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Some say that the ultimate battle of good and evil is a daunting task for people of great strength, courage and wisdom. "The Powerpuff Girls" don't buy that.
A lonely scientist named Professor Utonium (voiced by Tom Kane) decides to attempt the creation of the most perfect little girls. With the help of an old nursery rhyme, he blends sugar, spice and everything nice, but by accident, a fourth ingredient is mixed in. This substance, known simply as Chemical X, carries powerful abilities and three children are born of the concoction. Their alliterating names are Blossom (Catherine Cavadini), Bubbles (Tara Charendoff) and Buttercup (E.G. Daily).
Each of them have the ability to fly as well as other superpowers, including super strength. Their first day in school is a rocky one. During a seemingly innocent game of tag, the girls inadvertently wreak havoc throughout the city and are deemed embarrassments to their father. While walking the lonely streets, they come upon a malevolent monkey named Mojo Jojo (Roger L. Jackson). His plan is to dupe them into helping him take over the fictional metropolis of Townsville, thus creating even more problems for the newly made trio.
"The Powerpuff Girls" is based on a children's animated series on the Cartoon Network. The adult-friendly cartoon is a perfect choice for big screen adaptation after the disappointing rise in popularity of "Pokémon". Taking the origins of the girls and putting it in the cineplexes helps introduce an audience that might |
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never see it on the small screen.
The vocal talents, having worked on the series for a number of years, are understandably outstanding. Cavadini, Daily and Charendoff are all terrific with the latter bordering on sensational. Kane does a fine job portraying a kindly father and scientist, a cross between the Professor from "Gilligan's Island" and Steve Douglas from "My Three Sons".
Additional vocal talents range from Jackson's manic monkey to Tom Kenny as Townsville's bumbling mayor and Jennifer Hale as Pokey Hills loveable but strict schoolteacher Ms. Keane to Jennifer Martin as the mayor's decision-making faceless assistant Sara Bellum. Each actor gives everything to their role and makes their characters instantly memorable.
While the story is based around tales already told on the show, series creator and the film's director Craig McCracken brings enough liveliness to the screenplay that it makes one feel as if they are seeing something they'd never seen before. The opening tag sequence is among the funniest in the movie and the conclusion, with its panoply of primate puns, is insanely genius.
"The Powerpuff Girls" doesn't bore its audience with exposition. Instead, it presents the opening events with magic, style and fun. There are few animated features that capture the pure reckless abandon that young children want to see while providing adults with an hour and a half of amusement they can share with their kids. |
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