By Ben / 2009-12-24 07:44:23As we come to the end of Loading screen as a regular feature, I figured I'd end the year with them. So here's your christmas Pokemon review, with 2 more before the year's out. Enjoy
While the emotions dealt with in the Animal Crossing film were surprisingly complex, surely Pokemon would be more kid friendly? Yes and no, yes there are lots of pokemon throwing down, but there’s also a perverse starkness to the whole thing.
Y’see this first Pokemon movie is actually surprisingly dark. Literally at times, as the bright colours of the cartoon series take a back seat to greys, dark blues, and a smattering of black. Mew Two’s malevolence and nihilism is not something you’d expect to see from a Nintendo property.
Mew Two is disillusioned by his creation, cloned from Mew, and designed to serve humans. His increased power means he sees humans as inferior, and if he isn’t destined to follow his supposed masters then his life lacks meaning. He soon assigns himself a slightly confused raison d’etre, that he’s going to bring together the worlds best pokemon trainers, clone their pokemon, then ‘dispose’ of them and take over the world.
The film’s very front loaded, all the development and realisation of Mew Two’s character happens before the opening credits have even rolled. The vast majority of the film is spent on the build up to a massive multi-pokemon fight, where Mew Two’s clones take on the originals. The fight is pretty decent, with lots of pokemon going at it, even if their use of powers are limited, but it‘s probably not worth the build up.
Considering this was released in cinemas worldwide, it’s perhaps a little too close to the tv series than it really should be. It’s hardly the longest film, and as such the structure feels truncated. There’s also the use of the theme tune, which kind of exacerbates the feeling of familiarity. To be fair though, while a lot of the art and animation isn’t anything special, there are quite a few moments where added care has been taken, and a few more advanced techniques are used. It almost feels at times like their a little too showy, not included because they’re needed, nor because of an increased budget, only as a way to mark this out from the regular cartoon.
While the plot is actually quite interesting, if a tad hackneyed for anyone with a bit of anime experience behind them, it takes a dive at the end. The pokemon learn that even though they were born different, that’s no reason to hate each other. “How can I trust you, you were born different?” says Meowth as his clone suggests they stop fighting. Even Mew Two learns his lesson, as in one of the most cynical attempts at upsetting children I’ve ever seen, Ash throws himself in the way of Mew and Mew Two’s battle.
It’s a shame it gets so insufferably soppy at the end, as up until that point there’d been plenty of action, some interesting characters in Mew and Mew Two, and even some funny one liners (“Who’s that pokemon?”). Probably not worth watching if you’re not a Pokemon fan, although it’s hardly a chore to sit through. Decent stuff all things considered.
While the emotions dealt with in the Animal Crossing film were surprisingly complex, surely Pokemon would be more kid friendly? Yes and no, yes there are lots of pokemon throwing down, but there’s also a perverse starkness to the whole thing.
Y’see this first Pokemon movie is actually surprisingly dark. Literally at times, as the bright colours of the cartoon series take a back seat to greys, dark blues, and a smattering of black. Mew Two’s malevolence and nihilism is not something you’d expect to see from a Nintendo property.
Mew Two is disillusioned by his creation, cloned from Mew, and designed to serve humans. His increased power means he sees humans as inferior, and if he isn’t destined to follow his supposed masters then his life lacks meaning. He soon assigns himself a slightly confused raison d’etre, that he’s going to bring together the worlds best pokemon trainers, clone their pokemon, then ‘dispose’ of them and take over the world.
The film’s very front loaded, all the development and realisation of Mew Two’s character happens before the opening credits have even rolled. The vast majority of the film is spent on the build up to a massive multi-pokemon fight, where Mew Two’s clones take on the originals. The fight is pretty decent, with lots of pokemon going at it, even if their use of powers are limited, but it‘s probably not worth the build up.
Considering this was released in cinemas worldwide, it’s perhaps a little too close to the tv series than it really should be. It’s hardly the longest film, and as such the structure feels truncated. There’s also the use of the theme tune, which kind of exacerbates the feeling of familiarity. To be fair though, while a lot of the art and animation isn’t anything special, there are quite a few moments where added care has been taken, and a few more advanced techniques are used. It almost feels at times like their a little too showy, not included because they’re needed, nor because of an increased budget, only as a way to mark this out from the regular cartoon.
While the plot is actually quite interesting, if a tad hackneyed for anyone with a bit of anime experience behind them, it takes a dive at the end. The pokemon learn that even though they were born different, that’s no reason to hate each other. “How can I trust you, you were born different?” says Meowth as his clone suggests they stop fighting. Even Mew Two learns his lesson, as in one of the most cynical attempts at upsetting children I’ve ever seen, Ash throws himself in the way of Mew and Mew Two’s battle.
It’s a shame it gets so insufferably soppy at the end, as up until that point there’d been plenty of action, some interesting characters in Mew and Mew Two, and even some funny one liners (“Who’s that pokemon?”). Probably not worth watching if you’re not a Pokemon fan, although it’s hardly a chore to sit through. Decent stuff all things considered.
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