Fans of the Cartoon Network's "Powerpuff Girls" series will most appreciate the full-feature film. The 80-minute movie reveals a bevy of background information, including how the "Chemical X" ended up in Professor Utonium's sugar-and-spice concoction, and how Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup became the protectors of the City of Townsville.
The film opens with the professor trying to create a perfect little girl in his lab. The accidental inclusion of a mystery substance "Chemical X" causes the professor to produce not one but three girls, all of whom are blessed and cursed with super powers that include the ability to fly and laser beam eyes.
The girls are good-natured at heart, but their pre-school playfulness, coupled with their reckless flying, leads to the destruction of the town, and causes the citizens to despise them. (Surprisingly, the girls crash into tall towers, uncomfortably reminiscent of the September 11 terrorist attacks.)
After the accidental anarchy of his daughters, the professor convinces them not to exercise their powers. Believing that no one understands them, the girls are easily won-over by an evil mutant monkey who claims to have the same woes.
{INSERT_RELATED}The monkey, Mojo Jojo, asks them to help him create a Help-the-Town-and-Make-it-a-Better-Place Machine. He promises the girls that such an act would endear them to the townspeople, so they agree to help. What the girls don't know is that Mojo has no intention of making Townsville a better place, rather he's planning to use the machine to take over the world. So the questions become: Will the girls realize the truth about Mojo Jojo? Will they realize the true potential of their powers in time to really help the town? And, most importantly, will they be able to do all of this before bedtime?
Parents who have questioned the content of the television series should steer clear of this PG-rated film. The fingerless, butt-kicking girls are more quick-fisted than ever, and the fight scenes are much more drawn-out. However, parents may find value in the girl-powered themes, which encourage young-uns to believe in themselves and have the courage to be different.
While the story is not remarkable, the details make the movie. We get to see much more of the Professor's mod, 1950s-decorated house; the Townsville cops constantly loiter in front of the "Do Nut Thing;" and the mayor's pickle pontification is hilarious. But bring your penchant for puns, or you'll groan into your box of Goobers.
"The Powerpuff Girls" movie begins Wed., July 3 at theaters everywhere.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
