Powerpuff Girls Movie, The

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

Clearly, great fun.

Village Voice Mark Holcomb

The rapid-fire satirical sophistication (scatology notwithstanding) and lovingly rendered pulp surrealism of this sequence should delight adults, while kids will get a charge out of the heroines' grown-up-defying chutzpah.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

It's a good movie infused with moments of greatness.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Brilliant, wacky, and utterly charming fluff, with millions of mad monkey minions to boot.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The three kindergarteners make up for their lack of irony with laser-power eyes, radical post-post-postfeminist blithe confidence, and some of the coolest retro-futuristic animation style this side of Gerald McBoing-Boing.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

One of the more ingenious and fresh surprises of the summer.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's a universe invented for our delight and pleasure and nothing else, a world made up of colors not found in nature but in a little girl's sock drawer. In Powerpuff Girls, shapes, images and colors make up the most crucial part of the message. It's a hot-pink little movie.

LA Weekly Robert lloyd

All you really need to know, finally, from a consumer angle, is that it is not boring, and looks fantastic, and maintains the wit and spirit of the original, and that -- it takes care of the grown-ups first. There are obscure puns and cultural references for Mom and Dad, dog pee and monkey poo (metaphorical) for the kids, and fighting for . . . everybody!

Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour

Has the right mix of sugar and spice for a satisfying rush.

Washington Post Jane Horwitz

Sparklingly inventive and artful, always fast and furious tale.

Film Threat Michael Dequina

May be formulaic but never fails to find other ways to entertain.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

A piquant entertainment and zeitgeist reflector designed to embolden little thrashettes.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

What's really so appealing about the characters is their resemblance to everyday children. They're wildly energetic, competitive and (sometimes dangerously) impulsive. But they also learn from their mistakes, and their instincts are good. More power to them.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Don't give the kids any sugar before this one -- it's so hyperactive it'll send them into overdrive without it.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Forgoes that split-level wit to concentrate on mere rock 'em sock 'em mayhem.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

When the Powerpuff Girls blink those soulful dinner-plate peepers, you could forgive them anything - even their movie's wafer-thin excuse for a plot.

Chicago Tribune Scott L. Powers

"The Movie" is bigger, brighter and boomier on the big screen than the series is on cable, but is it any better? The short answer is no, but that's not necessarily bad.

Variety Joe Leydon

Small children who will accept it as rock-'em, sock-'em excitement with a touch of gender-specific empowerment, and hipper teens and grown-ups who can appreciate the whole thing as a semisatirical hoot.

Washington Post Dan Via

Offers cleverness and charm that are hard to come by in the summertime multiplex.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

The action sequences are so franticly dizzying that they make "Run Lola Run" look as though it unfolds in slow motion.

Portland Oregonian Stephen Whitty

All in all, as products go, The Powerpuff Girls Movie is an honest one, probably better constructed than the trio's lunchbox and a little more reasonably priced than their T-shirts. But it's still a product, not a picture.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

While the series is smart enough to have inspired an army of adult fans, too little of its droll intelligence is on view here. Instead, the film feels like a rote effort made for some quick box-office bucks.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

There's a wonderfully funny and relentlessly cute 45-minute cartoon within The Powerpuff Girls Movie; unfortunately, it's padded out with almost as much filler.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Half enjoyable goof, half an uncomfortable panorama of urban terrorism that just doesn't sit well after Sept. 11.

USA Today Mike Clark

Isn't much, it's just lively enough to placate its limited audience to make it an easy choice over "Scooby-Doo's" stale Alpo.

Chicago Reader Hank Sartin

Though the action is a bit intense for very young kids, it's probably no worse than what they see on television.