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Well, I fell for it. I was sucked in by the hype not once, but twice. Yes, I saw the Pokémon movie twice. Once on opening day at two o'clock along with a 50% full theater of parents and their school aged children. The second showing I saw on the Friday after it opened at eleven thirty. I was not really expecting all that much from a Pokémon movie, but I think the younger kids will get something out of it, other than a Pokémon fix. First, a quick glance at the review from your local newspaper or any website about the movie will tell you, the movie is actually two movies in one. The first is a "short" that lasts maybe 15 to 20 minutes called `Pikachu's Vacation', and the second is called `Mewtwo Strikes Back' that runs maybe 50 minutes to an hour. (I did not have a watch on so I could not get exact times.)
`Pikachu's Vacation' looks like an episode of the show that has no commercials and mostly involves Brock's, Misty's and Ash's various pokémon from the show. They drop off their pokémon at a sort of playground for pokémon. The story revolves around the wacky adventures that Pikachu and the others have there. The story is told mostly by a background voice from a special Pokedex that is observing them. I think that the Pokedex part could have been left out and they could have told the story much more effectively, but I guess they did it for the kids rather than adults. The story is about when some of Ash's pokémon meet some local bullies of the playground, giving them a hard time while they are trying to take care of Misty's Togapi. Instead of fighting it out, they have a series of competitions. This leads to one of the larger Pokémon getting stuck and they all have to get him out. I really did not have too many problems with this part of the movie, but they left in some odd things in this one. For no reason, they will cut to some strange sort of 60's acid trip scene that seems rather out of place, and once it's done they will go back to the main story. They are kind of cute though, and the one with a pink hippopotamus-looking animal called Slowpoke is totally hilarious.
The second one, `Mewtwo Strikes Back', is much more serious than `Pikachu's Vacation.' It deals with the development of Mewtwo and shows how he goes out of control. Basically, a group of scientists designs the most powerful pokémon ever, and he develops a plan to destroy the human race by causing a giant storm to flood the planet, leaving him to rule the earth along with his army of pokémon clones. To make more clones, he invites some of the best trainers, including Ash, Misty and Brock, to his island to clone their pokémon and make them more powerful. Eventually, they get to the island through a storm with some help from Team Rocket (who is not all that annoying in the movie.) Then after they meet other trainers that have gotten to the island using their pokémon, Mewtwo shows himself to them and makes them fight his cloned Venusaur, Charlizard and Blastoise with the trainer's normal versions of them. Then after losing, Mewtwo takes all their pokémon and clones them. Then after only brief shots of a small flying pokémon, it reveals itself to be Mew. A fight ensues between the clones and the originals and Mew and Mewtwo as well. It is a virtual standstill, between all the Pokémon and just as Mew and Mewtwo unleash their ultimate power, Ash comes between the beams and turns to stone. The tears of the Pokémon bring him back to life and Mewtwo realizes that his quest is futile and he takes off with his clones and Mew to learn more.
I have no major problems with the movie itself. The animation is just like that in the television show, and it's not all that groundbreaking. The movie does have a message (in fact both do) and it does kind of candy coat it, but at least it has one. (Unlike what a certain movie reviewer on a major network said.) Don't go into the movie expecting something like Akira or Dragon Ball Z, it's good light escapist fun. So parents, go ahead and take the children to see it without worries.
Rating: *** [out of 5]
[As always this belongs on Collectortimes.com and no where else. If I do find it anywhere else, you will find a large psychic pokémon at your front door when you least expect it.]
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