The Powerpuff Girls Movie--a review

Cafe Society
1

Ostensibly, I took my little sister to the movie this evening. Truth be known, it was as much for me as it was for her. And I’m glad I went to see it. It was a lot of fun, with a few good laughs mixed in. If you’re not a fan of the cartoon, then you probably won’t like the movie that much, but no surprise there, right?

Now for the details. I was a little concerned as to how well the characters would translate from a 13-minute short to a 90-minute feature. It wasn’t a problem–they just had more time to set up the outcome and to do characterization. Oh, and they also had some prolonged action sequences that fit in rather well. The movie was rather fast-paced, but it didn’t seem to lag in the beginning like a lot of movies do (cough Star Wars Episode II cough).

The humor was the same as what’s in the cartoon. Again, if you like the cartoon, you’ll like the movie, but otherwise, you’re probably wasting your money. I like that kind of humor, so I liked the movie.

The animation was pretty spectacular. The characters were hand-drawn, but the backgrounds were mostly computer-generated. And I was surprised at how well the two styles blended. It does look a little strange, but hey, that’s the way it always has. And there was one graphic that was stunning: a giant spherical mirror rolling through the town. The reflection on that was beautifully done.

The soundtrack was also top-notch. Based on the opening title music, I was ready to buy it, and I haven’t changed my mind yet. It was techno music, probably at the heavier end of that spectrum.

The big battle and the scenes leading up to it are a little dark, and there’s some comic book violence (moreso than in the cartoons), so very young children might be put off a bit.

So that’s my opinion. What do you guys think?

2

haven’t seen it, but if the soundtrack is by James Venable (and I can’t see why it wouldn’t be) I’ll buy it without hearing it first.

3

I was suppose to take my kids to see it earlier this evening, but illness prevented it, so we’re planning on going over the weekend. I was concerned at how well it would do on the big screen, as a longer sequence, and am happy to hear that it remains true to form. My two older kids, and I all love the show, and I’m pretty certain we’ll also enjoy the movie.

~V

4

I liked it a lot. I didn’t have a child to take as cover, so I had to just bite the bullet and go for it alone, a big hairy 31-year-old man in a theater full of pre-teen girls and their parents. Hopefully it was clear that I was just a harmless cartoon geek and not a pederast.

Anyway, I thought it was very well-done but still not quite as good as the show. The pacing seemed a little off, like there was a lot of padding going on. The format of a 15-minute (and occasionally 30-minute) episode just works better; they don’t waste time trying to explain stuff or give back-story. And I really missed the narrator.

But considering that it wasn’t as “tight” as the TV series, it still had enough clever stuff in there to fit in with the series; it didn’t feel too much like a dumbed-down movie. All of the bad guys were pretty clever, and there were plenty of in-jokes (like the Dapper Dan tins, and the Van Halen references.)

And I liked the blending of the CG with everything else, it seemed to me that it was done artistically instead of just coming across as a time-saver. In other words, they used it for the stuff that needed to look cool, but left the characters and Townsville itself alone for the most part. (There’s one scene where it looks like the girls’ heads are 3D animated, and that just looked weird.)

And I liked the music a lot, too. I’m going to try to find the soundtrack.

5

Yeah, it is. I stayed through the credits to check.

6

Craig McCracken (the creator) had a cameo in that movie a la Alfred Hitchcock. There’s also a scene where you can see his animation studio.

I really enjoyed the movie, but the part that I found most disturbing was when Bubbles grabbed that little monkey then literally squeezed the life out of it :eek: reminded me of Mice and Men there shudder

7

I gotta admit - even though I love the show, I wasn’t all that impressed with the movie. The timing was weird and some parts seemed unbearably dumbed down. I still enjoyed it, though. The animation was fantastic, and some of the jokes were pretty good. It just suffered the pitfalls of most tv to movie projects, like adding all the backstory for newcomers and stretching out the time scale.

Oh, and there was so not enough of Mojo doing Mojo-type things until close to the end. And not enough of the other villains (saving them for the sequels maybe?)

8

LOL. Exactly why I rent when I want to see a children’s movie!