Near the end of the film, there's a great scene with Ash and five antagonists awaking Yveltal. The ensuing attempts to kidnap Diancie and run away from the harbinger of death are joyously written. These scenes make only a tiny portion of the film overall, but they stand out from the cookie-cutter writing we're usually treated with in these films.
The good thing about this one is that Diancie is a likeable character and her interactions with Ash & co are fun to watch. Of course, the dialogue isn't going to win any awards, but I feel it's done its part. Adequate to keep us entertained, not enough to uplift the work.
Diancie's lack of a distinguishing character arc is disapointing. Her mini adventures aren't enough to keep us entertained for over two thirds of the film, either. It's for this reason that wacky sequences not fittingt the film are utilized to shake things up a bit. A good example of this is the infinite ladder at the mall.
Just like Shaymin's film, this one suffers from a sudden focus shift from characters to the plot, where characters aren't developed enough for a character focused film and the plot is too weak to make itself worth it.
The last fifth of the film with Yveltal petrifying the waking world is, again, a joy to watch. However, Yveltal & Xerneas don't feel like world shattering legendaries because the plot had no time to build up them or the legend around them. Unlike, say, legendary birds from the second film, these feel like pseudo-legendaries which only the local town folk are aware of as a curiosity.
The film made a few big mistakes in its conceptual stage which paved the way to an unfulfilling plot and somewhat stale middle of the film, but from the execution it's obvious that they treated this one with some care, unlike the last two. Nothing groundbreaking for the most part, but at least it gives hope for further installments. It's been 16 films. After a draught, finally one I can recommend to general Pokemon fans. It's okay.
