gotta start somewhere, right?

sure, everybody knows about Pokestar Studios, right? biggest film studio in unova.

we're not that.

hey, i'm sera, a colorist assistant and digital imaging tech (read: I Do The Stuff My Bosses Don't Want To) for Scizor Films Post Production. we're a small team working independently, one of many that handles editing, sound, vfx, color, and other film industry services. whenever David Pokénch or Sydney Pokémet says "fix it in post"? we're post.

i work weird hours here, often times stuck in a back room alone, with just Leo (my Kecleon) and Mac (the Porygon-2 i have to babysit to make sure our internal servers don't implode) to keep me company.

this blog is going to be answering questions and telling stories about working in the weeds of pokefilm, because sometimes you just need a place to vent.

pronouns are she/they. i type like i talk, in all lower case (except for Emphasis, where necessary or funny). askbox will be perpetually open; ask me anything about whatever and i'll do my best to answer.

I finally got a chance to watch the first of the hour-long specials, courtesy of a stream by @pocketmonstersrimeiku the other day. (The stream also ran the Japanese version of the first movie, making that only the second of these films I’ve seen in its original language. It was a fun time, though it didn’t substantially alter my thoughts on that film.)

Compared to the other hour-long special this show has done, Mewtwo Returns is a freakin’ masterpiece. Compared to a good number of the movies, it’s a slam dunk. And even without any comparisons, it’s pretty damn good, and one of the highlights of the Johto years.

Unlike Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon and many of the films, Mewtwo Returns has a central theme, clearly defined and presented. Mewtwo’s existential dilemma about the place he and his fellow clones have in the world, being living beings but not born of nature, is a compelling idea. If anything, it’s stressed a little too much in the dialogue - not unlike the themes of the first movie. But if the special is heavy-handed at times, that isn’t enough of a problem to take away from the value of the concept in the first place. And Mewtwo’s evolution from vengeful creature to conflicted caretaker feels very natural and believable. His final shift at the end, to a city-dweller exploring the world, was also solid, and it’s a shame more wasn’t done with that outside of him turning up in a cape in one of the openings.

(An interesting subplot connected to Mewtwo’s dilemma is Pikatwo being a rather aggressive advocate for not hiding away from the world, to the point of leading a faction of defectors that Ash’s Pikachu ends up involved with. It’s a well-written story point, and it almost feels like a trial run at Takeshi Shudo’s daydreams of a Pokemon revolution storyline.)

Allowing for the fact that I haven’t seen all of BW’s Team Rocket material, this special is the one time I felt that the Team Rocket organization as a whole was used to anything close to their full potential. They’re presented as a competent and threatening criminal group, with Giovanni in particular having some real bite to him in a way that later series undermined. Domino, aka 009, aka Black Tulip, is a fantastic villain. Her disguise was convincing and even funny, her true persona is dangerous and even a little edgy without going over the line for a kids’ show, her design is unique, and her potential as Giovanni’s right hand is wide open. The fact that she hasn’t reappeared since this special is criminal.

And Ash gets a decent role in the proceedings too. He isn’t given an arc of his own (par for the course, unfortunately), but he does end up integrating into the plot in a much more natural way than most of the movies manage. And through very simple means, too; he shows Mewtwo kindness because Mewtwo showed Pikachu kindness. The connection between them is subtle but compelling, and it’s yet another element of this special that I wish would’ve seen some follow-up later on.

But apart from its good points not being followed up on, this special does have some real flaws. To start with more of a pet peeve on my end - I think Takeshi Shudo let his fondness for the TRio cloud his judgment on writing them at times. He may have intended them as basically good, but they are frequently shown to have strong streaks of cowardice, amorality, and selfishness, and Meowth is possibly the worst offender of the three. He abandons Jessie and James to their prison so he can deliver Pikachu to Giovanni and claim the credit, but then immediately shifts to allying with Pikachu and the clones. His turn doesn’t feel motivated, but arbitrary - as if the plot demanded it, or the writer wanted it. (To be fair to Shudo, he isn’t the only one who did this with the TRio; years later, Meowth’s water works in Volcanion felt just as contrived.)

There’s also the disappointing fact that, at the climax, it’s Misty and Brock who step up to hold the entire Team Rocket army at bay while Ash rushes to save Mewtwo, and the battle is entirely off-screen. I wouldn’t even object to that - or rather, I wouldn’t object to the majority of the battle being off-screen so long as we got a taste - except that Giovanni ends up appearing for a final confrontation with Mewtwo without explanation. Did he win? Did he sneak around and leave his minions to do the dirty work? Is the battle on-going? Did a rift in the space-time continuum allow Giovanni to exist in two places at once?  What happened, Shudo!?

And that leads me to the biggest problem with Mewtwo Returns - there’s too much story here for the time allotted. To its credit, the special manages its many elements fairly well for the first two-thirds or so; Mewtwo’s angst, Team Rocket’s plotting, the TRio’s comedy antics, and Ash’s journeys are all well-balanced and well-paced. It’s only when the action comes to a head that the strain starts to show. Mewtwo is restrained by Giovanni, Ash and friends are imprisoned, and Team Rocket begins converting the island into a headquarters that pollutes the pure waters of the lake within a matter of minutes of screen time, and seemingly only a few hours of time at best within the story. Because there isn’t enough time at the end for the possibility of Giovanni regaining control of Mewtwo to amount to anything, that element feels rushed. Misty and Brock’s not-battle, and Mewtwo and Giovanni’s last stand-off, feel hurried along as well. And the TRio’s casual disregard for their organization’s plans seems rather...well, casual.

I said it without having seen this special, but I feel it even more strongly upon seeing it - this should’ve been an arc in the series, not a one-off. It isn’t as if there was anything going on in Johto around this time, and more time would’ve solved every major flaw in this story. Mewtwo could’ve actually been under Giovanni’s thumb for part of the arc, allowing for some additional drama and an expanded sense of scale and menace - instead of just threatening one island, Team Rocket could’ve threatened one, possibly two regions. Their takeover of the island could’ve been more well-paced, the consequences more clearly established. Misty and Brock could’ve gotten their battle, and Ash’s quest to save Mewtwo could’ve been more involved, giving all three of them more material. And this story as an arc would’ve given Takeshi Shudo a perfect opportunity to do what he always wanted with the TRio - have them realize that they’re basically good people in service to a bad organization, and truly reform, on a believable time frame. (And who knows? Under those circumstances, maybe they would’ve been the ones to leave after Johto.)

But if missed opportunities are the biggest flaw a special has, then one can’t complain too much. I really enjoyed this special, and I’m happy to have seen it in its original language first.

I believe I remember seeing an ask about pikachu being pests? I work in the pokefilm industry and can say with confidence that they are. My job is to walk the electrical cables and clear electric types out so that they don’t disrupt filming. Pikachu are vicious little creatures, worse than the magnemite and joltiks combined.

Yes, they can be a nuisance! A very cute nuisance, though

Of the pokefilms you adapted for TRYC, which are your favorite and least favorite as they are?

It may sound arrogant, but I don’t hate any of them. Still, the one I would change the most would probably be the first one, simply because it’s the first and my writing has improved since then. That being said, Harbinger was the most difficult for me to write, and I remember hating it viciously when I was writing it because eff this story. That was the one where I experimented for a lot of the story writing from points of view I normally wouldn’t and it was a struggle for me and I don’t think I’ll ever be entirely happy with it. So if I had to choose least favourite right now it’d be one of those two.

I’ve always been a little more fond of Distortion and Between Time and Space. Not quite sure why. 

If I was picking the original movies they were based on then fuck The Mastermind of the Mirage Pokemon holy shit that’s so bad and I watched it so many times (pity me). 

Ah yes...this one...

Well, I was writing posts back when the Japanese release was imminent about how spoilers painted M20 as overstuffed, that I wasn’t happy about swapping in two new characters for the OS cast, etc., so I obviously didn’t come to my viewing without baggage. Still, I kept as open a mind as I could about I Choose You.

And there’s credit to be given here. Aside from the usual stellar animation - which may be at its best to-date in this flick - I Choose You is, ironically enough for a film that’s part-retelling, different. Volcanion laid bare just how stale the typical pattern these movies follow had become, so even a look back to the start of the series represents a welcome break from routine. And the divergence from those early days comes fairly early in the film. Even having been spoiled on the broadstrokes of the plot, I didn’t feel like I knew exactly how things would play out, which was another pleasant change of pace.

FROM HERE, THERE BE SPOILERS

And those first few scenes, telling an abridged version of the first episode, are delightful. This is the most personality Pikachu’s shown in quite a while - cheeky, mischievous, even bratty. Voice acting and animation work together beautifully to sell that side of him, and it’s easily one of the highlights of the film. Ash is given some great lines unique to this telling (”There’s something wrong with this Pokemon,” Oak tells him. “That’s alright - I was late, so there’s something wrong with me, too!”), and if you overlook the absence of a certain redhead, this is about as nice a retelling of Ash and Pikachu’s first meeting as you could ask for.

I Choose You earns credit on another score - it actually has Ash as the protagonist. It’s still shocking to me how rarely the main character of the anime gets the through-line, or even an arc, in these movies, but he certainly does here. The plot isn’t as laser-focused on his and Pikachu’s friendship as some of the comments by staff would have you believe, but I wouldn’t say that’s bad in and of itself. Reviving the “Chosen One” angle for Ash was something that wasn’t spoiled for me, and seemed appropriate for a story featuring the second member of the Legendary Duo.

And there are Easter eggs aplenty here for hardcore fans. I suspect there are many more that went over my head, me still being so far behind on the series.

But these highlights can’t compensate for all the defects. I Choose You is a seriously flawed film, in ways that could be predicted from the synopsis, and in unexpected ways as well.

Everyone who’s reported that the film is overstuffed is correct, but that doesn’t hurt the film in the way one might think. An overstuffed plot will often feel overbearing and unrelenting - too much going on for there to be any focus. Diancie is a good example of this from the Pokemon canon. This is the odd overstuffed film where, too often, it feels like nothing is happening. And I blame this on the way the film structures the middle section. After the abridged first episode section, the movie falls into what I can best describe as the almost-montage. An example: Ash and Pikachu are battling the Celadon Gym, but instead of leading into a montage of Gym Battles, we go into Ash calling his mom at the Pokemon Center. Or, when Ash and his friends are battling some Trainers after getting together - instead of leading into a montage of traveling and battling, it leads into an encounter with Cross. Time and again in the middle of the film, vignettes that feel like they should be part of a sequence instead segue into scenes that introduce plot elements. This isn’t an inherently wrong way to plot the film out, but these elements never get followed up on immediately; they just peter out into another vignette, which in turn leads to a different element. The effect, then, is one of momentum getting lost over and over again, and nothing substantive happening until the last third of the movie. It makes watching the middle section extremely tedious.

Worse, many of the elements introduced don’t have much of a purpose for being here. The abridged recap of Ash’s Butterfree’s story is probably the worst example. It’s devoid of any of the rough times or more quirky, humorous moments that played out in the series, it’s so compressed that it’s impossible for their departure to carry the impact it did in the original, and it’s completely unconnected from everything else in the film. It’s a lushly-animated abridgment of a well-known OS arc, just for the sake of having it.

But while Butterfree’s inclusion is probably the most disparate meaningless plot thread, the Legendary Beasts are the most frustrating for me, because there was a lot of potential there. Exploring the origin story of those Pokemon and how they tie in to Ho-Oh was a wonderful concept, and Entei at least provides a decent action scene. But it all amounts to nothing. The Beasts do not in any meaningful way affect Ash’s journey to find Ho-Oh, and their connection to him only serves as a neat bit of trivia. Like Butterfee, they’re just shown for the sake of showing some Legendary Pokemon - Legendaries that had already been used in previous films.

I Choose You also struggles with forced moments. I know some people were moved by how Ash dismisses Pikachu in his moment of frustration after losing to Cross, but I found that scene a dreadful piece of writing. Ash’s reaction to that loss - especially compared with how OS Ash would’ve reacted - is rather muted. It isn’t nearly strong enough to suggest that it’s eating away inside of him and tempting him down Cross’s path. This in turn makes the rest of the group’s impatience with him seem needlessly harsh, which makes Ash’s continued muted reaction seem like a failure to move his character  forward, which makes his comment to Pikachu a random, unearned moment of anger rather than a significant moment of weakness springing organically from his character. It takes a lot of the impact away from the subsequent dream sequence, because Ash never feels like he’s fallen low enough to have that sort of nightmare or take away any lesson that he really needed.

And then...there are the new guys.

Let’s get this out of the way up-front: being upset that Brock and Misty aren’t in this movie is a pet peeve. In and of itself, creating new characters to be Ash’s first friends on his journey is not a writing flaw. And Sorrel, at least, is very much his own character, not a cheap stand-in or replacement for Brock. He has an interesting personality and a shockingly dark backstory. Verity is a less successful character. A tomboy with a Water-Type who gets into a bickering/teasing relationship with Ash right off the bat and has family she wants to prove something to - she does feel like a replacement, and a rip-off, of Misty, with a bit of Dawn thrown in. (Side note: if her mother really is meant to be Cynthia, then that photo could’ve looked more like her.)

But the thing is: both of them are expendable. If you took them out of the film, Ash would still get the Rainbow Feather from Ho-Oh and be on his way. You could say that he wouldn’t get the background on Ho-Oh that Sorrel provides, but old man Bonji could’ve done those honors. Neither of their backstories factor into anything in the main plot, they don’t have arcs for themselves; they’re just there to be Ash’s friends, provide some brief character moments, and drop exposition now and again. I would have rather this been Ash’s solo journey than have two new characters with some potential but no payoff, but if there had to be traveling companions...with all the other homages to the OS, why not use two characters from the OS? Two characters well-loved by much of the audience and who played an important role in the show’s history, I might add.

I don’t have much to say about Cross. He’s what I imagine many fans think Paul is, if you took away any humanizing characteristics. Cross’s turn to the side of right at the end was an arbitrary change that didn’t really sell as organic character growth to me. Leaving him as the villain would have been preferable to the sudden heel turn by Marshadow, something that felt very much as if the staff felt obligated to have a big battle with a Mythical Pokemon. It’s a point where the old formula rears its ugly, tired head. As is Ash’s not-death, a concept that should be retired permanently. At this point, the only way Ash dying can have any impact anymore is if he really dies.

Oh, and the TRio were there. They were a waste of screentime. Nothing else to say.

All in all, I can’t say the film isn’t without its charms. And I do hope anyone who’s refused to see it thus far over Brock and Misty’s absence will give it a chance. But if it isn’t the worst of these films, it’s far from the best, and outside its opening moments is a very flawed if well-meaning effort at a 20th anniversary.

5/10

(You may have noticed I didn’t comment on The Speech. Frankly, I don’t see what’s so offensive about it. It was a dumb idea poorly executed, but nowhere near the low point for me.)

I’ve reviewed all the movies...why not review the hour-long specials too? And why not start with the 10th anniversary in the lead-up to the 20th?

I was actually advised against watching this. Not one person I’ve come across has said that it was good. But I’m a sucker for the Mew Duo, and this is Misty’s last major appearance to date. With those two things going for it, it can’t be that bad, right? Right?

...Right?

Let’s get this out of the way first - 4Kids didn’t exactly start their dub as a breathtaking example of quality voice acting. It took a while for them to find their groove. This being the first thing that the TCPi cast ever did, there’s a limit to how harshly one can judge them when you divorce the performances themselves from the fact that an anniversary special commissioned for the American audience is a poor choice in venue for testing out a new cast brought in to make things cheaper. And they did eventually re-dub the thing for DVD, an acknowledgement of their initial mistakes.

I’d be curious to see the re-dub some day; the copy I had to watch was the original. And, cutting them some slack for being first-timers...it’s bad. Anyone who’s ever tried to watch a Godzilla film with the international dubs Toho prepares in Hong Kong will have seen worse dubbing, but this is still bad. The fact that TCPi’s improvements over the years have been marginal at best is also a limit on the slack I’m willing to cut them. Professor Oak’s is probably the worst voice here, emotionally flat and often sliding more into Gary territory. I’m not surprised Jamie Peacock was replaced as Ash, either. Her voice might bear more resemblance to Veronica Taylor’s Ash than what Sarah Natochenny eventually did, but there’s no energy to the performance. Whether Bill Rogers improved as Brock over the years or not is an open question; he was never that good IMO. And Misty’s voice is weak, and probably the most frustrating. Michele Knotz has done a fair Jessie over the years, and her stab at Misty comes very close to Rachel Lillis in timbre, but without any of the temper, teasing, sweetness, or life that Lillis brought to the character. Like Professor Oak’s, it’s a flat performance emotionally.

Another technical problem with this special is the animation. I cannot for the life of me figure out why an anniversary special seems to have been given such a low budget. The Mirage Kingdom episodes of AG (to name just one example) had much higher quality than this. I would critique this animation if it popped up in a regular episode; in a special like this, it feels like a cheat. The bright backgrounds and almost pastel color palette also undermine any sense of threat or menace that Yung might have possessed.

The pacing is off as well. If the pokefilms after a certain point lost a truly cinematic feel (for the most part), they did at least try to present their material with a bit more flair and scope than the average episode. Hell, certain episodes try to have a bit more flair and scope than the rest. The way the story is laid out here is so...mundane. Nothing is given any sort of weight; the threat posed by Yung isn’t treated any more seriously than something a CotD or even the TRio would pull. The story itself has the glaring flaw that there’s no good reason for Yung to have invited anyone except Professor Oak to his castle. There isn’t anything in the way of a plot or an arc for Ash or anyone else; they’re basically there to witness what Yung is up to, and they don’t even stop him. Several of the films have the same problem, but not to this degree IMO, and this special doesn’t even have a CotD as a de facto protagonist. Not unless you count the Mirage Mew, which...give ‘em a point for originality, I guess.

And the character work is irritatingly lame. Misty’s guest appearances throughout AG all made more out of her initial reveal and the group’s reaction to her. Things never went overboard in that regard, but all those moments were treated as special events. In this special, her turning up is just tossed aside. Seeing her alongside Ash and May is fun, but it doesn’t amount to anything thanks to the virtual non-existence of a role for any of them in the plot. The unique dynamic between Misty and Ash, or Misty and Brock, or Max and Brock, or Ash and Professor Oak - the well-established and entertaining dynamics between any two characters - aren’t made use of, and Max and Brock individually aren’t made use of at all.

And then...there’s that one bit...

So, remember how, back in the early Kanto days where Ash and Misty were just barely friends, we had “Here Comes the Squirtle Squad,” where Pikachu is sick and the Squirtles threaten to dye Misty’s hair (or kill her, if you go by the Japanese version), and Ash is super concerned for both of them, and urges Jenny to get him back to the cave faster because he’s worried about Misty, and when he reaches the cave he imagines her screaming and falling and gets all frightened? Remember that?

Fast forward hundreds of episodes, eight movies, an hour-long special, a couple of Chronicles adventures, and lots of character development that saw Ash and Misty become best friends, with the latter definitely crushing on the former and the former possibly subconsciously doing the same. Given all that, what is Ash’s reaction to Misty falling to her apparent death?

“Misty! Oh, wait, they’re taking Pikachu away. Pikachu! Oh, wait, there’s a not-Mew I need to talk to. Good luck, guys!”

Bullshit.

I might give that moment more of a pass in other circumstances; the TRio have taken falls and been blasted off in ways that would result in certain death in a literal reality countless times. Those falls are played as cartoon comedy, and had Misty taken a plunge from a great height in that kind of a situation, I wouldn’t be so bothered that Ash didn’t have more of a reaction. But this is meant to be a dramatic moment. The possibility that Misty could be in real danger at the least is (nominally) present. Why does Ash have such a muted response?

This special isn’t even the only instance of this problem. Such a lack of emotion regarding human jeopardy has become a chronic flaw of this anime, and it’s maddening to me that the staff doesn’t seem to regard the bonds between people and their human loved ones as being of equal importance for the characters - and the audience - as the bonds between people and their Pokemon.

All of that said, is there anything good about Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon? Well, Professor Oak having a sweet-ass Dragonite was cool. And the basic concept of an evil scientist creating Mirage Pokemon wasn’t bad. It could easily have made a movie, and perhaps it should’ve. Executed with better animation and more emotion and scale to the storytelling, this could’ve been an excellent pokefilm, much better than Temple of the Sea IMO (which I assume it would’ve replaced). It’s just such a shame that almost everything was done wrong in the execution of this idea, and in an anniversary celebration no less. Alas, it seems TPC has made the same sort of mistake (in different aspects of production) on their next anniversary...

So...yeah. Like I said, I watched this against advice. I can only hope the next person in line takes my advice, skips this special, and reads @theroadyouchoose‘s re-write of it instead. It skews darker than the show would go, you’ll feel compelled to read the rest of her series, and you’ll spend the rest of your life thinking that the BW theme is literally titled “The Road You Choose” and was written specifically for her fics, but it’s worth it.

I HAVE WATCHED THEM ALL!

And ranked them all, from favorite to least! (Three guesses as to what’s #1, given what 97% of the content on this blog is concerned with.)

1. Revelation Lugia: At no point was there any competition for the top slot. Crisp art direction, an appropriately epic scale to the design and the staging of action, a gorgeous musical score (the dub surpassed the original on this point IMO), the best editing and pacing out of any of these movies, and a well-constructed plot that’s simple without being simplistic all speak well for it. But the real selling point for this film is the character work. The CotDs are engaging and play a vital role in the plot without overtaking it. This is the TRio’s finest hour to date IMO. Tracey may be along for the ride (as he often was in the show), but Misty enjoys the best role a travelling companion has gotten to date, and Ash is saddled with his greatest challenge ever (to my knowledge, anyway; I’ve got a hell of a lot of episodes to go in catching up on the series, but it’s hard to top “save the world by yourself because Prophecy.”) And this and the next entry on this list are the only two films where I felt that Ash (and Misty, in this case), more than just experiencing another adventure, actually grew as characters. Not that Johto or the later series built on that growth, but in this show, I’ll take what I can get.

...And, yeah, the pokeshipping doesn’t hurt its rating either.

2. Lucario and the Mystery of Mew: Again, it’s all about the character work here. This is the only other time that Ash seemed to grow, through his relationship with Lucario and his discovery of his Aura (and, in a way, it’s more of a shame that the show never built on this than it is that they never built on Ash and Misty’s growth after Lugia, when you consider that the staff wrote themselves a golden opportunity to do so in DP!) His “this time, it’s personal” goal of saving Pikachu and the parallels between himself and Sir Aaron also serve to enrich his role in a way most of the other pokefilms don’t even attempt. Lucario is the most compelling and dimensional of the movie-featured Pokemon since Mewtwo. Mew is absolutely adorable. The art direction is beautiful, and it’s scope and ambition are appropriate for the high fantasy subject matter. It loses points for some awkward pacing in the front half (the dance is so slow!) and a ridiculous lack of pathos shown when the whole human cast (temporarily) dies, but it makes up a lot of those points with its gutsy ending. No contrived out for the heroic sacrifice this time!

3. Spell of the Unown: So glad I decided to give this film a re-watch. Having an innocent and traumatized little girl, or her feelings of loss and loneliness to be more specific, be the antagonist, is an amazing move by the staff, and it works so well. The threat that those feelings pose to Ash and friends when given immense power is very tangible, though the full impact of that threat takes a while to become apparent. Giving Ash a personal stake in the adventure is very welcome, both travelling companions get decent roles, Charizard’s return is spectacular, and there is some delightfully off-beat and experimental work done in the production design. With the possible exception of Mewtwo Strikes Back, this film has the most ambition and daring of any of them. An uneven pace at the start and a questionable final fight can’t take away the fact that this movie is just cool.

4. Pokemon 4Ever: Possibly the most impressive art direction out of any of the movies; the forest feels huge, and old, and real, just in one look. The Miyazaki-esque look is appropriate for the “destruction of nature” plot, the consequences of which are plainly felt. The time travel aspect is intriguing and not confusing, and Sam is the real hero of the human cast. It tries to give the TRio a real reason to be in the movie, though it’s less successful on that front than Lugia. Drawbacks include a lag in the pace toward the middle, a contrived resurrection, a waste of the travelling companions even by pokefilm standards, and the sidelining of Ash himself.

5. Hoopa and the Clash of Ages: The most threadbare plot out of any of these movies, no real role for the companions or even Ash, and some of the dullest CotDs out there can’t change the fact this is just such a fun movie. Every ten-year old’s dream of an epic inter-gen smash-fest gets thrown on-screen, and even if it doesn’t crank things up to 11, it’s still extremely entertaining. Easily the best thing about XY/Z that I’ve seen so far.

6. Jirachi Wish Maker: An extremely choppy pace and story elements that don’t belong are a serious handicap. But this film not only gives a traveling companion an arc, but makes Max’s friendship with Jirachi the main focus. The damage done to that arc by the plot’s flaws doesn’t erase its charms. And Ash, put into a supporting role, excels in the part, much moreso than in many of these movies where he stays on the sidelines for much of the running time before abruptly becoming the hero.

7. White: Victini and Zekrom/Black: Victini and Rashiram: The “villain’s” actions are poorly motivated and the CotDs are forgettable. But Victini is just so damn cute, and its bond with Ash is so endearing. Those two things elevate the film, and give Ash one of his more dramatically satisfying stints as a glorified plot device. The gimmick of these films, however, feels like a waste.

8. Mewtwo Strikes Back: Compared to my childhood memories of it, this is a very uneven film. The travelling companions have nothing to do, the CotDs are forgettable, the TRio set the “why are we even here” trend up early, the film loses a lot of juice once the battle of clones vs. originals starts (mostly due to sluggish pacing on the fight), and the means of Ash’s revival is infuriatingly dumb. But for the first (and, as far as they knew at the time, only) movie of a kids’ cartoon meant to sell video games, it’s shocking to me how dark they went with this film. Mewtwo is a wonderfully grey character, and his origins and struggles render the first half of the film one of the best sequences in the whole franchise. The idea of prejudice and fighting for superiority as a basis for the conflict is solid in theory if a bit heavy-handed in execution. If Ash and friends (mostly friends) don’t get a lot to do once they reach the island, their journey to it is a fun adventure. And there’s a delightfully twisted horror film look to the production design. For a first outing, this was a very risky film, and even if doesn’t fully work, I think it’s a more impressive effort than most of the pokefilms because of that.

9. Rise of Darkrai: On a technical level, Darkrai has a more even script, and a more consistently solid execution of that script IMO, than Mewtwo. It’s the best of the Sinnoh trilogy by a wide margin. The CotDs (well, Alberto at least) are fun and Darkrai is an effective featured Pokemon. But the problems of the Sinnoh trilogy, while not as pronounced here, are still at hand: a light tone that leaves the Legendaries feeling less impressive than their predecessors, a rather episodic layout to the plot that kills a sense of scale, sluggish pacing and a sense of padding, no real role for the travelling companions, and Ash being a glorified deus ex machina.

10. Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice: Technical proficiency, a cinematic scale, decent dub work, and excellent use of the travelling companions argue in favor of this one being higher on the list. Arguments against that include this film featuring some of the more poorly-designed Pokemon around, a severe lack of tension and stakes in the plot, and a disappointing role for Ash. Ultimately, it just didn’t grip me the way the films immediately above it did.

11. Arceus and the Jewel of Life: Out of all the Sinnoh trilogy, this one felt the least padded, and helped clear up some of the murky plot mess of the earlier entries. The CotDs are serviceable if a little on the dull side. And this final chapter of the trilogy does aim the highest in its scope and scale, even if it doesn’t reach its goals. But Arceus’s terrible voice in the dub, and his rush to apocalyptic judgement, really hurt the character. And the main cast is worse off here than in the other entries, as Dawn ends up as sidelined as Brock in the finale.

12. Giratina and the Sky Warrior: You can give the film this - Shaymin is a well-developed character. She’s a little shit, but she’s a fleshed-out little shit. And Giratina was the most impressively presented of the Sinnoh Legendaries. But the human villain here is very dull, and Shaymin’s obnoxiousness makes it damn near impossible to get invested in her conflict or to buy her eventual friendship with Ash. On the plus side, wonderful art direction and animation.

13. Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea: This film gets off to a strong start and gives us one of the best CotDs, but it’s overlong, stalls in the middle, and its focus on the main plot comes at the expense of May’s arc with Manaphy. It also has the most maddening plot resolution out of any of them (that’s right - it’s even worse than the magic tears from Mewtwo.)

14. I Choose You!: It earns points for shaking up the routine, giving Ash an arc, and doing a superb job at retelling his first meeting with Pikachu, but its meandering middle, superfluous story turns, and some forced character work bog it down. You can give it this - it was a better anniversary show than “Mastermind of the Mirage Pokemon.”

15. Pokemon Heroes: Possibly the most frustrating of these movies to date for me, because there were a lot of elements - the setting, the mythological background, the Dragon-types - that I really liked. It’s easily one of the most beautiful of the movies, and there was a lot of potential in the plot. But most of that potential was untapped, the elements never gelled, and I was often bored watching it. When I wasn’t bored, I was frustrated and questioning - see my “review” for the whole list. And this may be the worst film on the matter of sidelining the travelling companions.

16. Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction: The charms of the titular character and some brief impressive work with the travelling companions can’t make up for an overstuffed, meandering plot full of easy fixes and an abrupt shift in focus during the last third.

17. Zoroark - Master of Illusions: Very similar situation to Diancie - a wonderful story between the titular Pokemon and Zorua can’t overcome a crowded plot that’s saddled with a weak, scene-hogging villain and terrible pacing.

18. Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel: My biggest problem with this one is that there just wasn’t much about it that was unique. Its many flaws are the same ones that plague at least half these flicks. Its good points are the same sort of good points as in the other movies. Its art direction is pleasant but nothing that wasn’t tried before. It’s just...dull.

19. Genesect and the Legend Awakened: These last two are the only ones I wouldn’t hesitate to say were bad. A fundamental weakness in the plot caused by making the titular Pokemon so unsympathetic, the poor handling of Mewtwo’s return, an unremarkable set of roles for the main cast, uneven animation, and a general feeling of laziness all conspire against a decent premise.

20. Destiny Deoxys - Awkward alien subject matter, lack of a clear emotional core, and the worst padding out of any of these flicks all leave it dead on arrival IMO.

I think I know how to solve all the problems of the new Pokemon movie: when it comes time for the dub, have all the voices performed by Christopher Walken. Ash? He’s Walken. Not-Misty and Not-Brock? They’re Walken. Pikachu and all the Pokemon? Walken. “Gotta...catch ‘em. All.”

Yes, that wouldn’t change the writing, but when Christopher Walken talks, how can anyone stay upset?

On balance, I’d say that the English score for Revelation Lugia was an improvement over the original. But, without taking anything away from 4Kids’ take on “Lugia’s Song,” the Japanese version of that track kicks all kinds of ass.

I feel rather reluctant to give up on reviewing the pokefilms just yet, and there are two that I never typed up my thoughts on, so bear with me as I delay the inevitable conclusion of this project just a little longer.

Let’s get this out of the way: like any kid who grew up with Pokemon in the late 90s, I have a big ol’ soft spot for this flick, but if I step back and look at it critically, Mewtwo Strikes Back is no masterpiece, or even an especially good pokefilm.

The pace, suspenseful and steadily building in the front half of the story, gets funky once our heroes reach Mewtwo’s island. The big battle between Pokemon and clones isn’t all that exciting IMO, save the Mew/Mewtwo duel. The American soundtrack has some questionable pieces. There’s little memorable about the CotDs, and unlike later films, there’s no real effort to involve them in the plot. Misty and Brock have nothing to do once they get to the island. Setting precedent early, Team Rocket are only here to eat up screen time and distract from the plot. And the inexplicable magic tears are still one of the dumbest things ever cooked up by 90s’ family programming to avoid a character death.

(And everyone talks about the lameness of the concept, but there’s another stupid thing about it: why the hell aren’t Ash’s friends crying!? “Tower of Terror” had been produced and released by this point - we saw how Misty and Brock react to the idea that Ash might be dead. They can’t spare anything comparable to that when he’s turned into stone!? And when the magic tears start to work, all they do is stand there and look confused!? I don’t blame 4Kids for having such a hard time figuring out what Misty’s line should be in that scene - the source animation gave them nothing to suggest any sort of emotion! Sadly, this lack of reaction by the human characters to their fellow man’s peril repeated more than once over the years.)

And yet...in some ways, Mewtwo Strikes Back is the most admirable out of all of these movies. And not just because of its delightfully creepy art direction.

Think about it - you’ve got an anime based on a successful game that, as far as you know, will have the standard year-and-a-half run before closing shop. Some on the staff might hope for an extension, but there’s no guarantee of that, nor of this rather strange Pokemon concept continuing on past the second game already in production. As far as you know, this is going to be the only movie of the franchise. And what do Takeshi Shudo and staff decide to do with this one shot at the cinema?

Oh, just spend the prologue setting up the tragic backstory of a genetic mutation that kills its creators, briefly serves the crime lord that’s haunted the series, and then decides to set out for revenge on all humanity. In Japan, they threw in an even more tragic element to Mewtwo’s story by having him befriend a human child's spirit that ends up dying on him.

That is some ballsy screenwriting.

Eighteen films and two decades later, Mewtwo is still probably the best Pokemon character that the movies have given us. He’s morally grey, evolves throughout the film, had great VAs, and drives the story in a much more direct way than many of his successors did. The issues of purpose, prejudice, and reconciling with the world that he struggles with are a bit heavy-handed in the final execution, but they’re fantastic concepts.

And if Ash doesn’t really have a role beyond reacting to the situation he’s thrown into, he does so in a much more fluid and organic way than in later films. He doesn’t arbitrarily take over combating the threat or save the day on his own; rather, stuck in a bad situation, he makes the best choices he can and affects things when he can. Outside the stupid, stupid ending, it’s a very nice role for him.

Well, this is it...unless Veronica Taylor comes back for M20, this is the last time I’ll go into a pokefilm fresh and hear the original English cast. Salute, 4Kids. Your consistently solid cast, cast in appropriate roles, will be missed. At least I have many, many, many, many, many episodes left to catch up on with you.

I suppose you could call this the Zoroark of AG (or is Zoroark the Deoxys of DP?) The other films of the gen get plenty of fan attention, but I never see anyone mention this one. And, as with Zoroark, I’m not surprised upon seeing it.

There’s no reason why such a heavy sci-fi concept as aliens should be out-of-place in Pokemon. All the tech of the world fits neatly into the “soft” science fiction category, and there are a good number of Pokemon that lean in that direction. So when I say that the idea of aliens in a pokefilm just rubs me the wrong way, understand that I can’t even explain to myself why I have such a problem with it. Maybe it’s because so much emphasis is given to the Legendary and Mythical Pokemon in each gen, and because the world as a whole is much more fantasy than sci-fi. At the end of the day, aliens just weren’t something I ever wanted to see in one of these flicks, so that hurt my interest right away.

Though I knew better, a small part of me held out hope that this would be the one movie to give Brock a proper story line. After all, Jirachi gave an arc to Max, Lucario to Ash, and Ranger to May. If any gen was going to toss ol’ Brock a bone, you’d think it’d be AG. But no - no arc for Brock. Not here, and not in any of the twelve movies to feature him. Spell of the Unown was the only one to give him a prominent role, but a decent turn as a supporting figure for Ash isn’t the same as a proper arc.

Of course, this film doesn’t give an arc to Ash or the others either. Other pokefilms have had the CotD be the de facto protagonist, but this film more than any other centers the plot around the guest star, Tory in this case. It takes the main cast nearly fifteen minutes to appear, and when they do, they’re basically along for the ride with Tory. The plot tries to position Ash in the same sort of mentor role he had in Jirachi, but it doesn’t work nearly as well this time around. Ash and Tory don’t have the sort of established rapport to build off of that Ash and Max had, and Tory is a pretty dull character if I’m being frank. And unlike Jirachi, Deoxys can’t resist letting Ash save the day at the end, regardless of how little he’s done to earn that role in a story sense.

And for all the complaints I’ve made about padding in previous reviews, this is, hands down, the worst offender on that point. It’s not quite as long a film as Ranger, but it’s longer than it needed to be, and feels it. The faux-rival for Ash is obnoxious and eats up screen time. The musical number in the middle of the film, which would’ve been the credits in any other movie, stops the plot dead. Once Deoxys invades the city, too much time is spent in a loop of “grabbers attack, we run, we hide.” And the plot is saddled with extras that are pointless at best and take away from greater opportunities at worst.

On the former point - Rayquaza is an unnecessary plot complication that’s quickly and arbitrarily neutralized at the end. On the latter - the three little ones. The antics of  Plusle, Minun, and an oddly civic-minded Munchlax are very cute, and they would’ve made great fodder for an episode of the show, but they are wrong for this movie. Munchlax never has any meaningful pay-off in the larger plot, so he could’ve been an easy cut. Plusle and Minun do have a pay-off, by feeding in to Tory’s fear of Pokemon, but it’s one they shouldn’t have had. Tory’s friendship with the disembodied Deoxys could’ve served as an emotional core and anchor for the film, had more time been devoted to it. A major step in that direction would have been: once Tory learns that his friend is a Pokemon, he gets freaked out by it, struggles to communicate with Deoxys anymore, only to ultimately come through for him in the end. The green cube of Deoxys would’ve followed Tory into the thick of things in this instance, and there could’ve been more made of the rush to get him to the regeneration center. And Tory could’ve been the one to save the day, the role that, narratively speaking, is his to take given the construction of the plot.

But they didn’t do that. They shoehorned in two cute critters who are more than a little derivative of Pikachu, never set a clear anchor for the story, dragged their feet throughout, and left us with what is, IMO, the worst of the pokefilms. That’s right - I think this one’s worse than Genesect.

Eighteen down, and one to go...

I've recently been reading your pokefilm analysis series, and they've been absolutely fascinating. However, some of your comments got me thinking about how Misty could have gotten more of a role, specifically Pokemon Heroes since the whole setting of that one seems tailor made for Misty what with the alt-Venice setting, and water being such a major theme of the film. Do you have any more concrete ideas about how Misty could have played a more central role, along the lines of your bit... (pt 1)

about her returning for Lucario? It could go two ways with her either 1) playing the lead role in such a re-imagined film, which would be awesome for Pokeshippers and Misty fans, but require a much more comprehensive re-write or 2) give Misty a major supporting role. I’ve been thinking about the later and how Misty could have played the role of an “enabler” to Ash. He’d still be the hero, but Misty would be more involved in helping him overcome obstacles and figuring out solutions… (pt 2)

Basically, due to the water theme Misty is the go to expert and problem-solver. This does have the disadvantage of pushing Ash further into the role of deus ex machina and undeserved hero though. Anyway, I’m curious as to your reaction and thoughts on the subject! And my apologies for the length of this ask, but I had a bit to share and I’ve never been great with writing concisely. Thank you for writing such an interesting blog! (pt 3)

Well, first off - thank you! Glad you liked the reviews - they were a lot of fun to do!

Funny you should mention a version of Pokemon Heroes where Misty takes the lead role; Kate of @pokeshipping had some thoughts about that. (BTW, Kate - I would still read that fic.)

As to what I would do…I haven’t thought it through to the extent I did Lucario, but I have mulled it over a bit. The biggest thing I would change would be to make the Tour de Alto Mare the main backdrop of the story - turn it into a multi-day, multi-event competition, with the race we see during the credits being the semifinals. Misty would still win it, but she and Ash would both advance to the finals.

I think the Soul Dew should’ve been the gem inside the winning medal. If Latias takes an interest in Ash, maybe Latios could take an interest in Misty. A less playful (and blatantly rulebreaking) interest, perhaps, but an interest. The dragons are there to watch the finals, and it’s immediately after the contest is over that the two Rocket gals make their first strike. Misty would come with Ash and Latias to save Latios. Ash at least, and probably both of them, should’ve been involved in the final saving of the day; as often as I complained about Ash arbitrarily doing that in other movies, it felt odd that he didn’t here. He’s largely along for the ride in Heroes as it is, but his bond with Latias gives him more of a connection to the plot than he usually gets, and would’ve allowed for him to take a bigger role in the finale in a more organic fashion.

And, of course, have at least one scene that touches on pokeshipping. Not sure where exactly, but somewhere.

Though my changes - and Kate’s, and the movie as-is - don’t solve that age-old question: what the hell do you do with Brock?

If I went all out of order in watching and reviewing these flicks, at least I’m wrapping up with the last one to date. It’s the end of the line, folks!

Well, I suppose that’s one way to get Ash involved in the plot - literally bind him to the titular Pokemon. It’s only slightly more contrived than what some of the other movies have tried, and we get some nice comedy out of it...in the beginning. The gag gets old after a while. And it all comes down to the same thing: Ash is roped into a story he has no real connection to, tags along while making little to mild impact on the plot, only to ultimately save the day in a contrived turn of events. I never thought that would be such an ongoing issue with these movies, but in nineteen films, Ash only had a meaningful story arc in three of them. Victini and Jirachi gave him nice roles as well, but it’s been extremely frustrating to go through these films and be constantly disappointed by the way the series lead is written. 

I didn’t expect padding to be a recurring problem as well. None of these movies pass the two hour mark, and a good number of them aren’t even an hour-and-a-half. I find it very strange that so many of them seem to struggle to fill that time, padding the story out with TRio antics, “come on out of your balls” Pokemon parties, other stock scenes, and a tendency to drag out travel. Volcanion further pads things out through repetition. I’ve already mentioned the ongoing gag with Ash’s bind, but Volcanion’s grumblings about humans get tired after a while too, and the message they’re attached to is rather ham-fisted in delivery.

This bit of padding wasn’t especially egregious in terms of time wasted, but it bugs me: I don’t know who thought “Serena and Bonnie make shopping trips and makeovers” was a worthwhile running gag throughout these flicks, but...no. Just...just no. The girls have good taste in clothes for Ash, but that outfit makes no difference to the plot, is quickly replaced, and doesn’t do much more than kill thirty seconds. And how can Ash keep changing his clothes without taking the bind off?

Speaking of travelling companions...Clemont was useful to the plot, they really liked showcasing Serena’s healing, washing and shopping skills this time ‘round, and they end up serving as a distraction in the final fight. It’s not the worst role ever given to Ash’s friends, but it’s nothing remarkable either, and that’s one more thing I didn’t expect to be such a common flaw. 

Team Rocket mattered to the plot again! That makes, what...five out of nineteen movies where they had any reason to be here? That’s a better track record than Brock, I suppose, but this just reinforces my feeling that the TRio should’ve been the ones to leave the show after Johto. And I know they have a soft spot, but does anyone else find it OOC just how teary-eyed Meowth gets?

That the human CotDs often become the de facto protagonists of the story, or at least the center of the meaningful human drama, is nothing new in these flicks. The real human story here is the one involving the brother and sister. Here, they command very little screen time. We spend all our time with Ash and Volcanion - who is the protagonist - that there’s basically no chance to get invested in the siblings. Hence, another set of forgettable CotDs, and another unexpected and frustrating chronic story flaw.

Another recurring plot point (not a flaw this time):  What is it with Pokemon villains and steampunk airships?

And another contrived way out of having a character die. I realize this review’s become a bit of a summary of all my ongoing frustrations with these movies, but really - I don’t know what else to write about. Volcanion has all the common flaws, a few common virtues, and very little either way that’s unique to itself that grabbed me. Though I will concede that the ending was cute.

I’ve been picking up my re-watch of the OS since watching Deoxys, so I’ve been spending a lot of time with the 4Kids dub. It made me forget just how much the TCPi dub irks me. And again, it’s not so much an issue of quality performances as casting (coughClemontcough). Though I must to say - Serena suffers from miscasting and an awkward performance in the dub. It’s like the voice was deliberately chosen to emphasize the more...let’s call them frustrating aspects of her personality. IMO, of course.

And I think I have a least favorite English opening.

I’m out of excuses after this one - time to wrap these reviews up. But until that day...

On paper, the opening of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew resembles many other pokefilms: a lengthy prologue devoted to what are essentially the guest stars of the movie with a late entry to the story by Ash and friends. In most of the films, this sort of opening illustrates in miniature a major fault in said films’ plots: the guest stars are the de facto protagonists, the ones that command and drive the plot and serve as the emotional core of the story. Ash stumbles into the thick of it, tags along for the ride, and more often than not, ends up playing hero in an unsatisfying and unearned story turn.

One of the best things about Lucario is the way it dodges this problem. Having Pikachu go missing gives Ash a story line, which is already more than most of these films bother with. But on top of that, giving Ash and Sir Aaron similar designs, implying Ash to be something of a spiritual successor to Sir Aaron via their Auras, and offering Lucario up as an additional connection between them, all serve to make Ash’s role in the finale a well-deserved one, and enriches his part in a way no other film really attempted. The parallels between Ash and Sir Aaron and the implied theme of friendships and conflicts echoing across time make up one of my favorite things about this film, and about the pokefilms as a whole. If you take the matter of Ash’s role in these movies in isolation, I’d say Lucario is the crown champion, and along with Revelation Lugia, it’s the only time I felt that Ash really grew as a character beyond just experiencing another adventure.

Both of the titular Pokemon in this film shine as well. Mew is absolutely adorable, and is even more endearing here than in Mewtwo Strikes Back. Not only is she cute - with just one scene, the film does a great job at suggesting the loneliness behind all her jolly cavorting, giving her more depth than quite a few of the “cute ones” Pokemon that populate the films. And Lucario is second only to Mewtwo when it comes to a film-featured Pokemon with a clear personality, fleshed out backstory, and compelling role in the plot.

On top of that, the film’s high fantasy setting and subject matter have immense appeal for me, and lend the film an expansive scale rarely matched. The art direction is fantastic, with the color work standing out in particular. All the hues are bright, clear, and clean in this movie. It’s a delight to look at.

There are flaws here. I don’t think Kidd is an especially interesting CotD, and her design is just...weird. The dance sequence is painfully slow. The most frustrating issue is the lack of emotions shown by the humans during the climax. This is a film where, for a moment at least, the entire human population of the main cast dies. As they go down one by one, however, Ash and Pikachu (and Kidd) have hardly any reaction. I realize that they’re running for their lives at the time they get the news, but - come on!

On the flip side, the film resists the urge to pull a Revive out of its ass and actually lets Lucario stay dead. It’s a well-executed and heartfelt death too. Ash’s final line is one of the most poignant moments in these films, and ending the film on that line makes this possibly the only one of these movies to close on something like a bittersweet note.

All and all, Lucario remains my second-favorite of these flicks...which didn’t stop me from imagining how one could re-write it to fit in Misty.

OK, now I really am eighteen down with one to go...

My god...I’d given up hope of seeing it outside of Revelation Lugia, but as Yoda once said, there is another...

Another pokefilm where a travelling companion gets an actual arc!

Not just an arc - Max’s friendship with Jirachi forms the core of the plot. That friendship is very sweet and believable. Jirachi’s a cute character, and Max is at his slightly bratty but innocent best. Ash is in a mentor/supporting role this time ‘round, and plays the part well. Even in the climax, he doesn’t end up arbitrarily acting as the hero; he’s part of the team that saves the day, but not its star. This film puts him to better use than most of them IMO. And having the heroes work together with the “villain” at the end is novel. On paper, Jirachi Wish Maker should be among the best of the pokefilms.

On paper.

I’ve critiqued the pace of most of these flicks, but this one has unique challenges on that front. It’s a very choppy plot. By that I mean that individual scenes and sequences may be well-constructed and effective, but there’s not a great organic flow from one to the next. The first attack by Absol’s a good example. It’s a nifty little bit of action, but it just happens in the midst of other things without a clear set-up and without a good lead-in to the next scene. Compounding this problem is the decision to structure the story around one week. That’s not an inherently bad way to organize a movie’s plot, but the danger of it is that, when not done carefully, it can feel...well, as I said already, choppy. It doesn’t help that the timing is a bit funky with the days of the week; the first few get a decent amount of screen time, the middle few are breezed over, and the last one eats up nearly half the movie.

There are also story elements here that just don’t work IMO. The opening sequence with the TRio feels like something from a typical episode thrown in here for padding. The melodramatic romance between Butler and Diane is plagued by hammy dialogue and the fact that Butler isn’t a very likable guy. But most out of place is Groudon. The situation here isn’t quite as bad as the one with Yveltal in Diancie; at least the idea the Groudon will play a part in the film is introduced early on. But Jirachi is a Pokemon with the reputed power to grant wishes, and the confirmed power to teleport. Both these things would make her a prized target for any villain. To ultimately want her just to revive another Pokemon - one that amounts to a bland kaiju at that - feels like a bit of a waste. The animation of the fake Groudon is impressive, and its powers and attacks have a bit of Miyazakian flavor to them, but I think they would have done better to have Jirachi as the one featured Pokemon.

When I realized that Max and Jirachi’s story would carry the picture, I kind of hoped that this film would take the “Best Role for a Traveling Companion” crown from Lugia. But because the plot is so riddled with issues, Max’s arc, charming though it is, just doesn’t gel as nicely as Misty’s in Lugia. It’s a case of the main relationship of a story being solid, but the structure and execution of the plot around that relationship dragging things down.

Now, for its technical weaknesses on the story front, Jirachi is a very entertaining movie. From Mewtwo’s cape in the (ever baffling) introduction sequence to the candy scene to a great exchange by Jessie and James (”do I look blind?” “That would explain the hair.”) this film is full of fun little details and moments. At the risk of being repetitive, the main friendship is very endearing. And it was so good to hear the 4Kids cast again after going through so many films in the hands of TCPi. I can’t say I found the lullabye the dub provided especially memorable, but having an all-around solid cast, cast in appropriate roles, is so welcome at this point. Veronica Taylor doesn’t get enough credit for subtly tweaking her Ash voice to reflect his growing maturity in the AG era.

...And yeah, now that I’ve seen it in context, that “a good friend left me” line is right up there with “you don’t need beauty sleep” and the “Misty’s Goodbye” song in the “4Kids Pokeshipping That Should Have Been in the Original” contest. And, lest ye forget, there aren’t that many contenders for that prize.

Before taking on the last pokefilm, I decided to go back and re-watch this one, as I felt I had missed something the first time ‘round. My impressions of Spell of the Unown when I first saw it were: very ambitious and daring in subject matter and art direction, but the pace is rushed and the stakes feel weak. I put it in the middle tier of pokefilms.

I definitely missed something on that viewing.

The design work in this film is spectacular. It’s so great that I have to take issue with one of the lines: when the characters lament that Greenfield is supposed to be beautiful but has been made a wasteland (”and not only dat, it looks bad,”) my reaction was “dudes, this looks f*cking sweet!”

Come on, people!

I don’t know how I came away the first time feeling that the stakes were lacking. True, it’s only when Ash and Entei begin to fight that anyone feels in physical danger, but the potential threat behind the Unown’s power in the hands of Molly and her loneliness is made clear well before that. To have such an unorthodox, and innocent, antagonist was a brilliant stroke of writing by Takeshi Shudo and Hideki Sonoda. The Johto years seem to be the ones where Pokémon began to become aware of its international franchise status and begin moving toward a more stable, “safe” formula, so it’s great that gutsy choices like making a sad little girl’s dreams the main threat still happened at that time.

I’ve mentioned this in other reviews, but Unown is the only film that managed to give all of the main cast (if you don’t count the TRio) decent roles. The overriding arc for them is the rescue of Ash’s mother, which makes Brock and Misty the support team for Ash, but they’re well used in that capacity, and Ash’s arc ties in nicely to Molly’s issues. This is also the only pokefilm that I feel really worked at showcasing Ash’s group as a whole unit. The Sinnoh films let Ash and Dawn work as a team, Jirachi made Ash and Max a team, Kyurem showed Cilan and Iris individually working to support Ash, and Diancie let the travelling companions have a moment, but this the one time the whole crew effectively bounced off and supported each other throughout. It’s a shame that Misty and Brock weren’t more involved in the finale, but for Brock especially, the film up until that point is a triumph.

And of all of Team Rocket’s “why are we even here” turns in these movies, this is probably the least wasteful.

I still have quibbles with the picture. While the pace isn’t as rushed as I remember, it is uneven in the beginning. I would have liked more of a moment made out of Molly’s turn during the Charizard/Entei battle. And, having said that, I think a lot of the power behind her choice to turn away from the dream world she’s built up and deal with reality is taken away by the last conflict with the Unown, a conflict that feels tacked on and a bit nonsensical. But Spell of the Unown is still a fantastic pokefilm, and this re-watch has raised it from middle tier to #3.

And I had to laugh at a line of Brock’s: “you’re not leaving me behind.” You poor horny bastard. If you knew then what Sinnoh would be like...