Movie explores beginnings of ‘The Powerpuff Girls’

Superheroing has a new face.

Actually, it has three new faces, very young faces with great big eyes. And, as on display in “The Powerpuff Girls Movie,” these faces are adorable.

The Cartoon Network staples have made their way into the cinemas this summer, with a film that tells how the Powerpuff Girls came to be.

When Professor Utonium, their guardian, combined sugar, spice and everything nice, he created Bubbles (the innocent one), Buttercup (the aggressive one) and Blossom (the brainy one). But then a monkey in his lab knocked some of Utonium’s Chemical X into the mix, giving the girls something unexpected – superpowers. They ultimately will be the salvation of crime-riddled Townsville.

At first, the girls and Professor Utonium are a fairly normal family. He enrolls them at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten, so they can interact with children their own age.

Then after a particularly destructive game of tag, their schoolmates, and Townsville residents, turn against the girls. This leaves them vulnerable to the wooing of another outsider, the aforementioned monkey who has evolved into the supervillain wannabe Mojo Jojo.

Jojo tricks the girls into aiding his world-conquering scheme. After they discover their role in this plot, they take off for some soul-searching, to determine their place in the world. Naturally, they come back to save Townsville – before bedtime.

The Powerpuff Girls are already well on their way to becoming pop-culture icons. There’s a lot of touches in the film that will appeal to adults, and even take them back to their childhood a little bit.

However, “The Powerpuff Girls Movie” is an overinflated version of a regular episode, and not in a good way. It’s filled out with gratuitous cartoon violence and not nearly enough extra cleverness.

My junior critic, a huge PPG fan, naturally “loved it.” (She wasn’t terribly objective this time.) My preschool critic, who likes to watch the PPG episodes, appropriately dozed off for the final third of the film (I caught myself earlier in time.)

Avid fans of the Powerpuff Girls won’t be disappointed with this movie. Those just getting to know Bubbles, Buttercup and Blossom would be better off watching the TV show for their indoctrination.

Dale McGarrigle is the NEWS’ veteran entertainment writer. His 6-year-old daughter Samantha has helped to keep the Powerpuff Girls’ merchandising machine rolling. His 3-year-old son Ben is still getting acclimated to the PPG, preferring instead classic cartoons like “Scooby Doo, Where Are You.”