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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 31, 2022 0:23:46 GMT -5
The Bad Guys (2022)
Distributor: Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation
Director: Pierre Perifel
Cast: Sam Rockwell (Mr. Wolf), Marc Maron (Mr. Snake), Craig Robinson (Mr. Shark), Awkwafina (Ms. Tarantula), Anthony Ramos (Mr. Piranha), Richard Ayoade (Professor Rupert Marmalade IV), Zazie Beetz (Gov. Diane Foxington), Alex Borstein (Police Chief Misty Luggins) Lilly Singh (Tiffany Fluffit)
Runtime: 100 min.
MPAA rating: PG (action, rude humor)
This movie is about five career criminals all going by their respective geneses—pickpocket leader Mr. Wolf, safe cracker Mr. Snake, hacker Ms. Tarantula, disguise expert Mr. Shark and unhinged muscle Mr. Piranha—are all celebrating Mr. Snake’s birthday despite his distaste for it when they hear about the Good Samaritan Awards and scheme to steal the coveted Golden Dolphin Trophy, cementing their legacy as criminals. When it goes wrong and they are busted, they con their way into a second chance; philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV thinks they can be salvaged and wants to take them under his wing so they can be model citizens. So, with the plot to appease the masses underway, and Wolf being drawn to changing his ways as a new villain emerges, can this quintet of thieves make right and is Professor Marmalade as virtuous as his image projects?
In the past, I have covered movies from a bunch of different studios. Disney, Pixar, Sony, Lionsgate, Laika, the WB, Illumination, Blue Sky… but I have largely ignored DreamWorks. I don’t hate them, just… I’m not their biggest fan. So what better way that to do one based on a best-selling collection of graphic novels?
More specifically, The Bad Guys is loosely based on a series of children’s graphic novels that were written by Australian author Aaron Blabey. He’s probably also best known as the creator of Pig the Pug.
This movie, hoping to do for heist movies what Shrek did for fairy tales and Kung Fu Panda did for martial arts, had plenty of things that could have gone wrong. There was the fact that children would have to dig deeper into the characters, the questionable theme, whether the morals would stick—as well as the fact this is director Pierre Perifel’s debut for a feature film. The DreamWorks animation unit did movies based on books in the past, some were good like Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon and Captain Underpants, and others like The Boss Baby didn't turn out so good. So what was the result?
I’m happy to report this movie was even better than I anticipated.
So what’s the story? Well, the movie begins with our… heroes, you could call them… in the middle of their job. That job is committing a heist. The reason for this? Well, as Wolf explains, they are just doing what they do best because society views them as villains and it’s just the hand they were dealt. After they finally get caught mid-theft, they con their way into getting a chance to reform and the movie goes with that.
The movie has fun playing with heist movie tropes as it does remind me a bit of Ocean’s Eleven but with funny animals; if you will, Zootopia but on the other side of the law. Friendships are tested, natures are tried, and is there a bigger antagonist in the middle of everything? And maybe going good might actually have its virtues?
It isn’t completely perfect as I make it seem; for one if you read the books every single character was an anthropomorphic animal; here there are some anthropomorphized animals that happen to live in a world inhabited by humans. I just… felt that was a little weird. I understand that DreamWorks might not have the exact same production size budget width that Disney does but that’s probably expected. Due to its theme you are not supposed to be truly hoping the characters succeed, and its somewhat zippy attitude can make it teeter on being obnoxious.
The movie does go through heist movie tropes that you might expect, with the type of plot twists that these movies always go for. I do appreciate this as it keeps things interesting and forces you to invest in the story and characters, however I almost wonder if kids would have the same level of appreciation. Then again they do have some worthwhile messages that kids would understand, namely learning to share, friends always try to work things out, stereotyping hurts, people are not all bad nor all good; you shouldn’t just give a bad kid the immediate blame and the good kid is always granted privilege. Oh yeah, and even fart jokes can be worked into the plot as well!
The animation is very cool to gaze at as well. Taking their cues seemingly from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the movie does a great job setting up their take on setting up a Southern California-esque town, namely San Francisco or Los Angeles. You have a good amount of stylization in the characters and their movements that they all feel unique. I will say though, there are times when it does feel like the characters have a bit of that CalArts feel, almost like what you are probably expecting from a series on Cartoon Network. You know how many shows usually have that ¾ perspective grinning bean look? That was the impression I got. However, there is the type of stylization that almost leads me to think that this movie also could have worked in cel-animation, as they seem to not go for the realistic looking hair/fur. The animation is great as well!
The best part of the movie is easily the characters. They all have enough charm and appeal to counter their morally questionable actions; it helps that their voice actors were clearly enjoying themselves. Maybe I should start with the movie’s, can I say, hero, Mr. Wolf. He’s supposed to be a professional pickpocket/getaway driver, while seemingly doubling as a fourth wall breaking narrator. The movie’s story has him as the lead, while also flirting with the concept of doing things you would think are ideal has its merits. One of partners in crime, that being Mr. Snake, is a notably more cynical and sarcastic member who is Mr. Wolf’s best friend, and this dynamic tends to work because he would probably be the one member you would be least likely to see reform. Ms. Tarantula is the group’s sharp-tongued hacker who tends to be the smartest member of the group. I do understand this character was originally male, but was made female likely to just add another female character so the movie wouldn’t be so guy-heavy. Mr. Shark is the disguise expert who is also the group’s sensitive sweetheart. He tends to get some big laughs as well. The only member of the team that I personally thought was a bit perfunctory was Mr. Piranha. I’m not saying he was a bad character as he had a good personality and a good voice. Just… it does feel like if you’re going to be doing a heist movie, you’re going to need at least one loose-cannon/unhinged brawler that is spoiling for a fight. There are some other characters as well, the most notable being Gov. Diane Foxington, the classy political figure who seems to be flirting with Mr. Wolf but… well, we don’t know if there is more to her than we know. Her voice also adds some flavor to the movie and I felt she was another favorite amongst the group. Then there is Professor Marmalade IV, a do-gooding philanthropist who wants to give the Bad Guys a chance at redemption but… I can’t say much more about him because spoilers. Other characters include Officer Misty Luggins, the temperamental, ape-like police chief who always seems angry because she can never truly catch her villains. To my surprise, Alex Borstein did put something different into this character; I never thought at any time that she was just Lois Griffin as a police officer. Then there is Tiffany Fluffit, the news reporter who exaggerates her reports. The characters easily make the movie!
Normally, I don’t enjoy seeing villains win, but with a movie like this, I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed this one! Easily the best DreamWorks animated movie since How to Train Your Dragon: the Hidden World, The Bad Guys is a solid contender for one of the best animated films of the year. With lots of humor and heart, The Bad Guys should be an easy pick if you want a new animated adventure. And due to its box-office reception, they would love to do a sequel, and hopefully one that gets DreamWorks their due. I guess until next time… “So long, suckers!”
The Bad Guys (2022)
TreyVore rates it: B+
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 29, 2022 18:13:53 GMT -5
Well thats good.
Is this ignoring the 2016 series like how Ghostbusters: Afterlife ignores the Paul Feig movie?
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 29, 2022 18:10:16 GMT -5
No, Trey_Vore. I mean, where did you hear that Fifi was returning? Because I still believe she's not. Click that link below that image Belchic . Also on Wikipedia under "List of Tiny Toon Adventures characters" under Fifi's description it says: "Fifi will return in the reboot Tiny Toons Looniversity." They say "everyone down to Arnold the Pitbull." The only character not returning is Elmyra. |
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 29, 2022 15:37:35 GMT -5
We just got DC League of Superpets. It's RT score is pretty good, with a critical score of 72% and an audience score of 83%.
The consensus is:
Although it never quite soars, DC League of Super-Pets is a more than satisfactory diversion for families in search of four-legged fun.
I think I should see this one.
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 29, 2022 13:15:50 GMT -5
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 27, 2022 23:37:57 GMT -5
On the up side?
Well, it's been confirmed that beyond Elmyra, everyone is slated to return.
This means yes, Fifi La Fume is returning!!
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 27, 2022 23:21:11 GMT -5
Hey guys. So... I have... some news. You'll think this is... interesting. Might want to pull up a chair...
Do you know how on the original show, whenever Buster and Babs would introduce themselves, they would always follow up with "No relation!"? Well, in a move that Tom Ruegger is repulsed about, they are doing away with that. More than just one way.
This new series is meant to be a remake instead of a continuation and I don't think this will deter me from enjoying the show, but...
It will be for the best that it is not a continuation.
On this new series, Babs is no longer going to be Buster's girlfriend. She is now going to be his long-lost twin sister.
I'll let that sink in for a moment...
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 26, 2022 22:07:24 GMT -5
This one may be a bit oxymoronic, but I think I have this one:
The Bad Guys
The Hero - Mr. Wolf
The Lancer - Mr. Snake
The Smart Girl - Ms. Tarantula
The Big Guy - Mr. Piranha
The Chick - Mr. Shark
11th Hour Ranger - The Crimson Paw
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 24, 2022 23:07:05 GMT -5
Reporting live from Nashville, I'm TreyVore!
I am going to say, I saw it too. Honestly, I didn't think it was that great. The characters were like kids versions from that movie, the story was rather forgettable and it wasn't all that funny.
If you are looking for a movie to introduce kids to the comedy styling of Mel Brooks this would be fine. Otherwise just stick with Blazing Saddles.
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 22, 2022 0:59:36 GMT -5
Open Season: Scared Silly (2015)
Distributor: Sony Pictures Animation
Director: David Feiss
Cast: Donny Lucas (Boog), Will Townsend (Elliot, Mr. Weenie), Melissa Strum (Giselle), Brian Drummond (Ian, Reilly, Tree-Hugger Man), Lee Tockar (Buddy, McSquizzy, Deputy #2), Peter Kelamis (Serge), Trevor Devall (Shaw, Wailing Wampus Werewolf, Deputy #1), Lorne Cardinal (Gordy), Garry Chalk (Ed), Kathleen Barr (Bobbie, Edna, Tree Hugger Lady), Shannon Chan-Kent (Rosie, Marcia), Michelle Murdocca (Maria), Maddie Taylor (Deni)
Runtime: 85 min.
MPAA rating: PG (some rude humor, action)
When Elliot tells a campfire story about the Wailing Wampus Werewolf, a legend that is said to live In Timberline National Forest, Boog becomes very scared of the vicious beast. His domesticated upbringing causes him to chicken out from their camping trip until the beast is gone. Determined to help Boog overcome his fears, Elliot and all his friends band together to scare the fear out of him.
If you remember what I originally said about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I said I couldn’t fully appreciate it until I went back to Sony’s other major animated films and judge them in retrospect.
Now that I’ve made it to the most current Open Season, I can close the book on one animated film franchise, at least for the time being. So… what to say about this one? Maybe… for one, just about nobody save for Melissa Strum and Michelle Murdocca return to do their character voices. It seems like their voice cast just never stays terribly consistent. On the other hand, the director for this movie is David Feiss, the guy best known for Cartoon Network shows like Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel. Surely it can’t be that bad right?
Let’s finish this up, shall we?
For Scared Silly, this movie is not a fourth film but more like Open Season 1.5. That means it’s supposed to be set after the first movie but before the second and third. So that would mean the pets barring Mr. Weenie have not been introduced yet, Elliot is not a father and Boog doesn’t have a Soviet-accented girlfriend, we are back to making a more proper Open Season 2. We also have Shaw the hunter back in the saddle for extra points!
…that’s… really the best, unfortunately. Because with the movie’s story being what it is, it’s pretty weak. You have Boog being scared of Elliot’s ghost story and now he’s trying to scare the fear of him with the other forest animals. That’s pretty much the plot! Well not entirely, as it involves Boog, Elliot and Mr. Weenie learning that Shaw got open season back on using the werewolf as a ploy. It’s still difficult to take much of anything seriously as its another one of those movies that just feels like jokes need to come first. I suppose I could excuse that if the jokes were at least funny, but while I will admit that some of the jokes are actually somewhat witty, I just still don’t think that is really the best way to shape your movie.
I will say though, the animation is a considerable improvement. They put effort into the animation and it does look leagues better than the last two movies, almost like they had enough time to finish the rendering this time and now everything looks more like it should. It almost looked like what you probably remember seeing in the first movie. Almost, that is. There are times that it does feel bright, like we are supposed to see things as though it’s in broad daylight. The animation does stay consistent, at least with the returning characters. There are two characters in particular that look mismatched with the way the movie tried to look, as they look very much like they have that distinctive David Feiss design on them. So as a whole, the animation is a mixed bag.
Now, for the characters? I don’t know if I can say anything that hasn’t been said about them. Boog is still the main focus as he should, but his sudden phobia seems to come from nowhere. I don’t expect a lot of continuity here, but his story seems pointless as it’s not going to matter in the second or third movies. Elliot is still the same worthless friend you remember from the beginning and he just isn’t going to change. Mr. Weenie accompanies them throughout the movie and he either has two traits: starved, or neurotic. Shaw the redneck hunter is back and just as crazy as he’s ever been. He’s also got help in the forms of Ed and Edna, a pair of Canadian poutine stand owners who I swear look like they would fit right in on Cow and Chicken. All the other characters are really just there for the sake of continuity.
I wanted to say this movie would prove to actually redeem this franchise, but… I suppose I was just being unrealistic. Open Season: Scared Silly does nothing with this franchise we haven’t seen. Maybe the jokes were okay and some effort was put into it, and the animation was much better than the last two movies, but it’s still just a forgettable animated film that will go in one ear and out the other in no time. I wanted to say before this season closed and I went back to the city that they redeemed themselves. However what I can say is… at least they tried.
Open Season: Scared Silly (2015)
TreyVore rates it: C-
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 22, 2022 0:53:04 GMT -5
Maybe I could do that. I do have these new reveiws:
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
Distributor: 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky
Director: Steve Martino, Michael Thurmeier
Cast: Ray Romano (Manny), John Leguizamo (Sid), Denis Leary (Diego), Queen Latifah (Ellie), Sean William Scott (Crash), Josh Peck (Eddie), Peter Dinklage (Captain Gutt), Keke Palmer (Peaches), Josh Gad (Louis), Wanda Sykes (Granny), Jennifer Lopez (Shira), Kunal Nayyar (Gupta), Nick Frost (Flynn), Aziz Ansari (Squint), Chris Wedge (Scrat)
Runtime: 88 min.
MPAA rating: PG (mild rude humor, action/peril)
Set sometime after Dawn of the Dinosaurs and the Mammoth Christmas Special, the herd is now prospering in their new home. The now-adolescent Peaches wants to go meet some new mastodons, and Ellie is happy to do so while Manny is increasingly paranoid about it, causing a rift between them. Meanwhile, Sid’s family appears but only to dump his grandmother off on him before they leave. After Scrat inadvertently causes a continental cataclysm in his efforts to bury his acorn, Manny, Sid, Diego and Sid’s grandmother are separated from the herd on an iceberg. While adrift at sea, they are captured by the cruel Captain Gutt and his ice pirate crew and are planned to be taken to their home. But when our heroes steal the ship to return home, the pirates vow to get their revenge. So can the herd be reunited before they succumb to the elements and if that doesn’t happen will they be keelhauled by Captain Gutt?
Before I begin this review, I will start with something a little more unconventional.
When this movie was playing in theaters, before it would start there would be a short Simpsons cartoon that plays which was called Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”. This 4-minute cartoon, also the second time the Simpsons would be seen in theaters after The Simpsons Movie, has Marge drop Maggie off at a daycare center, where she befriends a caterpillar and vows to keep it safe from Gerald the Uni-Brow baby. This was a very well-received short cartoon, even though it has no dialogue it has lots of humor and suspense and was a welcome throwback to the days when The Simpsons was still in its prime. It was actually nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and lost to Paperman, but the fact it was nominated is an honor.
I’m not factoring an unrelated short cartoon into this review. However, Ice Age: Continental Drift was going to need all the help it was going to get. Even though that short cartoon starred a baby and was set in a daycare facility, ironically it contained all the maturity, creativity and wit that was otherwise missing from the movie you put down money to see.
There was a time when people looked forward to seeing Ice Age. The original movie I will admit I liked and understood why it was nominated for Best Animated Feature. I will admit I did like the second and third movies but Ice Age just isn’t working as a multi-sequel franchise. One could argue that everything they could do with this franchise was done by the end of the first movie; maybe they could come back for one sequel but otherwise it’s only worth going back for the jokes. They just need to make a new movie without a lot of effort, after that release it during the dog days of summer. Next, the parents have someone volunteer to take the kids to the cineplex to get them out of the house and what do you know, easy money!
So now that I decided to go and review Ice Age as it comes, what’s in store for us now?
Maybe I should start with the story. In this movie, the herd gets involved in a cataclysmic event that threatens everyone and hopefully everyone will live to see the end of the story. But… didn’t they do this one already? You know, when they did Ice Age: the Meltdown? So what’s going on, are the continents separating again? I’m not watching this to expect a true to life re-enactment of what the actual Ice Age was like, but one can easily pick up the recycled plot.
Then you also have the subplots, which involve Manny, Sid and Diego now having to care for Sid’s cranky grandmother, Diego now being the lovelorn one, Peaches wanting to find herself a mate and looking out for her molehog friend Louis… however, all these threads really have nothing to do with the main story, which is very bare bones. It’s just the first three heroes from the original movie getting separated from the herd and now they need to find a way back. The best one still manages to be Scrat and his fruitless pursuit of his acorn. Even though Scrat has nothing to do with the main narrative and is more like a funny intermission, he’s still the best part of this movie as while not needing any dialogue to work, he still has that wacky Looney Tunes-esque slapstick to entertain people when the main story isn’t cutting it.
However, the main story just suffers from some odd choices that… well, you’ll hear about. I’ll just say for now that jokes seem to be the driving point of the movie, because what else can they do if the movie’s story was already told by the end of the first one. And if you have lines like how Ellie asks if anyone has any questions and a kid asks her “When you drink water through your trunk, does it taste like boogers?” you know who’s the target audience.
The animation is obviously the best part of the movie. At first, we go back to the frozen tundra that you would probably expect to see in the Ice Age movies. It doesn’t give us a lot of new stuff, and what was honestly a change of pace in the third movie where the heroes were underground to save Sid from a dinosaur world. Now, we are back to the frozen ice world you are expecting and it’s… well, more of the same. This is the fourth movie after all. You also have several moments in the movie where they have something happen like you are still watching this movie as a 3-D exhibition. It makes no sense now though. It’s still well done, I honestly liked the sequence where Manny, Sid and Diego are on an iceberg in the middle of a typhoon and that still is a very impressively animated sequence. Again, it’s more of a giant icy landscape, but at least it looks good.
Now for the characters? Boy, we have a lot here. What do we learn about them this time? Well, nothing you didn’t already know. Manny’s story came full circle by the end of the third movie—in the original movie he was a grumpy mastodon who was that way on account him losing his mate and child to hunters (what are they doing? We haven’t seen them return yet). In the second movie he got himself a new mate, and in the third movie he now has a new child. That was pretty much it for him; now we are just checking back in to see how he’s doing now that he’s a father once again and that doesn’t make for the most compelling narrative. For Diego, well, his role was seemingly used up around the same time, he spent the second and third movies not having any real role beyond being a snarker. Here he finally gets a role in that he’s now the one to get a girlfriend. I am willing to accept this primarily because I can see Diego under that type of light. And Sid… well, I’ll just say he’s still getting that same plot that you are probably expecting him to do. Because of some Flanderization, now he’s the screw-up/dummy. However, he’s already shown some development in the past, but now he’s just too dumb to live and more or less needs constant supervision. We are on the fourth movie now, it shouldn’t still be a big shock to them if they know he can pull through and do the right thing! Needless to say, Sid’s idiocy is no longer fresh or funny. Another key character is Sid’s cranky grandmother. The cranky grandparent character is potentially funny, but… for some reason she just doesn’t do much to be all that funny. Maybe it’s because this character usually needs some sort of long history of experience they can draw from and the comedy can come from that, but… one probably gets the impression her past isn’t all that different from how things are in this movie? Therefore they could probably easily relate and… well, it just isn’t funny. The running joke she has involving her pet that may or not be real isn’t all that funny either. Characters like Ellie, Crash and Eddie are only there for continuity, they have no real role otherwise. Probably the weakest character though is Peaches, Manny and Ellie’s now-adolescent daughter. She was born in Dawn of the Dinosaurs, a child in the Mammoth Christmas Special, and now she’s an adolescent. How to describe her? Well, can you name a teenage girl trope? That’s her! Her Friend Zoned-molehog pal Louis is just that, someone who will never get out of that label.
On the villains’ side of things, we have the ice pirates led by Captain Gutt. He’s a seafaring prehistoric simian who commanders a group of pirates; it’s always nice to hear from Peter Dinklage, who else would be appropriate than the actor from Game of Thrones whose iconic catchphrase is “Winter is coming”? You also have Shira, his first mate who is Diego’s new love interest and slowly is drawn to the heroes’ side, Squint, the bunny who is spoiling for a fight, Gupta the cowardly badger who doubles as their flag, Flynn the elephant seal who is just a big dumb blubberhead…
Do you want me to tell you more about them? Well there’s not really a point, simply because well, there is just no reason why they need to be pirates. Usually pirates have some sort of objective, like vying for political power or hunting for buried treasure, but… they don’t do anything of that nature; you could just as easily have had them be the prehistoric answer to a biker gang and nothing would be different. Other than giving an answer to where Diego’s new love interest originated from, the only real purpose they have is to give the movie some sort of conflict. It very much feels like to keep this franchise alive (and to keep money rolling in), they now have to start pulling stuff out of their butt.
You sensing a problem here? There is a big mess of characters but the one that seems to have much appeal at all is Scrat, and he’s not a key character in the story! Well outside of his silly antics acting as a catalyst for the disaster to occur, which is ridiculous.
For all these problems I’m finding, this is not a terrible movie. It’s not worth hating simply because it’s not bad just so relentlessly mediocre that hating it would be a waste. This movie is not supposed to be art; much like the more current Alvin and the Chipmunks movies it’s a very middle-of-the-road movie that kids will go to and get some laughs and then it will be out of sight, out of mind before you know it.
By this point, Ice Age is now just being used as a cash cow for easy money. That’s a poor state of affairs when you think about it. I can’t hate this movie but it’s safe to say this franchise is out of gas by now.
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
TreyVore rates it: C-
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 18, 2022 23:47:58 GMT -5
As far as box-office goes, Minions: Rise of Gru is totally kicking Lightyear's butt. It does make sense. Their success is further exemplified in their domination in the family films, meaning family films are coming back after a long string of duds. That, and the fact that Paws of Fury: Legend of Hank is packing a rather weak punch. This RT article says: Animated films have not had a great run since the pandemic began in 2020. It was almost two years before we saw one gross over $100 million ( Sing 2). A second occurred this summer with Lightyear, but that one has been considered a disappointment with just $115 million. Only the Minions have truly broken through to deliver numbers that feel pre-2020. Audiences just weren’t buying Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, on the other hand. Since the shortened run of Pixar’s Onward in 2020, animated films have not put up huge numbers, but they also haven’t put up extremely low openings either. Spirit Untamed ($4.39 million), Ron’s Gone Wrong ($5.78 million), and now Paws of Fury ($6.2 million) are the only 2,000-plus-theater-launched animated films to open under $10 million. The so-called “ Blazing Saddles updated for kids” will probably land between $25-30 million and likely end up on Paramount Plus very soon. editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/weekend-box-office-results-thor-love-and-thunder-stays-on-top-despite-big-drop/ |
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 16, 2022 3:32:03 GMT -5
I saw it's RT score it's at 51%.
The audience score is a little better at 62% but I have some reservations about that one.
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 14, 2022 23:52:11 GMT -5
To tie in to Belchic's recent retrospective, I decided to review:
The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002)
Distributor: Warner Bros./Cartoon Network Studios
Director: Craig McCracken
Cast: Cathy Cavadini (Blossom), Tara Strong (Bubbles), E. G. Daily (Buttercup), Roger L. Jackson (Mojo Jojo), Tom Kane (Professor Utonium, Talking Dog), Tom Kenny (Mayor of Townsville, Narrator, Mitch Mitchelson, Snake, Li’l Arturo), Jennifer Hale (Ms. Keane), Jennifer Martin (Ms. Bellum), Jeff Glen Bennett (Ace, Big Billy, Grubber)
Runtime: 73 min.
MPAA rating: PG (non-stop frenetic animated action)
This movie, set in the city of Townsville, is in some serious trouble. Crimes run rampant throughout the city and everyone is too scared to do much of anything. Professor Utonium hopes to change that, as he buys some ingredients to create the perfect little girl: sugar, spice and everything nice. However, during his experiment, his pet chimp Jojo bumps him breaking a vial of Chemical X that dumps into his concoction. The result is three adorable, yet superpowered, kindergarten-age girls: Blossom, who opens right up, Bubbles, who is cute and bubbly, and Buttercup because… it also begins with a B. During their first day of school, a game of tag results in them creating mass destruction and the whole town turns a hateful eye against them. Once they meet Jojo, now Mojo Jojo and also mutated as a result of the experiment, he uses them to create an army of genius monkeys who soon start vying for power. Can the Powerpuff Girls put an end to this insanity?
I am very sure if you remember growing up in the late 1990s/early 2000s, you probably remember watching the popular Cartoon Network original Cartoon Cartoon series The Powerpuff Girls. This series, which began life as a project from Craig McCracken at CalArts, was a highly popular show, and likely one of their best-known series. What probably helped with that notion was that while most of the Cartoon Cartoons were made with the intention of being art first, commerce second, this series lent itself to the idea of being a merchandising machine best. It had stuffed dolls, T-shirts, coloring books, lunch boxes, Burger King toys, music soundtracks, a standalone comic book, a Christmas special, video games… the series even had a spinoff as a Japanese anime series!
The series itself is a quality show and very notable as a late 90s cartoon; even today it holds up really well. Coming in while the fourth season of the series was still going, the decision was made to have the Powerpuff Girls headlining a major motion picture. The reviews were reasonably good, but even though the show was still very popular at the time of its release it was a box-office dud once it’s run in theaters was finished; I remember at my local Tinseltown it was only in there for just the Fourth of July weekend and then it disappeared!
There were probably a bunch of reasons for this though. For one, promotions were generally limited; without a big marketing push, it’s not going to have a major box-office draw. Second, in animated films the WB and Cartoon Network don’t exactly have Disney’s marketing strength; they can only go so far without some support and leave it in theaters for so long. Third, they did have some very stiff competition—in the time of its release in summer 2002 Spider-Man’s box-office run was either finished or just about so that wasn’t an issue, but it did have to fight for box-office cash against some other heavy-hitting summer movies like Men in Black 2 and Lilo and Stitch. Fourth, there was also the now-outdated idea that kids don’t like cel-animation and now it all has to be CGI… This would mean no more major animated film adaptations of popular Cartoon Cartoons; they would not try again until 2018 when they would give us Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.
Now that the movie just turned 20 years old, I thought it would be a good time to go and give the movie a review. So here we go.
The movie went all the way back to the beginning before the series chronologically started. The movie’s story is a prequel to the show; it details what caused Professor Utonium to want to start his experiment, how the Girls were created, how Mojo Jojo was created, how the Girls were to become heroes in the first place—it may not be as much of an issue now that time has passed, but I would be willing to think some people may have been disappointed they weren’t getting something different. Nowadays though, you’d be perfectly fine starting with this movie and then watching the series, as it would give some background to how Townsville started off and why the Girls need to be its heroes.
I will say though, some smaller kids might be a bit turned off by the tone. The series itself always had kind of a happy feel to it, as if the whole town was hopped up on Prozac. The movie, being a prequel, shows it wasn’t always like this as the town is riddled with crime and lawlessness. We do get some moments you would expect to see the three titular girls acting like little kids and just having some fun, but then a major portion of the movie as them angsting over their powers and feeling as though everyone hates them. Of course they weren’t going to be loved overnight, but some kids might be wondering why the tone seems rather dreary.
From a storytelling perspective, the movie does its job just fine as an origin story for the Powerpuff Girls. This also feels like a bit like the end of one era, as it started off as a lighthearted action/comedy series that after this movie to stay competitive with other popular shows it would become more of a crude gag comedy where it’s three heroes just happened to have superpowers. It may feel like three back-to-back episodes of the show, but it works fine, seeming to send the message of judgements should be made based on actions rather than outward appearances.
Now, for the animation. The real deal series has a minimalist style to it, which is fine for keeping the budget under control for a TV series, but as a movie? Well, it doesn’t look exactly like the show as they tried to go for an extreme look, like they knew this was going to be getting a theatrical release. However it’s newer look is really just a minor upgrade, as it does it’s job to keep the energy going for fight sequences, but still just a bit better than the series itself. Nothing is painful to look at (in a bad way, at least), but it doesn’t look like something that needed to be in theaters it still just looks like it could have just been shown on Cartoon Network as a made-for-TV movie. The animation is probably the weakest aspect.
Now, for the characters? This might be the strongest aspect. You probably have some idea of what to expect if you are a fan of the show, but for the uninitiated, the three Girls themselves can be described as superheroes that just happen to be little girls. Blossom is the smartest member who leads them and always wants to look for the most logical answer, Buttercup is the rough-and-tumble tomboy who would rather punch first and ask questions later, and Bubbles is the bubbly cute one who is the team’s gooey emotional core. They maintain their appeal and lose nothing in translation from show to movie. Professor Utonium is the Girls’ father figure who wants his creations to be role models, but he, as you’d expect, goes through some trials and tribulations about being a first-time parent. Not just as normal children but three kindergarten-aged superpowered ones that would first cause millions of dollars in damage and then potentially doom Townsville. The main villain of the movie is Mojo Jojo, probably the Girls’ most notable offender in their Rogue Gallery. He started off as Professor Utonium’s pet chimp until the accident that created the Girls mutated him as well; now an outcast he wants to make the world better—for himself anyway—and schemes to use monkeys as pawns in his plot to overthrow the humans. The movie does feature some of the series’ other notable characters—Ms. Keane, the Mayor, Ms. Bellum, Talking Dog—they just appear to do their roles as you would expect. The movie does technically need them, but you’re not left wanting them to do anything else. The only other notable appearances come from the Gangreen Gang, who menace the Girls in one sequence and do return later before the movie is over. They are not strongly characterized, but the fanservice was probably a nice touch. The only other villain to appear is Fuzzy Lumpkins, who while not getting a speaking role helps set the tone as he is seen robbing a grocery store and makes one more appearance at the end. The characters all work, some obviously in greater capacity than the others.
The Powerpuff Girls Movie may not have set the box-office on fire, but it does its job nicely and serve as a way to help get a non-fan an idea of what to expect from the show. Like the series itself, the movie does hold up well. I will say though… that cannot be said for the short cartoon that proceeds the main feature, “Chicken Scratch”. Actually no, it never was any good. This short cartoon, based on the older Cartoon Network series Dexter’s Laboratory, is about Dexter getting chickenpox and he’s warned not to scratch it. This bizarre, alien cartoon has some ideas of what you are probably expecting from that series but the zest is gone—it very much feels like it was only done due to corporate decree. At the time though, the later episodes of Dexter’s Laboratory were getting stupider and less creative, almost like Genndy Tartakovsky wanted to end Dexter but Cartoon Network just continues to order more episodes; it seemed like he was trying to get it canceled. If you get past that short cartoon though, you’ll find The Powerpuff Girls Movie is worth seeing. I guess you can say the day’s entertainment was saved, thanks to the Powerpuff Girls!
The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002)
TreyVore rates it: B-
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Post by Trey_Vore on Jul 13, 2022 10:50:18 GMT -5
I'll go and read it tonight, have a day off tomorrow.
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How you holding up?