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
