The Powerpuff Girls Movie

A scientist fed up with the crime in his fair city of Townsville, decides to slap together some sugar, spice and everything nice (along with a little bit of the ol’ Chemical X) and comes out with three cutie-pie girls, with awesome super-powers. But with great power comes great responsibility, and when the town is run over by an evil monkey and his simian cohorts, it’s up to the three super-sisters to whoop that ape ass!

I have no idea why I even thought to see this movie, since I’ve never watched one episode of this seemingly popular cartoon program on TV, and don’t have a “lady friend” to accompany me to these events any more, but I guess it was something about those wacky chicks, those sweet girls with super-duper powers that somehow appealed to me. Would I like it? Would it be too “childish” for my taste? Well, I honestly didn’t know. The one thing that I did know was that it was definitely going to be a quickie evening (no, not that kind of quickie!), and I was right on the money on that count, with the film zooming by at a zippy 85 minutes. As for it being good or childish…well, it was a bit of both actually, but at the end of the screening, you can bet dollars to donuts that I was one of the first in line to get me one of them Powerpuff Girls sticker albums…these babes rule!!! (and if a couple of 8-year olds got elbowed in the melee that ensued, so be it). And how is the movie? Well, it’s a lot like SOUTH PARK but without the obscenity, the male testosterone or the catchy tunes. Huh?? Okay, let me try that again. The animation in this film is rudimentary at best, but the girls…aaaaaah, those wonderful girls. If you watch this movie and do not get taken in by their pure innocence, their absolute cuteness, their gung-ho 100% kick-ass attitude…you likely do not have a sensitive bone in your entire body. Sure, the plot isn’t grandiose by any means, in fact, it kind of sucks the bag, but I liked how the film showed us where the girls came from, I loved the relationship which they developed with their “dad” (the professor), I went gaga over every single action sequence in which the super-chicks zipped, zoomed and crunched their competition over and over again (loved those blazin’ green, blue and red stripes through the sky as well-nice touch!).

The tag game between the three of them was also one of the wickedest action sequences that I’ve seen all year and as kinetic as kinetic can be (I can only imagine how trippy it might be on speed…wow). The downside to the film came in the form of the adventure’s nemesis, one Mojo the monkey, who in my opinion, just wasn’t clever or interesting enough for this type of flick. To be honest, he bored the shit out of me most of the time that he was on screen, especially when he was going on and on and on about how he was gonna take over the world, etc and so forth (I can only imagine how bored kids might get, seeing as I’m quite immature myself and he didn’t do dick for me). But that aside, and the fact that the plot was pretty basic (it took five people to write this??), I adored the three lovely little ladies so completely, with their voices, their unique attitudes, their repartee amongst one another and their titanic ability to keep punching, kicking and zapping, that overall…I was won over entirely. The film’s soundtrack is also a blast, as well as the closing and opening credits, the latter of which featured a pretty cool freeze-frame technique to start things off on the hip foot. In the end, I’m not going to tell you that this film is gonna change your life, but it’s definitely a fun, silly, over-the-top time at the movies, especially if you dig on adorable big-eyed baby chicks who kick ass, and if you like stuff like GODZILLA, KING KONG, TRANSFORMERS and PLANET OF THE APES. So yes, don’t be afraid to see this flick with your better half (cause we all know that your girlie-girl is likely gonna drag you to see this candy anyway), or your children, because you will surely come out with a grander appreciation for the three girls who now adorn one of the posters on my wall: Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup…grrrls rule! Step aside, Spider-Schmuck…the Powerpuff Girls are in town!! (dassa jokey)

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian