The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie

The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie
by Craig McCracken

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DVD Reviews of The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie

DVD Review: Fighting Crime, Trying to Save the World
Summary: 5 Stars

I've never been a huge fan of The PowerPuff Girls. The show was always kind of hit and miss for me. But some of the episodes were truly brilliant, and when I heard that the movie was coming to theaters I was definitely interested. Maybe it was the trailer, maybe it was all the other movies that came out at the same time; or maybe I was just busy. But somehow or other I never got around to seeing this movie in theaters. For a long time now (ever since the DVD came out) I've wanted to give it a rent. I rented it a few weeks ago and bought it almost immediately afterward. I feel like I horribly cheated myself by missing this one in theaters. Many people who haven't seen this movie probably think what I first thought when I heard about the movie. "Probably largely more of the same." More cuteness, more simple yet stylish animation, and WAY more fight scenes, right? WRONG!

From the moment the movie starts, it's apparent that WAY more work went into this movie than into your average episode of the series. WAY better animation, WAY better music, WAY better dialog. TONS of character development. Dramatic camera angles. Yes, all the good things that make great anime, or great cartoons, or great movies, crammed into a little over an hour. If you've ever watched an episodes of Dexter's Lab or PowerPuff girls, you know what to expect. Parody of classic movies (in this case, especially planet of the apes), with cool zoom-out shots, ominous villain laughing and slick action sequences. And speaking of action...

"You're it!"

Does this movie have action? Yes it does. But not non-stop way-too much action. More a situation starts slow then gets progressively more energetic as dramatic tension builds and then fury is unleashed in an awesome high-speed fight.
Take the infamous tag sequence for example. When the girls first go to school we, like the professor, just know that something is going to go wrong. They're going to cause destruction with their powers. But when he goes to pick them up they're playing hopscotch and other little kid games, being perfect little angels. Then someone shows them how to play tag. And naturally, Buttercup isn't content with just running at normal speed. As the girls chase each other, they gradually build up speed until the ground behind them starts to melt, and then they take off into the air. The music builds up at just the right time and in the right way to get your heart pumping during this scene, and I don't think I've ever seen a scene in a movie that better conveys the sheer joy a person would experience if they could propel their self at almost limitless speed.

"How can you understand what it means to be...A FREAK!?"

This another interesting thing about this movie is the fact that it is about the origins of the PowerPuff Girls. Hasn't that already been covered? Don't we already know about that? Do we really need to go over this again?! Oh yes indeed. As this movie takes it's time to cover the story of how the girls were created, how they experience the fear and sadness of being different from everyone else, and how they ultimately attain their resolve to use their powers to fight for good and to save people. One of, if not THE cornerstone of the movie is undoubtedly the one who eventually becomes the Powerpuff Girls' archnemesis, Mojo Jojo. In this movie we see an interaction between the evil one and the girls unlike any other seen in the series. Mojo is evil, and has plans for world domination. But the girls don't know that. And when he asks for their help, they unwittingly find themselves assisting Mojo in his greatest and first plan ever. Now, Mojo has had a lot of plans, but I can never recall one that worked out quite this cool. You have to see it for yourself.

"a Sweeter time, when there was a Spice to life, and everything was...Nice."

Besides the exceptional camera angles, dialog, and action sequences, the dvd of this movie features truly exceptional picture quality. I first watched it on a progressive-scan dvd player hooked up to a widescreen HDTV. I thought the picture was widescreen until I looked on the movie box. The image does not appear to be cropped or panned anywhere (despite the fact that it HAS been cropped from its original aspect ratio). And the picture is super-crisp with fantastically vivid colors.

"And so, for the first time, the day is saved..."

Overall, if you're a fan of the Powerpuff girls, you it to yourself to buy this movie immediately. And if you don't like the Powerpuff girls that much...you should at least give it a rent. It's a self-contained movie of the highest quality, and it blows many bigger-budget, higher-grossing animated films out of the water.

Description of The Powerpuff Girls - The Movie