Pokemon Movie 19: Volcanion to Karakuri no Magearna

It's been over a decade since I've watched a pokemon movie in the theatre - and it was great!

Story 8/10:
The story is your typical bad guy does something and it's up to Satoshi (Ash) to stop them - but I found it refreshing in that this time, Satoshi is inevitably dragged along to help Volcanion instead of following his own will - well, at first anyway. The plot was sufficiently long and engaging as our heroes overcome challenge after challenge; to be honest I was a little weary after the fifth hurdle or so. Although the happy ending was predictable as this is Pokemon, ... I still found it enjoying overall.

Art 9/10:
Honestly, the animation and art was AMAZING. I'm kinda jealous that other good anime titles don't have any art/animation as good as Pokemon's. I thought that there would be more stil shots like in your typical anime - but nope, there were absolutely no still shots in the entire movie. Everything felt... alive.

Sound 10/10:
I liked all the insert songs - they fit the story perfectly and the theme songs' lyrics were very attuned to the mood/setting at each moment. There's nothing to criticise about the sound at all; you could tell every pokemon's feeling just by the voice.

Character 9/10:
Every character that had a line had a role, and every bad guy had their 'moment of glory' where they take on Satoshi and/or his allies. I'd even say that every pokemon had a distinct personality.

Enjoyment 9/10:
Except for the little weariness I mentioned earlier, it was very enjoyable! As expected, the Japanese theme song feels more fitting than the English ones I have watched in the past. Given the high ratings on other review sites (4.1/5 as of now), I'm glad that everyone seems to enjoy it as much as I do! I'd recommend this movie to anyone who is in Japan right now - you won't regret it!

Of all the Pokémon movies I've seen, I'd say this one was just... okay. It looked very nice and had an interesting, steampunk sort of setting. But I felt like they weren't totally in touch with the lessons this movie was meant to tell--or even just the potential for what lessons it could tell.

I expected there to be more of a focus on the forced mega evolutions. I know it is something that's touched on in the anime itself a few times, (at least I seem to remember a few episodes with that plot) and so it wouldn't be entirely new, but one thing they ... did really focus on was how all the Pokémon in that valley had been abused or abandoned at some point and now distrust humans because of it. Mega evolution is meant to be this big thing that only works if the bond between trainer and Pokémon is strong enough, so it should have tied in pretty easily. But there was only, like, one line shouted out in the midst of the big battle about how they're fighting back against it, and then we've moved on to something else.

Even more so, though, I was expecting there to be some big lesson about the difference between machines and living creatures... maybe how the people living in that city are so used to working with machines that they've grown insensitive to the needs of their more animalistic Pokemon? And that's why they don't see a problem with forcing the mega evolution? Because it's like overriding some function on a machine? I don't know; there are a lot of things they could have done with it, instead of the super generic, "I'm going to use and abuse this pure-hearted being's power because I'm the bad guy" plot that they went with that's already been done a million times. I just feel like this movie didn't live up to its potential.

The start of this movie confused me. Could this one actually be good? Pokemon movies have degraded throughout the years and are now known for repetitive plots and themes. One of the reasons for this throughout the last decade was the constant reuse of situations and assets. The key phrase here is the last decade. Indeed, some bad Pokemon movies older than that used to be bad in diverse ways, but they're increasingly falling into a rut. Even neutral elements that used to be a backdrop or pure fluff feel tired now, as we've seen them so many times before. In this movie I rolled ... my eyes as characters did things they do in every Pokemon movie. I rolled my eyes when I saw houses identical to those in previous movies and show. Not every fame was bad, but it all felt tired. Again, again and again. Is this what dying of old age feels like? Maybe, but I believe a more appropriate phrase is feeling dead inside. Yes, that's how a lot of elements in these movies make me feel. Yet, as I watched, the first half an hour kept me puzzled. We have yet another kingdom and yet another anachronistic mix of history and technology. But could it be that this time it's going to be different, actually interesting?

What gives hope are some interesting ideas that sound too baffling to not be further explored. The movie deals with Magearna, a mechanical Pokemon created by an alchemical genius 500 year ago. This is constantly repeated. Not only that, but the core component of this Pokemon is named the soul-heart. That's interesting. We may be in yet another themepark city, this time with gears, but alchemical and supranatural components are everywhere. Throughout the movie I was grasping at straws, seeking for explanations and lore, trying to make sense of this. But there was nothing to find.

The biggest problem is that the plot's essence is an exploration of the very concept of soul, life and divine revelation. But in the end none of those elements get even a lip service. The whole thing was not thought out at all. I'm reminded of Mewtwo's lamentations and invocation of God upon his birth 19 movies ago. How far have Pokemon movies degraded since?

In any case, now that we've established why the very concept of this movie fails, lets look at the characters. We've got the standard team; Rocket are annoying and useless and Ash's team is there for exposition purposes. We've also got two major new characters; Magearna and Volcanion. Both are mixed bags. Magearna, especially early on, is interesting. Unfortunately, the way they decided to treat her later on was terrible. She ended up seeming as a worse reboot of Diancine from a few movies ago.

If there's one positive in the movie worth mentioning, it's Volcanion. I believe most people who like the movie like it because he basically carried it. Movie puts him and Ash into the center and their interactions are generally good enough to keep the viewer engaged at least a bit. Unfortunately, even in Japanese, his voice actor is servicable at best and the way he's been directed is painfully generic.

Music herein is generic Pokemon movie fare, except this time the main theme remix is exceptionally weak and unsatisfying. Visually, it looks how you'd expect a Pokemon movie to look. I don't care to even mention the plot or antagonists. If you've ever watched an unsatisfying Pokemon movie before, you know what to expect. By the way, shoutout to another damned flying castle! I hope we never see one again in these movies, but I have no faith in the movie team. I hate it.

There's just one more thing I want to talk about before wrapping the review up. Ash's disgusting self-righteousness. As if directly from the Mewtwo 2: Electric Boogaloo movie, Ash is on a friendship spree. By that I mean, he's pushing friendship talks onto everyone he meets. Except this time he goes too far. At one point in the movie Ash does everything he and a wild group of Pokemon were trying to do. All is wrapped up, everyone should go their own way. The wild Pokemon are grateful to him and all is well. Or is it? In a jarring move, Ash, after realizing that even though they're grateful, these Pokemon still don't trust humans in general, starts shouting at them - how dare they not like humanity after he helped them? He lets both them and us, as an audience, know that he's the ambasador of humanity and if you don't trust humanity after he's done with you, you're the problem. Thanks, Ash. Go die in a fire.

All in all, the plot of this one is one of the worst Pokemon movie plots out there, somewhere between the Celebi and Keldeo movies. Characters are generally unlikable with the exception of Vulcanion who keeps you from wanting to kill yourself when watching. There are moments that hint at greatness that are thoroughly sabotaged at every point possible. With X&Y movies behind us, it seems the Diancine movie will stay foreverially the only one warranting a recommendation of any kind.