Pokemon Movie 02: Maboroshi no Pokemon Lugia Bakutan

Honestly I find this to be the best of all of the Pokemon movies. And after this, well, they just steadily got worse and worse.

The story was gorgeous, and the music was gorgeous!

I'm giving it 10/10 because, well. That's how I feel about it.

I'm not one to give away spoilers but let's just say this one has to do with the legendary birds and gets really heated and epic. Plus, who doesn't love Lugia? AND LUGIA'S VOICE. Might as well have been Morgan Freeman (in the dub, that is. And I'm not one who usually even likes dubs. Of course I was a ... kid when I first watched this...)

Amazing.

Probably one of the best Pokémon movies out there. The story was brilliant, an amazing job for Lugia’s voice (dubbed), the art was cool, and all in all, this is one of my favorite movies in the entire series!

And then there’s the Guardian’s song. It made my neck hairs stand, and all I could do was gaze at the television screen. Absolutely majestic.

POKEMON!!!!

I remember it was my 5th birthday and I was staying at a hotel. (17 now) but I had seen the commercials for this movie and played the pokemon monopoly game along with all the video games. When my mom handed me a gift that was wrapped in normal newspaper. I had received the first movie for my birthday along with the 2nd one for Christmas the next year. I was the happiest person than anyone in the world and I really loved looking at the cover art. But my favorites would definitely have to be this one and the third one.

Even though they ... have started changing the way the movies look by adding 3d backgrounds and its getting kind of ridiculous with the number of movies they have come out with. You gotta admit the first couple of movies were the best. I had always supported this series since the day it came out and I know a lot of people hold this series deep in their hearts because they grew up with it and we will probably watch them with out kids. But I just have to say that I love pokemon forever and always.

For those of you who weren't around in '00, or were too young to remember, Pokemon was still at an early point. Before there were a billion games including spin-offs and enough merchandise to bankrupt an entire nation. And we were all eagerly anticipating Silver & Gold in 2001. What's that? You got those games considerably earlier? Well, in the EU we got them in early 2001. In any case, we were all gathering every scrap of information we could and this film promised us a first look at Lugia, even though the games were already out elsewhere and we'd seen her image on the Internet. Regardless, a ... lot of people were excited to see this film in theatres. I wasn't allowed to because we were poor and theatre tickets for me and all three of my siblings were pricey. But I do remember what a big deal this was for a lot of people my age. I'm still not going easy on it. 

Story:

We open with a collector, we'll call him Kivas Fajo, in his advanced aircraft base. He's after the legendary birds, Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos. He hopes to acquire them and draw out Lugia so he can capture it as well. Then he'll make them all wear their outfits, sit in their chairs and entertain his guests. Little does Kivas realise that capturing the birds will throw the planet out of balance causing upheavals and, possibly, the end of the world. It's naturally up to Satoshi and his companions to deal with the situation. 

Now, I'm not going to worry about spoilers too much since the Pokemon anime is kind of predictable and formulaic. Plus this film is around twenty years old if we're going by the original Japanese release. So, moving on to the first problem with the narrative. Kivas suffers from a serious case of "dumb villain." This dude accidentally brings Satoshi and his group aboard his airship, then he leaves them alone so they can easily interfere with his operation and foil his plans. Another problem is that the film has a lot of pointless moments. All the Pokemon converging on the islands for the confrontation and then doing fuck all, the scenes with Professor Ookido & Satoshi's mum, they just don't seem to contribute anything. 

You might argue that the Pokemon converging is to illustrate the importance of taking action even when things look bleak, but they actually do nothing so it doesn't really work. 

The best thing I can say for the narrative is that it has some pretty neat action moments. The whole fight sequence with the birds is pretty amazing. The Lugia reveal is also nicely done. The film shows a lot of bubbling underwater and uses a bunch of other tricks to obfuscate Lugia's appearance before finally bringing it out at the climax in a massive jet of water. It's a strong, well-paced reveal. 

Characters:

The characters are kind of under-written and not very interesting. Satoshi does whine too much for my taste. One thing worth mentioning, however, is that Satoshi's companions are basically useless while Team Rocket acts heroically. Which is a weird decision. You wouldn't expect a children's work to give the spotlight to the petty villains. 

But it does. Kasumi & Kenji help pull Satoshi out of the water once and that's basically it. Aside from that they stand around picking particles out of their anuses. And Pikachu was already working on getting Satoshi to shore. So, if Pikachu had thought to grab Lapras' pokeball from Satoshi's bag, they would have been completely pointless. They don't even bring out their Pokemon to try to free Zapdos & Moltres from their cages. Musashi and Kojirou bring out Arbok and Weezing. They also go to Satoshi's rescue when he comes to an impasse and things look hopeless. Then they dodge attacks from legendary birds to get him to the artefact he needs to save the world. And they very nearly sacrifice themselves so the world can be saved. 

Art:

The artwork looks fine. Kivas' airship looks a bit out of place when compared to the rest of the art. There's also a fail with Doctor Uchikido's completely ambivalent facial expression while she talks about the potential end of the world. The action sequence with the birds is the highlight in terms of art. And seeing Lugia use Aeroblast is really cool. The whole sequence with Musashi and Kojirou taking an inflatable raft up through a bunch of caverns looks cool even if it does not follow proper laws of physics. The sequence with a speed boat going up stairs is the same way, except not nearly as cool looking. 

Sound: 

The acting is pretty good, actually. Hayashibara Megumi is always great. Miki Shinichiro does a good job. Hiramatsu Akiko & Matsumoto Rica are both good. If there's a weakness it's Kaga Takeshi as Kivas. And that's not so much his fault as it is a natural result of him getting a boring character who isn't very expressive. The music works decently enough. 

Ho-yay:

There isn't any. It's not like the Pokemon franchise is going to toss in an Utena reference or something. 

Areas of Improvement:

Make the villain basically competent. If our heroes had to actually sneak aboard and make their way to his collection, it would make for a more interesting sequence than him just letting them loose without watching them. You could even have Kasumi & Kenji create a distraction so they can actually do something of value. 
Either have all those Pokemon try to interfere with the battle or leave them out. Like I said, the sequences with all of them converging just end up being pointless since they just watch and lick their own genitals. 
Have Doctor Uchikido show some emotion. If the world is ending, you aren't going to look vaguely bored like it's a situation you get every Thursday. There's a difference between composure and just not giving a shit and her reaction is very much not giving a shit. 

Final Thoughts:

If I were watching this as a youngster back when it first came out, I'd probably enjoy it in the moment and quickly forget all the details. Watching it now, however, it does not hold up very well. While it has some good moments and the basic artwork and acting generally work well, the antagonist is forgettable and overly stupid. There are too many "plot points" that do nothing and too many characters who sit around scratching their asses. Ultimately, I'll give it a 5/10. It's one of those mundane children's films that has quite a few obvious issues because the writing staff didn't really care or think kids would really notice. 

The second Pokemon movie is a step down from the first one in almost every way. This doesn't have to be a condemnation in and of itself, but when your movie doesn't have enough new elements to replace watered down or missing older ones, then problems appear.

The most obvious difference between the first and the second movie is the setting. The first movie was set inside a bulbeous lovecraftian castle shrouded by a terrifying storm. There was no attempt at topping this and while bigger doesn't always equal better, this time the setting of the movie ends up underwhelming. It revolves around a generic tropic ... archipelago. Still, while the location is unremarkable, the movie does toy with viewer's expectations by using the plot to turn this tropical paradise into a cold wasteland.

When discussing Pokemon movies, symbolism, foreshadowing and subtle set ups and payoffs don't generally come to mind. Neither does scientific accuracy nor explanations of any kind. This is because latter movies utilize magic by default, ushering in the age of "anything goes". This isn't the norm early in the series, although the first glimpses of this trend are being set in this movie, which will be discussed further on. Still, all is not bad. As plot progresses and natural disasters strike, we get a wonderful scene of Professor Oak improvising an explaination of the shifting ocean currents to journalists using a notebook and a pen. Scenes like this give the movie unique flavor and let us immerse ourselves in the world easier. I wish we got more like this in later movies. Here they let us understrand the threat and which exact things are at stake. Due to moments like this we can believe the Pokemon world is a tangible alternate reality instead of a bog-standard fantasy rollercoaster experience.

Unfortunately, we also get a flat villain with a magical castle that makes no sense and the movie is happy to just not bother explaining anything. Used as a plot necessity (that's really not neccesary), the flying castle is one of the low points of the movie. Fortunately, its design is nice to the eyes. Seeing the villain, Lawrence, quickly characterized as a member of wealthy nobility (grand European art and arhitecture included), really pulls these elements out of the gutter even if it acts as duck-tape.

The first movie featured some nice references for adults. For example, the clone production machine's shape was clearly inspired by the Fibonacci squence, implying the universal likeness of all life in its conception. I haven't noticed any lofty nods to the audience in this movie, which is a shame.

While there was some interesting subtext among character interactions, there was no payoff in the end. Any complexities characters could've had were ultimately played for laughs, while conclusions and follow ups were not bothered with. This, along with some points raised previously, grounds the movie firmly in the mindless action camp.

With the movie not bothering to make characters and locations interesting, its plot would need a miracle to end up written well. And so it wasn't. Fortunately for the movie, action was good and the high stakes were communicated successfuly. The action scenes were where real care went and it shows. Some credit should also be given to the atmosphere. The strength of nature and wilderness were successfuly communicated, pushing the bland sections into enjoyable territory with some good visual theming.

Considering this movie's budget was the same as the previous, but the movie achieved much less in pretty much every area, it can be considered a disapointment. It was eclipsed by the vastly more complex and emotionally gripping predecessor and marks a point where we can safely say that Pokemon movies decided to settle for less, never to recapture the qualities of the first one.

Still, was it a bad movie? I'll have to go with a firm no. While the complexities were done away with, the stakes, action and setting were different enough to stand out as their own adventure. "The Power of One" is watchable without many frustrations, but also devoid of ambition. Even if you're not a Pokemon fan you could have a mildly fun time with this one.

After the first Pokémon movie, this is a bit of a disappointment.

The art it still very beautiful and detailed, but here they added computer animation to the mix, and I personally hate that, especially when put in the middle of traditional anime; it looks ugly and out of place, no way around it.

They didn't pay as much attention to detail in this one when it came to the plot, and it was a bit thinner than the first one. The beginning, which lay out the basis of the story, also seemed a little short/incomplete. It simply could have had... more in it.

Of course this movie ... also lacked the emotional charge of the first one. A decent movie, better than some of the episodes, but when it's put into comparison with something better, it is easy to see they could have put more effort into storytelling and add a little more depth.

Also, I've never really found the Pokémon's telepathic voices to fit them. I don't know why. They just seem odd, especially Lugia's in this one.

Not a bad movie, though. Very watchable.

hands down this is my favorite pokemon movie ever. i know that again like most pokemon movies, they don't have a direct tie to the show but that's just fine with me. i liked the whole idea of this movie and it gave me the familiar feel that i got when watching the old pokemon show. i liked the original voice of the characters and the new ones along with the music that goes along with it, i have some of it on my ipod to prove that ^^ i really enjoyed this movie for the use of the legendary birds and the role lugia ... was able to place into it. lugia will always be the guardian to the seas in my eyes

The second movie in the mighty franchise and once again throws the hero Ash into a deep story revolving around Legendary Pokemon.
The story revolves around the 3 main characters of the second series of Pokemon - Ash, Misty and Tracey. The three heroes are joined by the energetic captain Maren and her sister Melody.
The main storyline of this film is fufilling the prophacy which was laid down from generation to the next and stopping the great pokemon collector Lawrence III from stealing Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres.

The art was decently good as expected from the series and the soundtrack is very well made and ... is quite extensive.
Unforutnatly as with the rest of the Pokemon Series, the characters are quite plain and two dimensional. Though this can be overcome by the wide variaty of characters in it. Even including another talking psychic pokemon which provides and humorous touch to the series along with the useless bumbling Team Rocket.

The Movie itself is quite enjoyable and his overall is great but it can be held back by the lack of character personalility but other than this it is quite a good film to watch. Any Pokemaniacs will want to see this film

This is another nostalgia inducing movie. The good old days of Pokemon before it started going through extreme changes. It has many old favorites, many legendary Pokemon, and good villains. I cannot remember it in extreme detail, but, if you haven't watched this Pokemon movie yet, I highly recommend it. It is pure enjoyment and overall will likely just make you feel good. If you are highly critical or dislike childish things, maybe this isn't for you, but if you just like to sit back and relax at something without a horribly complex plot, this is really good for that. Thanks for reading.

I remember not liking this movie as much as the first one when I was younger and I couldn't remember if it was because the movie itself just wasn't good or if it was because the same weekend this had been rented for me, I finally got a vhs copy of Princess Mononoke (which obviously left a major impression on me since it's one of my favorite movies of all time).

Finding and getting into more mature anime that touched on more themes and subjects was one of the leading factors in drifting away from this series as a whole. It's why, for the most part, ... I still view Pokemon with nostalgia and don't take it too seriously because overall it's mostly fluff.

However, going back to this one I can definitely see it was the movie itself that just wasn't all that good.

The art/animation is a vast improvement and has some really lovely imagery in places. The soundtrack is also improved upon big time. The plot, though, is paper-thin at best and makes no sense at worst (I still don't know why these fucking birds were fighting when they all had their own damn island???).

This whole thing would've been better served as an arc on the show when I remember finding the whole Orange Islands season pretty damn tedious.

Also Melody is bae and I will fite for her.

A step down from the first movie, but still really good.

Getting it out of the way first, the flaws that made it weaker than the first one. Lawrence III was nowhere near as much of a compelling villain as Mewtwo, being much more of a generic "i'm gonna steal these Pokemon" guy. The action scenes and climax were also not as intense as the first one, though still very enjoyable, and the direction/production wasn't quite as good as the amazing direction of the first one.

With that out of the way, it was great, and in some ways even better than the first. The story ... with the gang trying to stop the legendary birds from destroying the world, and the whole prophecy of Ash being the chosen one, was all really thrilling and cool, and possibly even better than the first (not as thin). As mentioned, the action scenes and direction may have been weaker than the first one, but they were still great, and the animation was lovely. And finally, it had lots of nice comedy. ("We're slowing Lugia down, we're too heavy!"
"Let's try Weightwatchers")

So overall, still a great movie. Like the first, i'd recommend it to any fan.

The second Pokémon movie to hit theaters, Pokémon the Movie 2 (or 2000) originally came back in-- you guessed it-- 2000. Continuing the events of the anime, we find Ash and Pikachu back for another adventure. How does it fare? Pretty well actually.

Story: We follow Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum, his Pikachu, and friends, Misty and Tracey, as they continue their adventures on the Orange Islands. However, things take a turn for the worst when a mysterious Pokémon collector disrupts the balance of the world by forcefully capturing three elemental Pokémon: the fire-type Moltres, lighting-type Zapdos, and ice-type Articuno in hopes of luring out the legendary ... sea Pokémon, Lugia. The story plays out like your typical "save the word" affair where Ash must collect three ancient balls and restore order to the world.

The plot was predictable and formulaic, but was pretty entertaining. The characters were good for the most part. Misty, Tracey, and Team Rocket were great, though I can't say the same for the new characters and villain, who were all forgettable by the way.

Presentation: The second movie is a huge step up from its predecessor, despite being a year old. The character and background designs were detailed; as well as the vibrant colors, which were fitting of the sea-based setting. That being said, the 3D models no doubt have aged like crap and as a result, clashes with the 2D art. The voice acting (dub) is great in my opinion, as I found everyone delivering good performances. The soundtrack was good, though nothing really stood out to me.


Overall: I really had a lot of fun watching Pokémon the Movie 2, more so than The First Movie. Sure the story and characters weren't the greatest, but it was a enjoyable watch nonetheless. Anyone can watch it since its not story-heavy, though no doubt Pokémon fans will find the most fun here.

This Movie Brings Back Memories From When I Was A Kid I Was Obsessed Over This Movie Because Lugia Is My Favorite Pokemon Out There And This Movie Is Perfect For An Epic Battle And An Epic Story With The Best Story I've Seen In A Pokemon Movie Also How They Introduce The Story Is The Way To Do It I Give It 10/10 Good No Wait Awesome No Wait Epicnessiawsomenoogoods

The world of Pokemon can be a strange, wonderful, and often terrifying place. Along with humans and a select few diminutive and unimpressive animals, this world is inhabited by a race of peculiar creatures known as, of course, Pokemon. These creatures come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny moles and worms to giant whales and rock-snakes, and while some of the smaller ones might make good pets, almost all of them are capable of devastating feats. It’s understandable that some people may give Pokemon a wide berth, avoiding them at all costs, but there are a few brave souls among us ... who dare to encounter them up close and personal on a regular basis, bettering themselves in order to overcome any obstacle the world’s Pokemon might put forth. We call them Pokemon Trainers, and the very best among them, who’ve captured or at least owned one sample out of every known Pokemon, are considered Pokemon Masters! Of course, realistically, there can only be one Pokemon Master, as a select few Pokemon are one-of-a-kind, and capturing just one of them destroys the chances for anyone else to achieve said accolade. Seriously, what’s up with that?

Among these unique creatures are the legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. These Titans of unimaginable elemental power live on a series of islands near Shamouti in the Orange Islands region, engaged in an ancient stalemate over their territory, unknowingly guarding the dormant beast of the sea. Should any one of those three be captured and removed from the scenario, that beast will roar to life and throw the world into chaos. This legend has attracted the attention of Lawrence III, a Pokemon collector with a hunger for the rare and valuable. Using his incredible technology, he has every intention of capturing these titans in order to lure out the beast of the sea... Who he believes to be the legendary Lugia. Unfortunately for him, an old prophecy states that when the balance of power taming the beast becomes perturbed, a chosen one can step in and make things right again! And as it just so happens, Ash Ketchum and his friends are passing through the area on the way to their next Orange Islands gym battle, when they wind up getting dragged into the conflict. When the world turns to ash, will one of these brave souls step up and take the world’s fate into their own hands? Or will humanity become the next one-of-a-kind species?

Remember in my review of the first movie, how I said it struck the right balance between CG and 2D animation, and that the balance would get progressively worse with each passing movie? This is where it starts, and oh boy does it get off to a noticeable start. Right off the bat, we’re shown Lawrence’s Castle in the Sky, a giant floating base somehow kept in the air by slowly turning propellers. If this movie had come out a few years later, it would probably be paired with Feel Good Inc as it’s pop song BGM. Anyway, this thing is the most obvious, out of place computer-generated construct since the tongue beasts in the first Resident Evil movie, and two dimensional characters appearing in the same shot look about as real and natural as paper dolls taped to a very expensive child’s toy. It’s also pretty obvious how much money went into this thing, because about half of this movie’s animation is about as low quality as the show, with talking heads moving and freezing on still canvases, and barely any background movement in shots that have lots of people on them.

If that’s not bad enough, there’s a scene very early on where the team is travelling by boat, and they’re hit by a storm that causes some turbulence. There is a shot where Pikachu is standing nervously on the rocking boat in a close-up, and I swear to Arceus they just took the still image and shook it around to give the illusion of movement. Characters often seem to freeze into the background whenever they’re not talking, some of the scenes are very poorly shot(like Ash’s arrival on Shamouti), and a lot of the movie is distinctly out of frame, due to 4Kids’ decision to convert the film from widescreen to fullscreen. Another obvious CG effect is an entirely pointless scene where hoards of Pokemon are stuck on an ice sheet staring out into the water, but can still be seen moving from a mile away, including Kangaskhan doing her little sumo stomp. The only moments where the CG and 2D elements blend nicely to the tune of a decent budget, and thus the moments that differentiate it from future movies, are the action scenes, most notably when the legendary birds are fighting either Lawrence’s devices, each other, or both. The animation for these moments are breathtaking, fast paced, and over-all a joy to watch, to the point that I’d actually say it’s worth sitting through the rest of the movie’s animation to get there.

The music, however, is a step up from the first movie. The score is powerful and epic, particularly with the music that accompanies the action set pieces. Rather than a Danny Elfman sound, like the first movie utilized, this one has more of a John Williams sound, which is equally appropriate. Where the first film had a dark and ominous tone, this one plays out more like a grand, sweeping adventure, so the music has to be a lot bolder and, well, for lack of a better term, bigger. This does unfortunately result in a lot of the tunes sounding a bit homogenized, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as this type of movie kind of calls for it. It only tends to get annoying when it comes to what I can only describe as the musical motif of the film, a certain wind tune that a new female character introduces us to. She never states what she’s playing, and I can’t identify it by ear, so we’ll just call it an Ocarina. It’s important to the plot, so I can’t harp on it too much, but suffice to say it gets old pretty quick. Thankfully, with Lugia’s Song as an example, it rarely ever plays in the background without evolving into something far more awesome.

The soundtrack in this movie is nowhere near as embarrassing as the first one, as it seems to have been put together with a much better focus than it’s pop-song grabbing predecessor. The Ocarina motif that I mentioned before gets expanded into a full song by Donna Summer, which was based off of one of this movie’s three names, The Power of One. It’s a pretty great song, not gonna lie, but it’s very nature carries one of the most unfortunate problems with the english version of the movie, which I’ll get to later. The pop version of Pokemon World is also pretty awesome, even though it’s being sung by two nineties bands that haven’t been mentioned by living people for over ten years. Yeah, the song itself is fun, but it only really becomes cringeworthy if you watch the two bands performing it onstage, which is totally a thing on the DVD extras. Those poor teen bastards. Even the actors from Pokemon Live came away more dignity than that. Flying Without Wings by Westlife is a pretty decent song... well, at least the cut the movie used... And for a bit of unexpected weirdness, Weird Al actually pops up in the credits to combine the Pokerap with his own Polka trend.

It’s not what I’d call a perfect soundtrack, but at least they tried to keep things relevant this time around. But much like the first movie, there are tunes on the CD that didn’t make it into the movie... Dreams by Alysha Antonino has the makings of a pretty good song, but the production features the absolute worst flavor of the late nineties. The lyrics themselves are almost poignant in their message, but the orchestration is just butt ugly. The Extra Mile by Laura Pausini is really generic, and could easily be placed in the credits of almost any film without feeling out of place. I hate to get mean over a song that’s been lost in time, but when I buy a CD and load the songs to Itunes, this is the kind of song I leave off. The same could be said by One Heart by O-Town, which probably the most memorable forgotten band in existence, and With All Your Heart by Plus One. The only songs present that are as entertainingly bad as the last CD are Chosen One by The B-52s, which almost seems to be making fun of the movie’s prophecy, and They Just Don’t Understand, a song by a bunch of twelve year olds called Dream Street about their love of the franchise. This one also appears on the DVD in all it’s cringy glory, you’re welcome.

For the most part, there isn’t much I can say about the english dub without talking about the series, as the acting in this movie is pretty much the same as the series at it’s best. I’ve always felt that the acting was the best part of the 4Kids dub, with the writing always being more hit-or-miss, heavy emphasis on the miss. I will concede that Ed Paul as Tracey is slightly less annoying than Eric Stuart as Brock. That, and while it might just be my imagination, Addie Blaustein was putting forth a bit more effort than usual as Meowth. Another performance of note comes from Veronica Taylor, who we’ve all gotten used to hearing as Ash, but also gets to play Ash’s mother in this film, and she gets a really heartfelt exchange with him later in the movie. Eric Rath was a bit on the forgettable side in his turn as Lugia, and despite having just as little voice acting experience, Neil Stewart was quite a bit better as Lawrence. Nathan Price, who’s done a bit more than those two, does a great job as Slowking, making the character sound like a slow, dim-witted person who’s somehow come upon great intelligence but still speaks like he used to.

The worst thing about this dub are the changes it made to the material, of which there are far too many. There was at least one plot point that I hoped was a rewrite, but no, it wasn’t... The rewrites that do exist are way worse. The relationship between the Legendary Birds and the Beast of the Sea is given a much better explanation in the Japanese, although it’s still a work of fantasy, so it’s not THAT much better. There was originally a moment when Tracey was allowed to shine by helping his friends to science their way out of a jam, but that got cut, so he’s basically as useless as his Venonat was in the opening short. Much worse than these, and probably much more shocking to westerners who’ve never seen both versions, is the fact that the whole “Power of One” idea was entirely a dub-only concept. In the Japanese, not only was there no such thing as a ‘chosen one,’ but from what I’ve been told, there was no prophecy, either. The film actually had a heavy emphasis on teamwork, which makes more sense considering how much help Ash needs throughout. Much like the pacifism of the first movie, this just goes to show how confused 4Kids can get when it comes to teaching western-friendly morals. If you can, stick to the sub.

If you knew me around the turn of the century, you’d know that I was a huge Pokemon fanatic. If you were also a member of the Pokemon fandom, you probably also knew that I was a huge fan of the Orange Islands arc. To this day, it’s still my favorite season of the original series, and the only season that I own on DVD. It was just so different from anything that came before, or that’s come out of the series since. As far as I’m aware, it was the only season to not be connected to the games, although I did at least attempt to run the fan-made Pokemon Orange-version on my piece of crap MacIntosh. I loved how much creative freedom it had, as it wasn’t tied down to the formula of the Kanto region, as they didn’t have to dedicate each episode to revealing a new Pokemon, and they could just write episodes revolving around new concepts of older, already established Pokemon. Some very popular iconic Pokemon got to take center stage, like Lapras and Snorlax, and the battles didn’t have to be actual battles, and there was a lot more material for Pokeshippers. It was a breath of fresh air, and the news of an upcoming movie finally got my ass into theaters.

So how did it hold up? Well, you hardly need me to tell you how popular it is. While the critics were notoriously tough on it, giving it only a one point advantage over it’s predecessor, it is one of the most common fan favorites among the actual Pokemon fandom. It’s lowest review score on Myanimelist is a 6(until now), and none of those reviews lasted more than a single page(until now). It’s not hard to see why, because this was the first Pokemon movie to feel like an actual movie. It had a more epic, theatrical feel to it, with higher stakes and arguably a more ambitious story than most other Pokemon films. It introduced two Generation 2 Pokemon, not counting Elekid in the opening short, and the ones it did introduce in the main story were actually important to the plot, not cannon fodder in a random opening battle. It’s not often considered the best movie in the Pokemon line-up, that honor often goes to the Entei and Lucario movies, but it is a generally respected and highly regarded movie... Which is why it might surprise you to hear me say that it really isn’t THAT much better than the first film.

Now, credit where credit is due, it does a much better job following the traditional three act structure. In the first act, we meet the villain. We learn about who he is, what his plan is, and what will happen if said plan comes to fruition. We also get introduced to the main character, why he’s in the area, and how he gets drawn into the conflict. We get all the backstory we need, and then some, as well as intros of basically every single plot point that’s going to matter. In the second act, the plot picks up, and we see the main character set out to resolve the conflict as quickly as possible, even though the conflict is way bigger and more dangerous than he initially thought, and his inability to solve the problem leads him into a worsening situation, where things basically hit rock bottom. Finally, in the third act, the worst case scenario happens, the main makes a much grander stand, and it all builds to a climax that delivers on everything that set it up. Power of One follows the three act structure so well that it’s almost like the writers made a conscious effort to do so, and it’s ultimately the reason that the movie feels so much more like, well, a movie.

Having said that, a three act structure doesn’t guarantee the movie will be good, and for all of it’s grandeur and epic nature, this movie has just as much stupid, lore and continuity breaking material in it as the last one. First of all, harping on the English dub, the prophecy is completely pointless. Not only does it feel mind-numbingly stupid that some ancient prophecy knows who Ash is and decides that only he, one of the most incompetent heroes in anime history, can possibly set the world back to right, but there was nothing in the prophecy about Lawrence starting all of this conflict. It also doesn’t work in terms of the story, because Ash doesn’t need a prophecy to tell him to go into action and save the world... He’s a good person, he’ll do it anyway! Hell, I wouldn’t even make that point if it wasn’t for the fact that (mild spoilers in this sentence) Team Rocket, the show’s signature antagonists, decide all on their own to turn over a new leaf and act heroic for the sake of saving the planet. Ash needed a prophecy to call him out by name(In an oh so clever pun that fooled absolutely nobody), but Team Rocket are the altruists in the scenario? Bull to the motherfucking shit!

Going right back to act one, not only does Lawrence have a Pokemon trading card... Which just throws all kinds of logic out the window, because this isn’t Digimon Tamers we’re watching... But the exposition he gets from his computer makes no sense. It identifies the prophecized Titans as the legendary birds, which means he likely didn’t know that yet, and since the prophecy mentioned nothing about Shamouti, how the hell is he already in the area? And why are Ash and friends taking a ferry, when they usually just ride on Lapras’s back? It would make sense in a Pokemon game, but they never had random encounters on her back before. Also, how did Lawrence and Ash move into position on the exact annual day that the island was expecting this exact catastrophe to occur? Then in the second act, we get such gems as Tracey being useless, a flying sailboat, Ash trying to tackle an electrified cage, and to top it all off, there’s a strong implication that in order to catch all existing Pokemon... Or to “Catch’em All,” which is explicitly the catch phrase of the series, you would have to destroy the world as we know it in the process. I don’t think they really thought this through.

Then the third act happens, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it damn near justifies everything. In the first movie, the “third act,” if you could call it that, is where it failed hardest, as it used it’s climax to crawl right up inside it’s own ass. This, however, is what a third act is supposed to be. Every single plot point, even the worst ones like Misty bantering with Melody over her crush on Ash, comes to a satisfying conclusion. Even though there’s well-animated action scenes throughout the movie, this part of the story upstages all of them, as it should, with Lawrence being largely written out of the story so the birds themselves can fight among themselves, and it’s as awesome as it sounds. That’s not to say nothing stupid happens... Bulbasaur and Squirtle are shown to run as fast as Charizard flies, in a scenario when he really should have tried to call out Lapras, and the dialogue between Melody and Misty ends in an exchange that doesn’t make much sense... I’m assuming only one person in that group has any idea how to play the Ocarina... But it doesn’t matter, because every moment leads to something great. Does that make all the stupid crap that we had to sit through to get to that point okay? No, not really, but at least there’s something at the end worth sitting through it all for. It’s not much, but it’s something.

Pokemon the movie 2000, also known as The Power of One and Revelation Lugia, is available from Viz Media in both single format and a three-pack with the first and third films. . You can also find the out of print original DVD from Warner Home Video, albeit at a much more expensive price. Unlike the first movie, you can also find the soundtrack and score on the same CD, although brand new copies are quite a bit more expensive. Netflix generally has about four or five different Pokemon movies available for legal streaming at any given time, and this is occasionally one of them.

Despite my criticisms, this is my favorite Pokemon movie, and it’s the one I have the most nostalgic feelings for. There are at least two scenes in it that make me cry... One involving Team Rocket, the other involving Ash’s mom... And that’s something no other Pokemon movie can say. It also expands upon the lore in a lot of interesting ways, such as giving a few characters first names for the first time. Of course, just because it’s my personal favorite doesn’t make it one of the best ones. I wouldn’t even call it one of the top five. Looked at as a sequel, it just barely surpasses the first movie in terms of scale and execution, but the story is still based on coincidence, there’s still a lot of dumb and inaccurate material, and it breaks the fourth wall more than any Pokemon movie should. It doesn’t fall into the trap of pushing a confused and hypocritical moral, but it only pulls this off by not trying to push ANY moral... Which is probably the smart way to go, but it still doesn’t convey the kind of growth that a sequel should go through. It’s sense of pacing, structure and emotional resonance, as well as it’s killer third act ultimately saves it from receiving a score as low as the first film, but it still doesn’t earn it a good score, as much as I may love it. I give Pokemon the Movie 2000 a 5/10.

I remember it being tugging on my heartstrings even as a child when we saw the three legendary birds - especially Articuno for me which has been my favorite since this came out.

I watched this for the first time as a child at the age of 6 in the Cinema. It's a memory that never fades; it was beautiful, empowering, funny, and emotional all in one. I remember crying towards the end of the movie; it was a very powerful moment.

*I don't want to spoil anything for someone who hasn't had the pleasure to see this movie yet so I won't go into ... detail*

I guess the weak link in the chain is the villain of the movie for the 1/3 of the movie. It could have done a better job with him, or completely remove his arc and flesh out the characters we already know / got to know in this movie.


Just watch it for the first time. Re-watch it.

Pokemon isn't just for children, which is a huge misconception. There's a lot to take away from a adult perspective.
You'll love it.



Definitely worth re-watching as an adult just for the nostalgia. The orchestra that accompanied the movie is superb - A masterpiece in itself.

I can't believe that a Pokemon movie had its own ORCHESTRA. it's amazing. I still have the OST and Lugia's song is emotional even after so many years.
The animation is a beautiful old-school.

When Lugia Theme played for the first time I remember how the tears streamed down my cheeks. I had never heard anything so beautiful before in my life. Even today I can hear how amazing it is, but today it only brings me joy.

The joy of having been able to experience this magical adventure a child and adult both.

This is my favourite pokemon movie :) i love lugia's song, beautiful music

Rewatched this with some friends recently. This is the second feature-length Pokemon film. This film, like the first one, does have a fair share of filmatic moments, as in it actually feels like a film (which funny enough is not the case for a lot of the later Pokemon films starting in the Diamond and Pearl time frame onwards).

However, while you can chalk up a lot of the issues in the first film as "hey it was their first stab at it", there are A LOT of issues in this second film. The biggest issue I have with the film is the absolute failure ... of the villain. They try to pass him off as a bad guy for bad guy's sake (which sometimes is the best path for a film). However, he just doesn't have any stopping power. Also for large chunks of the film, he remains quite absent from the film. In a way, the three original legendary birds play the role of the chaotic evil "villains".

The pacing of the film is honestly not too bad although the intro sequence (with the villain and how Ash and company end up on "plot island") goes on a bit too long. The problem is that...there really isn't a whole lot of interesting things thrown into the film. It is literally "hey go to this island, pick up X item, go to the next island and repeat". There are also a lack of set-pieces, something that films like this need to motivate the audience.

The dialogue is quite simply, omega cringe. Like, yeah sure the target audience for this film is younger children but even then, tell me why Pixar films, for the most part, end up appealing to all audiences?

Overall, if you watch it in the right setting, it can be enjoyable. However as a film, it is quite boring. Still it is miles better than a number of the Pokemon films.

Enjoyment: 3.8/10

Overall: 4/10

It still astounds me just how damn well Mewtwo Strikes Back held up upon revisitation over 2 decades after it aired. How many films aimed at 6-year-olds explore such difficult themes as biological determinism, nature vs nurture and the lasting trauma of being denied personhood, let alone with such mythic scope behind them? Time and time again, this franchise has proved that it can go above and beyond the call of duty, pushing its toyetic critters and characters into works of genuine artistry. Pokemon’s first ever movie could have easily just been a dull lice of tie-in filler and it still would have raked in ... cash hand over fist, but the team at OLM decided to turn it into something really special. It’s that kind of dedication that made Pokemon take over the world, not just distracting kids with flashy colors but giving them something real and enduring to carry with them. And as long as it keeps proving capable of reaching those heights, I’ll have very little problem sticking with it for the long haul.

Unfortunately, just because Pokemon usually goes the extra mile doesn’t mean it’s completely immune to phoning it in. And Pokemon’s second movie, The Power of One, is every bit the mindless franchise vehicle that Mewtwo Strikes Back fought so hard to avoid being.

The story takes us back to the middle of the Orange Islands arc, with Ash, Misty and Tracy once again caught up in a potentially world-ending catastrophe related to a legendary Pokemon threatened by human malfeasance. This time, it’s the trio of legendary birds- Articuno of ice, Zapdos of lightning, and Moltres of fire, who in this continuity hang out on a trio of islands right in the middle of the archipelago. Normally there’s balance between them, but a preening Pokemon thief has shown up and started capturing them, throwing that balance into chaos. The birds are rising up to try and conquer each other’s territory, and weather around the world is going wild as a result as their fierce battle rages. The only thing that can calm them down is Lugia, the guardian of the sea, who swims deep in the waters below the islands and acts as the last line of defense to its inferiors. Unfortunately, Lugia’s also exactly who the Pokemon thief is after in the first place, the ultimate prize whom the legendary birds are just a means to an end for catching. Thus, Ash and friends must team up with some native islanders to set things right, island-hopping to fulfill a mysterious prophecy that will awaken Lugia and give it the power it needs to save the day.

There’s a lot of potential in that set-up for a tale just as resonant as Mewtwo Strikes Back. Unfortunately, whatever creative juices inspired the Pokemon team to make Baby’s First Francis Galton are not present here: The Power of One is the most bog-standard, generic Chosen One story you can possibly imagine. The prophecy is every prophecy you’ve ever seen in movies like this, and it casts Ash as the chosen one for no other reason than he’s this franchise’s nominal protagonist. The villain is so generic and meaningless that I don’t think we ever learn his name; he’s just some asshole who shows up, minces, and gets his ass kicked. There’s no effort to have our heroes naturally enter the story; they’re just dragged in by dopey convenience before they even realize the full extent of what they’re dealing with. And unlike Mewtwo Strikes Back, there’s no greater meat on the bones to give the story deeper meaning, so there’s nothing to distract from just how asinine some of this gets. At one point the bad guy just lets the heroes out of the cage he’s imprisoned them in and then leaves them behind, with nothing stopping them from pulling their Pokemon out and rescuing his other captives. Seriously, that’s phenomenally stupid, coincidence-laden writing.

Perhaps I am being too harsh in some respects; it’s not like Mewtwo Strikes Back was perfect itself, after all. It meandered in the midsection with a few too many side distractions before getting to that killer final act. But without that film’s genuine gravitas, all The Power of One has is those lesser elements. Instead of powerful emotional themes and plot turns that actually mean something, we’re left with Ash being told he’s The Only One Who Can Save The World through powers completely out of his hands and a groan-inducing subplot that pits Misty against another girl in competition for Ash’s affections and ugh, have I mentioned how much I dislike this kind of trite “romantic drama?” Thankfully, the animation team at OLM still knows how to pull off a hell of a spectacle, so we still get the super-impressive animation and background art that Mewtwo Strikes Back had. The world still feels epic, every shot is still intricately detailed, and whenever we’re just focusing on the epic storms whipping up on sea or the explosive battles between the legendary birds themselves, the chaos is truly beautiful to behold. It’s a shame that ugly CG also rears its head at points, which really does some damage to the otherwise great aesthetics; the bad guy’s flying castle, in particular, is basically just a low-rent PS2 Evil Laputa. And it really sticks out in a bad way when the hand-drawn stuff is still so genuinely impressive to behold.

Ultimately, Pokemon 2000 isn’t a disaster. It’s still an impressive animation showcase, and I think it utilizes Team Rocket better than Mewtwo Strikes Back did (their arc is the one genuine improvement over this film’s predecessor). But compared to everything that made this franchise’s first film so special, this is a major step down in every way. It lacks the meaning, it lacks the weight, it lacks the pathos, and it lacks the imagination I know this franchise it’s capable of.