Elizabeth-Daily Movie Reviews

Donatello is not a happy Ninja Turtle at the beginning of the episode. He's tired of always having to skulk around in the dead of night; he's tired of always having to wear stupid disguises to get around; he's tired of being misunderstood by the humans. He wishes there were a place where turtles could walk about and be free and not have to worry about hiding. Well, guess what? Donatello, in no uncertain terms, gets his wish!

A three-foot tall turtle named Kerma comes to Earth and captures our four Heroes in a Halfshell, saying he needs them to help fix a "little problem." The little problem that Kerma speaks of comes in the form of a giant two-headed monster who wants to rule over the Turtleoids' city and get its hands on a gold machine, a device that gives Kerma and his fellow turtles energy. Without it, they are weak and defenseless.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Shredder and Krang are up to their usual dirty tricks. Believing that the Turtles have been destroyed by two other mutants that Bebop and Rocksteady accidently help to create, Dirtbag and Groundchuck, Shredder and Krang commence making a mini-Technodrome to rule over the city. And with no resistance to their efforts, that's exactly what they do! Of course, those bad guys have no idea that the Turtles are on a whole other planet . . .

Can the Turtles help Kerma get rid of his "little problem"? Will Shredder and Krang finally witness their day of triumph? Buy the video to find out, dudes!

There used to be a time when all theatrical motion picture DVDs were available *only* in their original, widescreen, theatrical aspect ratio. No questions asked, no apologies made. But clearly, Warner Brothers has decided that this DVD is strictly a release for children, and thus decided to eliminate those "pesky black bars" on the top and bottom of the screen - and in the process a good chunk of the movie's picture along with them - because apparently kids are too dumb to realize that TVs and movie screens are different shapes!

But let me back up here a bit. For anyone who's a fan of The Powerpuff Girls TV series, you'll know that this is so much more than a children's show. Despite what the media, marketing, and critics would have you believe, the Powerpuff Girls are *not* the creation of some soulless corporate committee designed to sell a 'girl power' positive-role-model message to the Barbie set. Oh no. They were created by a talented up-and-coming animator named Craig McCracken because, well, he thought the idea of little girls with extreme superpowers was funny. And over the years of the show's evolution and success, it has stayed true to its original intent: to be funny.

The Powerpuff Girls Movie is a shining example of a funny movie created by animators for animation fans. Compared to the already-excellent TV series, the colours are more vibrant, the effects are more spectacular, the music just plain ROCKS (why isn't there a soundtrack available?!), and the action is truly a sight to behold... even on a TV screen in pan & scan format! Which really honks me off because a movie with such striking visuals such as these deserves to have the whole picture on the screen.

Adding insult to injury are the deleted scenes, and practically all the clips used in the various DVD special features, that actually ARE presented in widescreen! There are scenes where you can literally compare the two and see for yourself just how much of the feature's image is being cut off. But hey, to see fully completed deleted scenes (minus only the sound effects) from an animated movie is not something you see every day and is a very nice touch! Still, it would have been nice to have director Craig McCracken explain why these scenes ended up being cut in the first place.

Other special features like the interviews with the "actors", the director's and character's commentaries, and the test reel are all very nice features indeed. Though I was disappointed by the single theatrical teaser trailer included. If you spent any time at all watching Cartoon Network while this movie was in theatres, you no doubt saw some of the myriad cool promos that were made (check out the PPG movie promo feature at toonamiarsenal.com). If they'd thrown even just a handful of the best ones on this DVD, I'd have been happy.

This was quite possibly my favourite movie of the year, and this shabby treatment on DVD is not only a slap in the face to the hardcore fans, but also to Mr. McCracken and the talented team at Cartoon Network Studios. Warner Bros. may do stupid things like this sometimes, but they do occasionally listen to their customers. We got the uncut version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, we're getting a special edition DVD of The Iron Giant pretty soon, and if we're vocal enough, we may just see a widescreen release of The Powerpuff Girls Movie.

4 stars still go out to this DVD just for being a wicked-cool movie. And a fair amount of effort and care did go into the DVD's production and special features (except for the trailers). Pick up this DVD if you're like me and just can't live without it, cropped or not.

With that in mind, I really enjoyed the flick. It has pretty much everything I want from a film like this; good, stylistic animation, well-paced, clever multi-level humor, cute character design, and a plethora of monkeys. A really good movie overall! I am pleasantly surprised, and will probably check out some of the Cartoon Network DVDs now. The animation and story is not up to the level of Samurai Jack, but it is great for what it is.

As to the DVD, it is a little lackluster, but not too bad. For any theatrical film, a widescreen presentation is expected, and pan-and-scan is never welcome. The character interviews are great, maybe one of the funniest extras I have seen on a cartoon DVD. All in all, a fun DVD to have.

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.

There used to be a time when all theatrical motion picture DVDs were available *only* in their original, widescreen, theatrical aspect ratio. No questions asked, no apologies made. But clearly, Warner Brothers has decided that this DVD is strictly a release for children, and thus decided to eliminate those "pesky black bars" on the top and bottom of the screen - and in the process a good chunk of the movie's picture along with them - because apparently kids are too dumb to realize that TVs and movie screens are different shapes!

But let me back up here a bit. For anyone who's a fan of The Powerpuff Girls TV series, you'll know that this is so much more than a children's show. Despite what the media, marketing, and critics would have you believe, the Powerpuff Girls are *not* the creation of some soulless corporate committee designed to sell a 'girl power' positive-role-model message to the Barbie set. Oh no. They were created by a talented up-and-coming animator named Craig McCracken because, well, he thought the idea of little girls with extreme superpowers was funny. And over the years of the show's evolution and success, it has stayed true to its original intent: to be funny.

The Powerpuff Girls Movie is a shining example of a funny movie created by animators for animation fans. Compared to the already-excellent TV series, the colours are more vibrant, the effects are more spectacular, the music just plain ROCKS (why isn't there a soundtrack available?!), and the action is truly a sight to behold... even on a TV screen in pan & scan format! Which really honks me off because a movie with such striking visuals such as these deserves to have the whole picture on the screen.

Adding insult to injury are the deleted scenes, and practically all the clips used in the various DVD special features, that actually ARE presented in widescreen! There are scenes where you can literally compare the two and see for yourself just how much of the feature's image is being cut off. But hey, to see fully completed deleted scenes (minus only the sound effects) from an animated movie is not something you see every day and is a very nice touch! Still, it would have been nice to have director Craig McCracken explain why these scenes ended up being cut in the first place.

Other special features like the interviews with the "actors", the director's and character's commentaries, and the test reel are all very nice features indeed. Though I was disappointed by the single theatrical teaser trailer included. If you spent any time at all watching Cartoon Network while this movie was in theatres, you no doubt saw some of the myriad cool promos that were made (check out the PPG movie promo feature at toonamiarsenal.com). If they'd thrown even just a handful of the best ones on this DVD, I'd have been happy.

This was quite possibly my favourite movie of the year, and this shabby treatment on DVD is not only a slap in the face to the hardcore fans, but also to Mr. McCracken and the talented team at Cartoon Network Studios. Warner Bros. may do stupid things like this sometimes, but they do occasionally listen to their customers. We got the uncut version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, we're getting a special edition DVD of The Iron Giant pretty soon, and if we're vocal enough, we may just see a widescreen release of The Powerpuff Girls Movie.

4 stars still go out to this DVD just for being a wicked-cool movie. And a fair amount of effort and care did go into the DVD's production and special features (except for the trailers). Pick up this DVD if you're like me and just can't live without it, cropped or not.

With that in mind, I really enjoyed the flick. It has pretty much everything I want from a film like this; good, stylistic animation, well-paced, clever multi-level humor, cute character design, and a plethora of monkeys. A really good movie overall! I am pleasantly surprised, and will probably check out some of the Cartoon Network DVDs now. The animation and story is not up to the level of Samurai Jack, but it is great for what it is.

As to the DVD, it is a little lackluster, but not too bad. For any theatrical film, a widescreen presentation is expected, and pan-and-scan is never welcome. The character interviews are great, maybe one of the funniest extras I have seen on a cartoon DVD. All in all, a fun DVD to have.

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.