It all started with a simple game of tag....The Powerpuff Girls Movie

Fighting crime, trying to save the world, here they come just in time, the Powerpuff Girls.....POWERPUFF!

Hi, I'm MumMumMum, and I am a Powerpuff Girls addict (known as PPG for the rest of this review). I have a PPG purse, a Mojo Jojo stuffy (complete with Mojo Jojo book zipped into his mouth) clipped to same purse, a Bubbles alarm clock, all the Dairy Queen PPG toys they had as promos last year, PPG CD's, and even a PPG colouring book (that's mine, all mine! bwaahaaahaaa!). How did this all come to happen? Why, my 6 year old daughter introduced me to this addiction....after all, she needed someone to join her in her obsession! (The 3 year old has the beginning of this disease....dancing to the PPG soundtracks is her number one hobby!) So when we heard that they were making a PPG movie two years ago we were ecstatic! The countdown began! And we waited, and waited, and waited.....

Last week we were informed that we were the proud recipients of a double pass to the sneak preview of The Powerpuff Girls Movie. For two days we danced and sang the PPG theme, driving everyone around us crazy, but who cares? The fateful day finally arrived, and off we went to the movie!

So, what's it all about?

Professor Utonium, feeling rather frustrated with the way things are going in the City of Townsville, decides to create the perfect little girl, be a perfect parent, and basically change the world. He gathers up all the perfect little girl ingredients, sugar, spice, everything nice, and begins to combine them into what he hopes will be that perfect little girl. But Jojo, his lab assistant monkey, accidentally adds Chemical X to the mix. (Accidentally, as in jumping all over the lab in an insanely hyperactive manner, it was quite funny to watch!) The Professor ends up with three little girls with extremely large heads and eyes. He names the blonde one Bubbles, the brunette Buttercup, and the redhead Blossom. These are no ordinary girls, as the Professor soon discovers. They have superpowers such as superstrength, the ability to fly, laser vision, and even martial arts abilities. And they're the sweetest little things ever.

The girls attend Pokey Oaks School the next day, and meet Miss Keane (this character's voice and intonation just makes me think "Fargo" every time I hear her, too funny!) They make friends, play well with others, and learn to play tag. Now, tag may seem like an innocent enough game, but.....three PPG's with super powers that they really don't know how to control...you've got the mother of all games of tag! They wind up tearing apart the city of Townsville in their efforts to tag each other, and become hated and feared by the residents, in effect becoming outcasts.

But wait! They meet up with Mojo Jojo, Professor Utonium's ex-lab assistant. Mojo Jojo was accidentally affected by the Chemical X and his brain has grown to enormous proportions. He befriends the PPG's and enlists their help to show the people of Townsville just how wonderful they really are....is it a trick? Is Mojo JoJo just using the PPG's to his own evil ends? Well, of course he is!!! What did you think was going to happen?!?!

Mojo Jojo creates an army of monkeys, gorillas, and baboons that he intends to take over the world with. The PPG's, horrified that they've once again created a horrible situation for the City of Townsville, resolve to do something to make up for it. Will the Powerpuff Girls redeem themselves? Will the City of Townsville forgive them? Will the Professor be released from jail in this millennium? Will Mojo Jojo find a way to cover that immense brain of his? Will the Powerpuff Girls get a nifty "hotline" phone? Will the Powerpuff Girls learn that "with great power comes great responsibility?" (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Our thoughts on the movie

We loved the movie! It's the PPG's at the beginning, their creation, how it all began. A prequel to the television show on Cartoon Network, both written and directed by Craig McCracken. If you thought that anime characters had big eyes, you gotta check out the PPG's! The PPG's owe a lot to anime, but the style is taken to the extreme in simplicity, these girls don't even have fingers, just rounded arms and legs, and very big heads and eyes. The girls are all extremely likeable in their own ways, and their expressions are quite easily read in those big ole eyes of theirs. Mojo Jojo is the supreme evil mutant monkey villain, as he says in the movie, he rocks! The Professor is just such an innocent, always wanting to protect the girls. (Funniest line from the Professor: "Note to self, good parents don't leave their children home alone.") There was lots in this movie for both parent and child alike, the touching moment when the PPG's call the Professor "Dad", the PPG's saying, "Come on girls, let's stop this gorilla warfare", there were many times the parents would laugh, and a moment later the kids in the theatre were joining in for another joke. This isn't just a good guy, bad guy movie, there's humour in it as well. I watched everyone walking out of the theatre and everyone had a smile on their face, many of them were singing the PPG theme song.

The audience was predominantly female, although there were some men and boys there. This movie will definitely be a hit with the PPG fan base. Its fun, its exciting, and its the PPG's! High-octane, high-energy, high-fun-level. What more could you ask for? Its running time was just under 90 minutes, so its not too long for the very young crowd, and not too much animation for the adults that bring their kids. It was a great way to spend time with my daughter, there's a lot worse ways to spend a day!

My daughter asked me to add that her favourite part of the movie was...EVERYTHING! She also wanted me to end the review with.....


DeDe DeDeDeDeeeeeDe.

(If you know the PPG theme, you'll know what that is.)

Credits:
Cathy Cavadini (Blossom)
Tara Strong (Bubbles)
Elizabeth Daily (Buttercup)
Tom Kenny (Mayor/Narrator)
Roger L. Jackson (Mojo Jojo)
Tom Kane (Professor Utonium)
Jennifer Hale (Ms. Keane)

Written and Directed by Craig McCracken
Rated PG for non-stop frenetic animated action