Look at Pokemon2K, with an intelligent and kid's view (Pokemon: The Movie (DVD))

Member Name: Geneson

Product:	Pokemon: The Movie (DVD)
Date:	02/08/02 (208 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Improvement over the first in many ways, otally engrossing, touches the heart and keeps you into the movie. Good popcorn movie, stays true to Pokemon

Disadvantages: Adults may again be slightly confused, for the hardcore Pokemon fan, may be dissapointed because Pokemon probably isn't even the main subject of the movie. , plot slightly too complicated for children

Before you read this review, let me give you a little bit of background information before I saw this movie. 1999 was the big Pokemon year, and I was one of the first kids to know about it. When the craze hit, I was right in the middle of it, thinking about Pokemon 24/7. For three years I never even touched anything Pokemon, until this movie appeared on HBO. Personally I thought the first movie was a huge dissapointment, the battles were boring, it had no plot, and it made stupid attempts at trying to touch people emotionally. An absolute disgrace to anime itself. I think they may have succeeded in all three of those this time.

*Warning, this review is full of spoilers*

Seeing this movie, I wanted to become a Pokemon fan all over again. I honestly busted out my old Game Boy and popped in my Pokemon Blue cartride and started playing again. This movie alone had that effect on me.

The movie follows the cartoon's hero again, Ash Ketchum, followed by Misty and Tracy as they travel to the Orange Islands. The antagonist is this loser who seems to do nothing but sit around all day in his ultra cool ship capturing Pokemon. However, he makes a big mistake when he seeks out the three legendary Pokemon, Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno, and ultimately distrupts the balance of nature between lightning, fire, and ice. Coincidently, the three Pokemon live on the Orange Islands.

When Ash and his friends arrive, they are greeted by the island's residents, including a cute girl named Melanie. From here on we see an attempt at maybe a love triangle between Ash, Melanie, and Misty, but of course, since this is a kid's movie it never gets very far. But by the end of the movie, I was touched by Misty's rescue of Ash. I think I fell in love with Melanie though :)
I felt so jealous when she kissed Ash. What am I saying, these are cartoon characters!

So, Melanie introduces Ash to an ancient legend, of how a Pokemon trainer woul
d arrive and collect the three elemental spheres. Supposedly this story is just to attract tourists, which I don't understand why Ash is so quick to believe it (he's thick headed anyway), and it's actually true. This movie is FULL of plot holes, but Nintendo managed to cover up most of them so they don't look that bad.

We see Ash's mother back in Pallet Town, talking to Proffessor Oak, and noticing very strange weather changes. Because of the capture of the three legendary bird Pokemon, the weather seems to be distrupted. Yet we are never really told why. Ash gets the lightning and fire spheres, while Mr. Villan who gets no name captures Moltres and Zapdos. Only Articuno and the ice sphere remain now. However, while Mr. Villan captures Zapdos, he brings in Ash's gang and Team Rocket. Ash and Team Rocket bring out their Pokemon and they help free Moltres and Zapdos. That's when havoc starts to wreak loose.

All the Pokemon in the world travel to the Orange Islands, which have been frozen by Articuno by now. It's a great sight, although I was anticipating an all-out war between these Pokemon and the legendary birds. Oh well. Ash is supposedly part of the prophecy, that the world will turn to Ash for help to get the ice sphere. Lugia pops out from the ocean, and goes to battle with the three legndary birds. Lugia is powerful, but unable to take down all three of them. Melanie uses her flute to play a song, and just like that Lugia is re-energized and convinces Ash to fulfill the prophecy.

So he goes, and this part is pretty jaw-dropping. The three legendary birds are fighting in the sky, and when they see Ash coming towards them, they start firing at him. Ash is riding in some sled thing being pulled by Charizard, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, and they're heading towards Articuno's island. Lugia is taking the bunt of the blasts, and it's just plain cool. Eventaully Charizard and Pikachu take a shot and
are evened out by Moltres and Zapdos. Articuno makes an ice shield that breaks Ash's sled, and stops him in his tracks. HERE COMES TEAM ROCKET. They help Ash get the ice sphere, and they jump on Lugia trying to get back to the main island and get the three spheres united. I don't know why, but when Team Rocket made the sacrifice of jumping off Lugia I was so touched.

Eventually Ash falls in the water because Lugia is drained from firing his Hyper Beam too many times. Mr. Villan's ship gets destroyed and the legendary birds fall. Ash is unconcious. Misty to the rescue. He brings Ash back up to platform and he puts the ice sphere back in place. Melanie then plays her song one more time. Legendary birds stop return to primary islands, weather restored to balance, Ash reunites with his mother, happy ending.

Adults will generally like this movie more than the first movie. This movie deals less with the Pokemon and more about nature, so they'll understand it more. Kids will be excited by this movie but will still be dissapointed because they never got to see their favorite Pokemon in a real big important battle. It's just mindless chaos between the three legendary birds.

I was engrossed by this movie. I honestly did not think of anything else besides what I was witnessing. Maybe it was just a boring day. I don't think so, I was expecting another plotless rubble of a movie like the first one, I was pleasantly surprised. Have you ever seen that special movie that was somehow beautiful, thrilling, and touching at the same time that gave you a feeling inside? A kinda sad feeling that makes you want to cry but at the same time excited all the way? This is what I feel with this movie. This is such a beautiful movie that teaches a good lesson, unlike the foolish "Fighting is wrong. We shouldn't be fighting this crazy Pokemon even though he's about to destroy the world" moral in the first one.

I
9;ve been thinking about it for hours. I'm surprised by all the negative reviews this movie has gotten over the past two years, is it just because adults don't understand Pokemon? Are they disgusted the moment they see an animated film? Pokemon fan or not, you should check this out. For me, it's on the borderline between good and great. I gave it the benefit of the doubt though, and gave it 4 stars instead of 3. Shall I see Pokemon 3 and the upcoming Pokemon 4? If they're anywhere near the quality of this one I will see them. Now excuse me, I'm trying to look for my old Pokemon stuff.

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