First it was Pokemon, then the Rugrats. Now the Powerpuff Girls become the
latest small-screen phenomenon to receive their own big-screen spin-off.
These diminutive bug-eyed superheroines - better known as Buttercup, Blossom
and Bubbles - have won millions of fans by constantly "saving the world
before bedtime".
Craig McCracken's film version offers more of the same, though grown-ups dragged along by their little ones may be pleasantly surprised to find a subversive vein of humour underpinning the frantic
antics.
Conceived as a prequel to the Cartoon Network TV series, the movie reveals how the three Bs came to be created in Professor Utonium's lab when, in a
quest to create the perfect little girl, he accidentally mixed "sugar, spice
and everything nice" with mystery elixir "Chemical X". With their laser beam eyes, superhuman strength and ability to fly at the
speed of light, it doesn't take long for the girls to bring havoc to the
city of Townsville.
However, having banished our heroines to a distant planet, the Mayor is forced to call on their services to defeat the evil
Mojo Jojo - the Professor's mischievous monkey, now an evil genius bent on global domination.
Though tots will love the incessant action, some of the darker elements will
thankfully pass them by - notably a surreal sequence in which Mojo turns his
fellow simians into brain-bulging mutants.
It is delirious moments like these, combined with retro animation that recalls classic cartoons like Mighty Mouse and The Jetsons, that make this almost as much fun for
grown-ups as it undoubtedly will be for kids.
The Powerpuff Girls (2002)
