A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: The Powerpuff Girls

Date Viewed: 7/21/02

Details:

Voice "talent": Cathy Cavadini

Tara Strong

Elizabeth Daily

Roger L. Jackson

Tom Kane

Written and directed by: Craig McCracken

Score: -

The Review: Animated feature-length blather based on a Saturday morning cartoon series with which I (gratefully) had no prior familiarity. For those who care, it outlines the creation and moral crux of three manic, levitating, naive super-heroines in training -- providing the back-story before the TV series began. It seems that all superheroes must go through a crisis of confidence (such as it is) before deciding to battle evil full-time, and all of them seem to go through "the public hates me" phase of misunderstanding. Much darker than would seem appropriate for the average 6-year-old audience.

Absolutely, relatively, generally, and specially awful. Totally lacking in awe, artistic interest, or nuance of characterization. The artistic merit of the animation per se is non-existent or negative, and the hyperkinetic drive is numbing. Sleep-inducing banality. Much much too long, even though it was under 75 minutes; I heard parents with young children having to deal with repeated "is it over yet?" questions, and whole families were fleeing the theatre. I sat through the whole thing; you owe me big!

On the other hand, the short cartoon feature on the biology and epidemiology of chicken pox (don't ask!) was cute (especially for those of us who use door jambs as scratching posts), and it was mercifully short.

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