The Powerpuff Girls Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)July 3rd, 2002
THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *
Is it just me or are you also getting really tired of opportunistic studios turning their television cartoons into mediocre movies with no ideas behind them other than stretching out the length? Last week, Nickelodeon brought us the lifeless HEY ARNOLD! THE MOVIE, and, this week, the Cartoon Network brings us the almost as lame THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE. Kids' movies don't have to be so unimaginative, but forgoing the need for much of a plot or script is an easy way to quick profits. Our kids deserve much better, and some studios, Disney in particular, take great pains to supply quality products.
The story's AWOL plot has the Powerpuff Girls, Blossom (voiced by Catherine Cavadini), Bubbles (voiced by Tara Charendoff) and Buttercup (voiced by E.G. Daily), first destroying a city and then saving it. In a rambunctious game of tag, the girls, who can fly and run like bullets, tear up streets and knock down buildings. When the cameras pull back, the town has been reduced to rubble. After the city miraculously self-repairs, the girls fight and defeat a villain named Mojo Jojo (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) who threatens the city. That's it for the plot.
While computer drawn animation keeps improving, the bar for the acceptable level of traditional animation is constantly being lowered. THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE has one of the cheapest looks in recent memory. Drawn with simple rectangles and circles and with sparing use of color, the movie has something less than a 2D appearance. Although this might be acceptable on a free television show, you have the right to expect something better when you're paying close to ten dollars a ticket.
"Wake up and seize the town!" Mojo Jojo tells his cohorts in crime. You'll be telling yourself that a lot during the movie, at least the "Wake up!" part. If your kids like the series, they'll probably like the movie too, but I'll let you in on a money-saving secret. If you tape three episodes of "The Powerpuff Girls" and show it to them, they'll enjoy it just as much, and you'll have saved the fifty bucks that you would have spent on tickets and refreshments.
THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE runs 1:20. It is rated PG for "non-stop frenetic animated action" and would be acceptable for all ages.
My son Jeffrey and his friend Nickolas, both 13, thought the movie was cute and had some funny parts. Jeffrey gave it **, and Nickolas gave it ** 1/2. Jeffrey's cousins, William and Liana, ages 8 and 5, really liked it.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Wednesday, July 3, 2002. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
