Anyone who knows the Pokemon movies knows that a lot of them are very formulaic, but most still appeal to fans in one way or another. Diancie and the Cocoon of Destiny, however, is different, becoming most likely my least favourite Pokemon film yet.
I watched the Cartoon Network broadcast of the movie, so perhaps that's the reason why, but this movie felt very hurried, and it lacked impact as a result.
The story was very much to the formula of numerous other Pokemon movies. Meet new Pokemon -> Help it achieve its goal -> Uh-oh! Human baddies/Pokemon baddies -> Friendship prevails!
This same old layout is usually remedied from being too boring by the individuality of the setting, Pokemon or enemies. However, Diancie's movie had no fully interesting setting, moving about across pretty same-y towns and areas, with only the Carbine tunnels being somewhat more unique.
The bulk of the movie was comprised of a complete lack of action, with small, unsatisfying battles scattered throughout. This lack of action, however, provided the place for a few gags which were, to a degree, entertaining... But overall, the film just seemed boring and devoid of purpose.
The end-game villain, Yveltal, appeared somewhat briefly towards the conclusion, and was quickly sent packing. Unlike other big-bad, such as the monster from Jirachi Wish Maker, Yveltal lacked a real sense of awe and excitement when it arrived, and was a disappointment that could have been cool.
Oh, did I mention that Pikachu got turned into stone at the end? How absolutely original!
The art was some of the best from a Pokemon movie. The use of CGI was nice, and the whole movie was attractive and stylish. The sound, as well, was fitting and quite good, including a rehash of the "Gotta Catch 'em All!" theme which surprisingly WASN'T terrible! The voice acting, the first of the English dub I've heard for XY, matched the characters and their original voices pretty well, especially Citron (or Clemont). Diancie's voice, however, became gradually more and more annoying, something that was only made worse by the overkill of flimsy dialogue about "bein frienz".
The characters in the film were, in my opinion, one major reason this movie failed. The original characters could have been interesting, but even then, characters that drove the storyline were paper-thin and unmemorable. Supposedly important characters were barely introduced prior to the ending. Ninja Riot, for example, was a silly character who seemed to mock the whole idea of a ninja, and it was kinda funny... But, his seriously limited screen time held him back from being memorable beyond next week, no matter how ballin' his Ninjask flight was. Ash and his gang of above-par pals, Serena, Bonnie and Clemont, were as good as they usually are, and Team Rocket were there, despite having no real role. But that's not a change, now, is it?
I didn't enjoy this movie nearly as much as I wanted to. The film had the potential to be exciting and radical, but instead was bland and uninteresting. If you want to watch just one new Pokemon movie, I recommend you wait until next year's ORAS movie - because, I mean, how can they mess up a movie about the Super Ancient Pokemon?
