the movie's answers. The whole thing plods along with a sense of obligation and very little excitement.

I'm not sure why a widescreen version wasn't made available (probably monetary reasons, given that the film flopped), but the fullscreen is decent enough.

Kids will like it, but probably find it a bit too long. Adult fans of the PPGs will likely enjoy it once or twice, then return to watching the superior DVD collections of past episodes.

Rating:
Summary: Once again, the day is saved!
Review: As a 19-year-old male, I don't think I fit the target audience for this movie. However, having been turned on to the cartoon by my fiancee, I developed a closet attraction to the show and eagerly awaited the movie when it came out. I was greatly impressed for several reasons.

First, as a disclaimer, if you don't like the Powerpuff Girls, you won't like this movie. Several reviewers claim they didn't like the movie because they don't like the TV show. Well...duh! If you don't like baseball you probably won't like a movie about baseball, and it's the same way with this movie. It's really aimed at a narrow target audience, and people not in that audience aren't expected to enjoy it.

That said, the movie is great. The colors, especially on the movie screen, were extremely vibrant. The animation was crisp and well-drawn, and the action was exactly what I expected from the show I know and love. The drama of the movie (which was surprisingly poignant for a movie aimed at small children) was cleverly offset by well-timed jokes and comic moments, some of which would probably be missed by youngsters. All told, it's a feel-good movie that I highly recommend for anyone who's a fan of the show, or who has a small child and a few hours to ....

Rating:
Summary: Good, but a bit ambivalent about its audience.
Review: The heroines are young enough to be in school for little babies, but they have enough superpowers to take out an entire city. Yet they are viewed as the latest role models for young girls.

If you can see past this rather bizarre message, then you're a true PPG fan.

Rating:
Summary: Why did it flop?
Review: I'm a Huge fan of the Powerpuff girls in fact I really loved this movie alot! Like Lilo and Stitch, this had soooo much meaning to me. Sadly, PPG Movie Was a falure. Why? Like South Park Bigger longer and uncut, this one can uplift you unlike the trasher shows worse than South park like Kablam and shows like that. Don't think so? Well, I'm sayin' is buy this DVD. Is perfect to add to your collection.

Rating:
Summary: A sweet little movie...
Review: This hyper little movie is like watching a caffeine rush. Clocking in at just over an hour, "The Powerpuff Girls Movie" plays like an extended episode of the hit cartoon, but with more mayhem and slightly better animation. This is the origin story of the Powerpuff Girls, three children made of sugar, spice, everything nice and Chemical X. But the scheming Mojo Jojo has nasty plans for the girls, who have uncanny superpowers. This is a film that is sure to delight all ages, but will appeal more to preadolescent kids. While the movie appears to be aimed at little girls, even I, a 17-year-old male was entertained from start to finish.

Rating:
Summary: Another movie goes South for Warner brothers.
Review: There were three reasons why this movie does not work.

1. As a show, sometimes the Girls are funny, sometimes they are not. But the work is never consistent. In the movie, they have nothing to do except stop Mojo Jojo, which they have already done on the show, here it was like a rehash of the episodes, only it ran 85 minutes longer and it was very tedious.

2. Warners did not market this movie very effectively. They thought the Powerpuff Girls were pretty well known enough on Cartoon Network and that word of mouth by the fans would be enough. Well it turns out that they are not as well known by the public as thought and as a result, this movie sort of fizzled out at the box office less then a few weeks after release.

3. The animation is pretty standard. A little bit more detailed then on the show, but they really did not take advantage of the wide screen to do more animation effects, or make it look better then what you would have seen on TV.

As with almost all Warner Brothers DVDs, this one is pretty inexpensive looking, with it's snap open display case, lack of interesting bonus features, and presented in the Full Screen format which crowds the picture and keeps you from seeing the whole film.

End result; Warners should go back to making Bugs Bunny cartoons.