When researchers discover and exploit a fossil of the Mythical Pokémon Mew, they unleash a creation that goes against the very laws of nature: Mewtwo, a Legendary Pokémon intended for use as a tool of destruction. But as Mewtwo becomes aware of its own dubious origin, it begins to resent its human creators and seeks revenge—and Satoshi, Pikachu, and their friends find themselves at the center of its rampage! With the future of the Pokémon world at stake, will our heroes be able to overcome Mewtwo’s challenge…and will Mewtwo be able to find a new meaning for its life?
(Source: Official site)
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Lil-Bird
Does Pokémon really need an introduction at this point? It's been around for over 20 years, it's a monolith in the world of marketing. But it was a huge hit in Japan when it first came out, and in 1999, it took the rest of the world by storm. So much so, that on November 10, 1999, the first film, “Mewtwo Strikes Back”, came out a year in America after its debut in Japan, with a second film having already been in Japanese theaters for months. But children outside of Japan didn't know about that, the Internet was still young at the time. All weknew was that Pokémon made it to the big screen, and it was going to be epic. And it was.
So naturally, to celebrate 20 years, OLM had been making plans to make this important milestone a big deal. The 20th anniversary already had a movie by the title “Pokémon: I Choose You” to a rather positive-to-mixed response. But Pokémon has multiple milestones in its history it wanted to celebrate, and therefore, it really wasn't out of the ordinary to give the first film its own anniversary celebration—but with a twist. Barring 2019's “Detective Pikachu”, this is the first time the Pokémon anime has become fully CGI. An announcement that made many people immediately skeptical and brush it off with an apathetic scoff.
Not this animation fan. Spoilers for a 20-year-old film.
I'll admit that when this was first announced, before the first teaser image was ever shown, I wasn't amused. I could still feel the scars of 2013 start to ache, and I cringed in my seat as I read about a new film with Mewtwo. What more could they do with him at this point? Why even bother? I wanted to reject this, to say I didn't want this. But the moment it was clear this would be a CGI film, albeit a shot-for-shot remake, suddenly I was excited. I wanted to see what OLM could do with technology that advanced in 20 years since the first film came out. Recall that they ended up dabbling in CGI for the first film because reasons, I suppose, and look how dated those clouds and that giant pair of doors have become. But now, with computers running faster than ever, the clouds and giant pair of doors in this film are gorgeous, and are only a small part of this 90-minute work of art.
This is a beautiful movie to look at, it's such eye-candy that so much is lost by reading subs. The environments alone are screensaver-worthy, a lot of shots should be framed and put on the wall. The detail on everything from the water to the clouds to the clothes to the fortress itself is oozing with detail. This alone is what will guarantee multiple viewings and a frame-by-frame analysis with fans, as well as a dub. Even the animation itself needs to be studied because of the body language of a lot of characters, Mewtwo especially. This is the most animated Mewtwo's ever been since “Detective Pikachu”, just every time he's on screen I loathed having to glance down to skim the subs because it meant missing out on some subtle touches to his expressions. I could literally stare at his model all day.
In fact, to go back to Mewtwo's fortress, this is exactly why I supported this going CGI. There's an insane amount of detail to the design that wasn't included in the original (and there's additions, too, such as a stained glass window to give it an appearance of a cathedral), and we almost have ourselves a tour of it down to the texture, pretty much, I literally want this model file to just study and scroll through. I love this castle, I always have, and that love deepened with this redesign down to the last paint-job. It's amazing that this is never touched upon again (especially in the 2000 TV sequel where guess all Mewtwo does is carve out a simple table and chairs), but we have ourselves an architect in the Pokémon world whose talents and precise attention to detail is going unnoticed. Like damn, Mewtwo, just throw on a human disguise and get out there to make your mark on the world. Design some really kick-ass theme parks or something.
The Pokémon do look really good (I've never wanted to hug a Pidgeot more, and one of my favorites, Wigglytuff, is so plush), but I have unfortunately been spoiled by “Detective Pikachu” and so it's kinda hard to distance myself from that. The human models are hit or miss, for sure, but I can appreciate the different touches to their designs like how you can tell Brock's a little slouched from his knapsacks, Misty's ponytail bobs, and Jessie and James must be going to some salon in between episodes or something, they should be supermodels instead of grunts. Some moments were weird because you can tell they were still trying to put on anime exaggerations, but it wasn't working with these models. If it was a bit more cartoony, particularly in the faces, I think they could've gotten it with no issues, but I suppose they didn't want to stray from them looking not Japanese. I know there were folks out there saying they couldn't take a leering Ash too seriously, but he's ten, he still has some baby fat on him. You could still feel the anger coming off of him.
In terms of if they improved upon the scenes... eh, I'm afraid nothing sticks out. Well, actually I chuckled over the Lapras boat scene (one of the few changes made when it was originally a Viking motif) because Team Rocket had a song and danced in the back row, and I really like the shot when they fly out of the water and saw the castle and the surrounding clouds for the first time. That was actually a cool shot, and that's why I'm kind of bummed by this camera. It needed to slow down, for one thing, take the time to take everything in. I know they're showing off the 3D space, but it also should've been shot in different angles or positions, too, like in the laboratory in the beginning, for example. It's not like I want it to be an exact shot-for-shot remake with the camera, but there were shots that needed more “oomph” in terms of the camera angles, or to get some much-needed close-up shots or quick edits. I'm not sure where people are getting at by saying there's "padding", though. Yeah, I suppose because of the CGI, things feel "slower", like there's actual weight to them, but if anything, I thought it moved too fast in some areas, the beginning especially. I just wanted to take in the Amazon, the fields, the underwater sequences, dammit. The extended scenes in some places, especially the clone battles, I honestly enjoyed because it just meant seeing them be animated more. Mew I think was my favorite to watch in that regard in how super floaty it is.
In terms of extending scenes, the battle with Mewtwo and his starter clones was one example where I can tell they were showing off, but it doesn't take away from the film. While I think the Pokémon being one-hit KO'd in the original hits home a lot harder, it's actually still nice to see them still get back up to fight back. Bruteroot—I mean, Bernard being slammed into the doorway and dropping like thirty feet or something (how tall's that entranceway, anyway?) was pretty brutal, actually. I was thinking about how unfortunate it is that they toned down the brutality from the original, but that one hurt.
Oh, and thank God Mewtwo and Mew didn't play bumper balls with each other. They still charged at each other and were psychically repelled, but they didn't look like they were about to play Super Monkey Ball rolling around in their glowy hamster balls.
When it comes to the soundtrack, most of it reprised from the original OST, it's just kinda there, and unfortunately has a muted organ, Mewtwo's leitmotif, that you can hear strongly in the original version. That said, "Inochi Aru Mono" was still beautiful to listen to, but the scene still played out too differently (another extended sequence) that the beats still kinda didn't hit. But when the stadium lights went out and Mewtwo and Mew flare up with psychic energy and hiss at each other (yes, Mew was hissing, let that sink in), and then Ash runs out and BOOM!... there's no music. There's no sound, just Pikachu calling out Ash's name and trying to shock him back to life, just to cry, and cry, and cry oh my God they drew that one out. This actually makes me curious about what the dub might do with the soundtrack in this instance. My biggest wish was for "Tears of Life" to be trumped, to see if this was something that could have more impact to it, but I guess nothing will. Oh well, not that I'm complaining because I adore the dub soundtrack.
Oh, since there still has been no word of a dub as of this review (which is unusual), I have to bring up the voice-acting briefly. I'm honestly not all that familiar with the Japanese voice actors and actresses in their famous roles in Pokémon, but I know them from elsewhere. So while it's honestly rather rough due to the actors' ages, they still did their best in returning to an old script. But for sure the real star was Mewtwo himself, Masachika Ichimura. He is still fantastic, it's really like he never stopped being his character and being his vicious, cold self. Special mention goes to Kenta Miyake as Giovanni, for as small as the character's role is, he did his best in still hitting the same beats his predecessor, Hirotaka Suzuoki, hit 20 years ago. The ending song is a reprise of the original “Kaze to Issho ni”, but includes a duet with Sachiko Kobayashi and Shoko Nakagawa. It's a lot quieter and softer than the original's celebratory orchestra performance, but it was accompanied by some beautiful pieces of artwork that makes you long to be a child again.
So with that said, why don't I think this is up there with the first film when it's still the same film? It's not because of nostalgia, I can promise you that, and it's not because I think the cel animation is too vintage to top. Is it a soulless cash-grab? Not really, they were really pushing how important it was that Pokémon was going fully CGI for the first time. They wanted to show just how far the series and technology has come that they could make these characters look more alive.
I think it still falls a little flat because the script should've been altered a bit to match this new style. The movie is still Mewtwo's story, it's still about him hogging the spotlight like the prima donna he is and it's still him showing his disdain toward mankind for bringing him into a world he didn't ask to be born in. Which is why I think it's still a damn shame they didn't bring in the entirety of Mewtwo's origins because his beginning questions to Dr. Fuji still echoed from his long-lost childhood memory. Yes, it was there from the very beginning in 1998, but that's still a context that's eerily lost and confusing to those who aren't aware of his story. He was just born, what does he know about a mother, a father, of a God? He didn't know who he was, even still seemed to question his own existence to the very end, but yet he knows about birth like that? It's still something to make one's head spin, which fits Mewtwo's confusion, but still.
But the script still could've benefited from tweaks to make it stand out differently from its original, even could be upgraded a bit or changed up some things, especially in Mewtwo's decision at the end to go "Meh, only I can learn this valuable lesson about one's life being as equal to another's. Humans can suck my dick." Perhaps it really should've followed the current AU set up with the 20th movie, so that while it still hit the same beats and still kept Mewtwo the same character, it still would've felt a bit more of a fresher take on the same tale whether with new characters or just a slightly different motivation. So even though I still liked how Mewtwo, Ash, Mew, and even Team Rocket were portrayed in this film, things should've gone differently.
Anyhoo, in closing, I honestly want to see more Pokémon movies go CGI. I think OLM collaborating with Sprite helped a lot in how it looks overall, and I hope Motonori Sakakibara sticks around for future projects or gave them some pointers. I think if they do some slight tweaking on the humans, it'll look much better, but I'll take what I can get. This was a good effort, but I fear this movie may not have done well enough to call for more CGI. And that's a shame.
However, I don't have regrets watching this, even if it was just for completion's sake. I'll still go back to the original take due to better availability and also admittedly some familiarity, but I'm glad this was a new way to reincarnate the film and show off how far Pokémon has come. Mewtwo continues to persevere as a character no matter what medium or format you show him in, and I think that says a lot about how much of an impact he's left on the fandom and name brand 20 years later.
MaOtwE
wasn't able to capture the emotions from the original (which was just amazing) so in one sentence my review for this would be that "it misses the mark set by its predecessor" with all it's faults Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back was one of the few movies i was able to enjoy even as a adult because it was a great nostalgia trip the summation of my childhood in the case of this movie it's Absolutely soulless no emphasis was placed on improving the narrative they just added few useless extended scenes which only let the movie drag on and on with the2nd half being slow and boring as hell
the CGI was ok or even in some scenes great with the pokemons and worked really abreast with pokemon moves and other stuff
but when it came to the human models it's just horrendous! terrible!, sigh
(i don't have the words forget it)
let's just say it's a little better then berserk "a llittle"
retrospectively speaking the Beautiful animation/CGI records set by pokemon franchise in the past reached the peak with Pokemon XY&Z and since then it's just going down and with this being released i think we are in the lowest it could be....
at the end in simple
I would not recommend this movie just re-watch the original
ESER10
This movie is a CGI remake of the very first Pokemon movie. And that's where the problem lies. If this were an original movie, then I would say it's good (seeing as it's a remake of the original, and I liked the original, it wouldn't make sense to say anything else). However, this is being rated as a remake to that original. It is for that reason that I would say that this doesn't quite hit the heights that it could have. If a remake is going to be made, we need a reason to watch it. For instance, an HD remake gives a good incentiveto rewatch an older classic, with the only difference being improved graphics (and maybe an added scene or two). In that scenario, there isn't really too much to complain about. However, this remake completely changed the animation into CGI, and I would say that for the most part… it looks ok. There are some things that clearly don't look too well, but overall, it doesn't look bad. They also kept the music in each scene more or less the same as the original, and with the exception of a few added lines of dialogue and a few small changes, it is exactly the same as the original movie. In other words, the incentive to watch this movie is simply the new animation, which is fair enough. But there's just something about this that doesn't quite seem right. For one thing, the first movie is something that holds a special place in many people's hearts. Many of us have been a part of Satoshi's journey from the beginning, from the days where we only knew him as Ash. To us, these older movies let us see the original trio that made us fall in love with the world of pokemon in a nostalgic way. This weight that this title carries needs to be supported well, but this movie unfortunately doesn't do it justice. It's likely the CGI itself that's to blame as well. As mentioned before, this contains all the same scenes, with all the same soundtrack but it doesn't work in the same way. I feel as though this new animation detracts from the darker mood that the original movie had, which ultimately works against the 'darker' themes that the movie covers (you could argue that the topics aren't exactly dark, but to me, something about the CGI makes the animation fit less than the animation of the first movie).
Overall, the animation change was too much. With this large amount of change, it was necessary for the movie to be an improvement to the original in order to justify making it. As it stands, it does not serve enough of a purpose.
So in the end we are left with this: Is this movie worth watching? If you're interested in the animation, then sure, go for it. But overall, I would argue to watch the first movie instead. You'll be getting the exact same story, so you don't have to worry about missing out on anything, and you won’t have any CGI to complain about either.
Creissonino
Why internet is shitting on this movie? Because it's exactly the same movie everyone watched 20 years ago. But in CG. And now, story-wise, people are realizing this movie doesn't make any sense. Especially now, with a more accurate plot — since the legend of the storm added in the original dub actually justified why the pokémon tears would have the power to turn Ash back. Without this, it's just a power that came from nowhere. Yea, this movie sucks.But no one wants to admit.
And then, blame the CGI.
Yea, I like CGI, but this one is atrocious.
This movie is good for one thing: it's breaking the nostalgia googles of everyone. It's a shame we went back to this monstrosity after the delightful story we got in The Power of Us.
MtcAlpha
Just... Why? Go to watch the old 2d version please, my eyes were crying. Suggested to 0-4 years old children because of the graphic, that's all. Don't watch it. Incredible that I'm forced to write a longer review, I never write but this... Thing... Really deserve a bad review, they could have done a remake with new Anime graphic, instead... No comment It's visible that is high quality graphic, it's just a ridiculous style. The story is literally the old one, just a remake. I just saw some pieces because it's literally the old story, at least I didn't waste Lot of my time, but I anyway did, couldhave watch something different or the old movie. Absolutely don't watch it.
iamKetranLang
Looking for a positive review? You now know someone here does LOVE the Remake. I had no nostalgia for the first movie, but if you are calm, I'm sure you can see reasons why the remake is better than the original. They made very good changes mainly plot is CONCISE and PERFECT pacing !!! Nothing too long and straight to it, never got bored. First thank that they dropped the Professor's backstory, it dragged, added nothing of value, and was unnecessary to the grand scheme of the movie. Mewtwo is DIFFERENT, we got that. I love that instead they expanded the Giovanni gym battle using Mewtwo. ANDit was VERSUS/DESTROYING AN ONIX along with the Gary Oak Nidoking part. The scene in the original was so short and never fully utilized. It was something I wanted to see more of.
Mewtwo and Gyarados were BADASS in 3D. THEY really stepped up the camera angles and the 3D CGI of the ocean waters were fantastic! The Pokemon battles were AWESOME and even fight with some modern Pokemon moves. The 3D modeling was good, Ash Brock Misty looked like the real deal to me from 2D to 3D.
There were a lot of great minor improvements. Team Rocket are smarter for actually bringing a decent Lapras boat that looks hell lot safer to get into than that broken wooden boat in the storm. Seeing the wooden boat that would obviously capsize was cringe, did anyone have brains?
The Ash scene was way better in the remake than the original. Completely fixed what I didn't like in the first place just by being CONCISE and GOOD PACING. In what is stepping up when there is trouble, Ash was heroic breaking up the fight and in turn perishing which would just be naturally sad.
In the original, the Pokemon vs. clone showdown dragged which not only started being stupid and was cringe. Ash stood and watched and begged them to stop to just run up and sacrifice himself so we supposed to feel all touchy and sad.
In summary, the Remake made the already decent plot GOOD without the cringe drama or stupidity, so it is CONCISE. The movie is really cool and has great rewatch value. Watch this and then Mewtwo Returns. Both Amazing.
angelsreview
As a person who grew up with the original came out, I really don’t see the reason for them to make a 3D version of the same movie. It has been a long time since I have seen the original myself but I do remember quite a bit of it. From what I could tell, the personalities were basically on point to the original characters. Ash is always the headstrong and determined one always wanting to be the best, Misty is the token girl, Brock is the womanizer and caretaker. In the original I don’t remember us diving deep into the mind of Mewtwo asmuch as this version does, and I guess in that case it does make this movie a little more intact then the version I had grown up with. We see all of the ways Geovani used him more and can understand a little more in why Mewtwo doesn’t like humans much.
For a 3D Pokemon movie, they did pretty well in designing the Poke’mon and the backgrounds, but the humans feel a little lack luster. Their original designs were not really meant to be 3D in this high of a quality. Their textures feel like they are just the plastic toys instead. Mouth movements don’t fully match half of the time, especially when its side characters like the guy Ash fights in the beginning of the movie. The background is really high detailed and almost real feeling in how you can see each grass blade or tree leaf but it would have been a bit nicer if the humans looked a little… more textured at the very least. I know they can’t go full on realistic as then we would have a really bad uncanny valley look, but at least make them fit with the design of the background. And also to stop making them that shinny, that would also help with that plastic look.
Sadly, I do feel the 3D version of the Poke’mon (while pretty good in texture and design) also have a small problem holding onto their cuteness a bit. Mew isn’t nearly as cute as its 2D version with its childish personality. The personality is still there, but the cute factor sadly feels like its a little lacking. (Ok… Vulpix is cute no matter what it seems… but she is one of my favorites so I have biases on that.) Near the end, the characters and Poke’mon did fit a lot better I think because they had added more texture and broke up the colors more in their designs.
The English voices are pretty ok. I do like Mewtwo’s voice though I feel like he punctuates his words more then he should. It’s like a pause between every single word and it just gets tedious at times. I really hated Misty’s new voice. Michele Knotz just felt like she was trying to hit an overly high pitched version and keep her really high energy which did not fit at all with what I was used to. If you’re going to do a reboot, I would have thought that they would have tried to match the voices better seeing as Sarah Natochenny and Bill Rogers (the voices of Ash and Brock) tried hard to match the older voices. Michele does a good job with Jessie’s voice, but Jessie’s voice and Misty’s voice were always different levels anyway. Can I mention that Michele does at least 4 voices, maybe more in this too? Ya… normally you do that when the person isn’t a staring role…
So what do I think of this movie? Well… it’s basically the exact same movie as the original. While it has been a while since I have seen the original, what I could remember was this exact same movie only in a 3D version. I think I would have to lean on the original more because of how the 3D looked in the beginning of the show and also the odd voice casting for a couple of the characters. I still don’t really understand why they did a redo on the movie without really changing anything (except medium) but I think I will stick with my original.
Small Edit: This movie came out about 21 years after the original. Now you can feel as old as I do when I was looking up some of my facts for this review… You’re welcome.
WyvernLetDie
I went into this movie wanting to dislike it and came away very pleasantly surprised. When watching the initial trailer, I thought I hated the animation style, but within a few minutes of starting the movie I'd already gotten past it, and by the end I'd learned to love it. As far as 3DCG films go, the quality of this one is high. The animation has a lot of respect for its characters, and there are subtle enhancements over the original that I feel a lot of people are missing. Pikachu's character is particularly enhanced by the animation style, as their movements feel a lot morerealistic, especially in the way they interact with Ash.
It's hard to complain about this movie if you liked the original, and there are very few changes made to the script, with most of them being done (in the English dub) to correct the mistakes that 4Kids made, or even poke fun (Jelly donut anyone?).
Brock feels dis-serviced by this adaptation slightly, which does upset me as he was one of the better characters, but overall this version of the film is a solid update. It wasn't really necessary, but its still fun, and still triggers the nostalgia and tugs on your heart-strings.
The voice acting is sound, especially Pikachu's during THAT scene, which is given a bit more effort his time around and hits you harder.
Overall, I'd say to give this a try even if you're skeptical, the worst that can happen is you like it slightly less than the original, which we know you already liked if you're here.
Chaotic_beauty
This movie fails as a shot-for-shot remake. The bigger of its two problems is the removal of all the interesting scenes which thematically underpinned the first movie. There was a big (but somewhat silent) backlash when fans learned that the American localization (and all the subsequent localizations from it) gutted the first movie by removing ten minutes of footage due to it being "too challenging" for kids. This movie does exactly the same, but at the Japanese source. The soul of the first Pokemon movie is not here. This adaptation does not work thematically and shows contempt for its source material. No one sane shouldrecommend this version over the original.
Regarding its CGI art style, it works for stylized nature scenes, but is completely inadequate when it comes to human characters and pokemon. Particle animation is good, but characters have almost no expressive quality. It looks like trash and you don't get used to it. It's no Beastars.
Avoid this one with extreme prejudice.
babynandos666
this is my first review so sorry in advance MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS Story;4/10 Essentially this is the exact same story as the original , but with added scenes and some changes but it did not have the same impact, charm & the emotion as the original. They could have definitely strengthened the films plot a bit more. Art 7/10 The CGI was good, the Pokemon and the background looked awesome, but the human models looked a bit wonky. Ash looked like a barbie Doll they looked so out of place and had stiff movementEnjoyment 6/10
I did enjoy this film it bought back a lot of childhood memories, but it did not live up to the Original film, Literally no one asked for this remake.
Sound 3/10
IThey didn’t use the original soundtrack which felt weird in scenes that either had new music replacing “Brother my brother” or nome at all. and it really took out the emotion Of the scenes
Demon0fAnime
I'll just summarise my thoughts on this remake instead of writing a full-on review. Story:- 10/10 Well, it's basically the same as the original. There weren't any changes except for some scenes being extended or changed. I was bothered by some dialogues being changed in the dub or even cut off though. However, since the story is basically the same it still retains a perfect 10. Art:- 7/10 Okay, I have to say that the CGI for this film was amazing, but ... only for the Pokemon and scenic shots. Whenever it captured a human character it was just off-putting and looked more like I was watching a videogamecutscene that I really wanted to play.
Sound:- 3/10
Here's where I was annoyed the most. In the original, we had 'Brother my Brother' play during original vs clone Pokemon fight, but in this there's nothing. I get sometimes no music makes it more immersive, but half the film felt empty without any battle music (apart from the Pokemon theme at the beginning) or symphonies for emotional moments.
Character:- 6/10
They are all basically the same as from the first movie. The only character that really has any development is Mewtwo.
Enjoyment and Overall:- 6/10
It can still be an enjoyable watch, but with the flaws that I mentioned above especially with the lack of any music I recommend watching the original over this.
a_cold_blade
For anyone that has watched the original this remake is horrible. I don't think anyone was asking for this. It just seems like a total cash grab. The 3d animation looks good in environment and some pokemon but not all. The human characters look so bad. In my opinion remaking this is disrespectful to the original artists and animation studio. If you want to watch Mewtwo Strikes Back just watch the original. I do not believe this is the Mewtwo Strikes Back for the current generation. It is just an abomination that never should have been made. The animation of the human characters reminds me of the missthat the sonic from the newest live action sonic movie was. If you take a cartoon character and go too far realistic it will look bad. In this case they took Ash and the gang and turned them into clay figures. Why is it that 3d models of trainers are in smash bros and pokemon stadium and they look sooooooooooooo much better than they do in this feature length film?
Please Pokemon stop going out on a limb for things. Just leave it 2d. The only reason why detective pikachu looks so good is because they used real people.
Squinty Brock doesn't work. Ash and Misty's eyes are too far apart on their heads. Their mouths and mouth design and animation is all off...
Joosi1895
If you don‘t dwell on the mantra that old stuff is always better and want to take a dip in nostalgia (yeah, I can see the irony) I can only recommend you to watch this movie. It‘s the same great story as ten years ago (which feels more important today than twenty years ago) including the Mewtwo origin story, the CGI (especially the light effects) is enjoyable except for the human models and the music sounds like my childhood. And I promise you one thing: You will tear up about the same scene as twenty years ago. There’s only one thing left to say: Gotta watch ‘emall!
RenjiRatesThings
A remake of a movie made 23 years ago, which didn't need to happen, but honestly isn't that bad, albeit, missing a few key components that Pokémon fans may have loved in the first movie. [STORY] - 6/10 (INTRO) From beginning to end, the entire story is at least "mostly" based off of the original 1998 movie, and removes some elements that added a sense of emotional depth and structure that this new movie does keep mostly in tact, but seems to follow a more streamlined storytelling path that just makes it a real slog fest to watch, compared to every other Pokémon movie. (CONTINUITY/CHANGES) There are actually some welcomechanges to the story with certain Pokémon being replaced, like golem being swapped out for a drowzee, since electric types aren't that effective against ground types.
Team Rocket actually looks intimidating in this movie, which is in my opinion, something that is really appreciated, and instead of being a gang, or group of thugs, they're presented and seen as a proper organization.
One big change to this movie seems to be the removal of most of the "sensitive" scenes, such as one near the end (which i won't say in case you've never seen the original), where there's a group fight, which was removed completely in the remake; and for that ones that "have" seen the movie, it's a shame to see something memorable like that removed.
Another, which I can state since it's near the beginning, is when the professor who's working on Mewtwo, has his daughter in a pod right next to Mewtwo....well, she's gone, unfortunately, which, at least in my opinion, added some key emotional value to the movie.
(TL;DR)
If you were to review the movie by itself, not even taking the original into consideration, while it does keep quite a few elements from said original, it still manages to have an unpleasantly linear design to it, but it's still alright.
[ART] - 6/10
By all means, the CGI in this movie isn't bad, it's actually pretty good at times, but has a very robotic design to it that, while looking "good", and especially for character designs which look a little awkward at times.
It completely misses the appeal that something like 2d animation seemingly has, and fails to capture in this remake, especially when it comes to emotions, which, in this format seems to either be overly dramatic or not feel right at times, but seems to at least capture the expressions of Pokémon quite well.
[SOUND] - 6/10
(MUSIC)
Not too many complaints here, albeit, if you've listened to the original you'll notice some "key" music missing from this movie, where as with the original it had a bit more solemn or sad soundtracks when needed, this one doesn't seem include it often, if at alll.
While the music itself isn't that bad at times, the choices for scenes could've been a little better, with it feeling too up-beat or just not doing its job for the scene.
(FX)
Effects-wise, a selection of very factory made sounds but most seem to at least attempt to mimic ones from the original, which is appreciated.
The sound team tried their best to give the effects a bit of "impact" behind them, if that makes any sense, to further emphasize what's happening in the scene.
(VOICE)
The original cast isn't all here, but honestly doesn't sound too different.
One thing i will point out is, with certain characters their lines are missing a certain delivery for scenes that require it, so it won't come off as impactful or just feel out of place, but most of it is fine.
[Characters] - 6/10
Honestly, the characters aren't that bad, and are what you expect from a Pokémon film.
The villains in particular really hit it off well, especially Giovanni, which had a surprisingly well done performance.
[Enjoyment] - 4/10
It's not that I didn't enjoy the movie, but from someone who's seen the original and watched the remake, it just seemed like an unnecessary edition to the Pokémon movie line; but it wasn't bad, just less enjoyable to someone, and probably many others who've seen the original and may not have cared too much about this cgi remake.
I could've gone without seeing it, but it's not horrible.
Total: 5/10
If you've never seen the first Pokémon movie, i highly advise watching the older version, it still holds up.
batzeus
Look, I grew up on Pokemon and still love it. I even have nostalgia for the original MewTwo Strikes Back. I do not, however, consider it in anyway to be a good film. Many people adore and I am sure they have their nostalgiac reasons (like I do for Pokemon 2000), but I cannot pretend that it is a good film, and my problems with this film are exactly the same as that one except worse because the animation and art style for this one just do not look or feel right to me at all. The problem boils down toone specific aspect of the plot. Now the plot has several issues. It leaves me with a few questions like "How did Mewtwo makes his huge facility?" "How did he not realize Mew was just chilling around his island the whole time, could he not sense him somehow as a psychic a pokemon?" "Why did Ash turn to stone when he got hit by Mew and Mewtwo's attacks?" "Why the fuck did the pokemon's tears revive him?" Now basically all of those questions can be fairly dismissed as it is a kids film. The first two questions are just conveniences for the plot, and the second was needed set up and pay off for an emotional moment that for many children, myself included, cried to, even if in retrospect it was pulled completely out of nowhere. No the main thing that hurts both Mewtwo Strikes Back and this remake is the fact it tries to have a "Pokemon should not fight like this lesson", In my opinion this is the most brain dead message you can deliver. One of the main appeals of Pokemon is making your favorite monster beat up your friend's monster. Why would anyone think it makes sense for Pokemon to say that having Pokemon fight is bad? It's absolutely ridiculous. Especially since the series had more intense and brutal fights than these movies do, but those fights were fine because......they were for fun? It is absolutely insane to me and the fact that Mewtwo wipes everyone's memories in the end makes it even worse cause now it was all pointless too. Until someone can give a good reason for why Pokemon is ever allowed to have a "Pokemon should not fight" lesson, then I will stand by that these films are not good, this one especially.
Ah-hey-go
The biggest criticism people have for the Pokémon gaming franchise is how it constantly rehashes old material, with minimal changes to the formula, if any. This movie does nothing to change any of those opinions. It’s a shot for shot remake as the first film from the 90s except now it’s in CG for some reason. The quality of this CG constantly ranges between genuinely great and janky as fuck, although I did notice that it was at its worst when animating humans. Also the fact that it’s bright and colourful instead of grey and boring like most other fully CG anime (*cough* Polygon pictures *cough*),means that I’m far more willing to overlook these awkward moments of animation for an overall pleasant to look at image.
There’s not much else to say about this film and, in all honesty, you’ve probably already seen the movie that this is a shot for shot remake of. So, I guess the next time you feel nostalgic for that first Pokémon film, but want to switch things up to a certain extent throw this on. I do feel the need to warn you though, that the voices for the entire English dub have been recast, and while this is fine for the most part, Team Rocket just sounds wrong, particularly James, who sounds nothing like the faggot I remember him being.
And yes, I watched the dub. Who actually takes Pokémon seriously enough to watch the subbed version.
6/10
This Review is actually the script to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlD8MB49EjY
Check that out and subscribe to the channel if you want to see more reviews like it.
(I was always more of a Yu-gi-bro than a pokefag)
