I don’t know why Cartoon Network has suddenly decided to green-light so many live action films, but I’m glad they did. This was surprisingly well acted and had much better special effects than you would usually find in a made-for-television movie. The core cast members have great chemistry, and if the network decides to allow for another film to follow the next edition of the animated series, I hope they use the same cast. While each of the relatively unknown cast members did a fantastic job, I especially loved Galadriel Stinemen as Gwen. She managed to pull of Gwen’s confidence in herself as well as her worry for her family in the same breath without any of it seeming forced.

My one bone of contention with this is that it does not work well as a standalone movie. I don’t have a lot of familiarity with the animated series the film follows (I have only seen the occasional episode while flipping through channels), and I found myself looking up information about the show and its characters during the movie’s commercials (I watched it when it reran on Cartoon Network) to make sure I had the backstory straight. If you have no knowledge of the animated series, there is a very brief rundown of who the characters are at the beginning of the movie, but there is no real explanation, which can make the rest of the movie a little confusing.

So, what’s the verdict? If you don’t mind the missing backstory, or, if you’re willing to do a little research to appreciate the movie, then you will enjoy it. It’s well done and a lot of fun for a kid’s action-adventure story. If you’re already familiar with the show, you’ll probably enjoy the fast forwarding one year into the lives of the alien fighting characters.