Pokemon the First Movie - Mewtwo vs. Mew

Rating:
Summary: Ehhh....
Review: When I first borrowed the video from my friend when I was 9, I thought it was awesome. I guess this was because I was trying to get into the trend and...well, I was 9; I hadn't developed a true taste for movies yet.

And now I am 13, and my view of the movie has changed. I don't think this movie is terrible, but it is not nearly as good as other movies out there.

First let's start the review by reviewing the 20-minute short: "Pikachu's Vacation"

This short is a lot like the "Pokemon" TV-series in many ways. It's bright, cheery and has a "Bugs Bunny"-esque kind of humor. The difference is it has no violence and keeps the humor running until the last 5 minutes, where they just have put in a moral.

If you're a fan of the TV-series, you'll probably like it. Me? I'll usually just skip the thing and go directly to the movie.

Now for the reason whether or not you want to buy this: "Pokemon: The First Movie"

Undeniably much better than its short-film predecessor, the story focuses on the most powerful Pokemon ever: Mewtwo (with pretty good dub by Philip Barlett). Mewtwo is a genetically enhanced clone of an extinct Pokemon, Mew. After finally waking up from his tube inside the cloning facility where he was created, he speaks to his creators and believes that they care nothing for him and designed him only for experiments. Mewtwo, who only wants to find out his pupose for being, will not accept it as his destiny, and turns the laboratory into a raging inferno. Shortly afterward, he begins a friendship with the boss of the bumbling Team Rocket, Giovonni (Ted Lewis), but that friendship is quickly put an end when Giovonni presents Mewtwo with yet another destiny that he does not want to accept, and also sets flames to his glorious palace. After this, he believes that all humans are evil and starts a campaign of human extermination.

Sometime later (though it's not clear how long), Ash Ketchum (Veronica Taylor) and his buddies Misty (Rachael Lillis) and Brock (Eric Stuart) and his favorite (and everybody else's) favorite Pokemon Pikachu (Ikue Ootani) recieve an invitation to battle at the palace of "The World's Greatest Pokemon Master". Their form of transportation to the New Island (the place where the guy lives) would be a ferry. However, a storm has come and the ferry has been cancelled. Three other trainers take off into the storm on their Pokemon, but Ash, Misty and Brock's Pokemon are not strong enough. They get to the island with the help of Team Rocket members Jessie (Lillis), James (Stuart) and their cat Pokemon Meowth (Addie Blaustine) who are disguised as vikings (they're trying to steal Ash's poor little Pikachu). Once there, they meet the guy who's caused them all this trouble. And you know who he is, so I won't spoil any more for you.

Things I thought were wrong with this movie: Besides "Pikachu's Vacation", the animation was not very good. Effects were dull, colors and backgrounds seemed rushed and things move very jankily. Also, I felt there were some parts in which I think the violence got a little too extreme for a G-rated movie, so I would've given it a PG rating. But I'm probably the only one who thinks this. My brother would rather give it a PG-13 rating

Good Things: I thought that the story was really good. It was well plotted and had some nice suprises. The dubbing was pretty decent, though I'm never really sure what to think about Veronica Taylor's dubbing. I never have been.

All in All: This definetly isn't the best of the Pokemon movies, but it is decent, as the Pokemon franchise has proven itself to be. I never was a rabid Pokemon fan as so many were when the franchise first came out, but I still enjoy Pokemon to this day.

So if you want to buy, I would suggest a rent first if you haven't already seen this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Many changes to this movie, but great!
Review: Well, besides the dubbing, there were other changes to this movie. The script was re-written in a way to make it more dramatic and was given several morals. I thought this was okay, but I think that the original script shouldn't be tampered with. I also thought that the re-composition of the background music was pretty good too, although I don't know why 4Kids would waste their time doing it. There were cuts in Mewtwo's Origin and Pikachu's Vacation, but that's really no big deal. I think that Mewtwo's voice sounded a bit odd compared to the Japanese, for in Japanese, he sounded like he had a robotic voice, which really made him feel creepy. There were also some Pokémon mistakes. There was a Pidgeot called Pidgeotto, a Scyther called Alakazam and a Sandslash called Sandshrew. I honestly think that 4Kids should have taken a better look at this.

If you take away all of those problems, this movie was great. The added CGI effects really made this movie look neat in theatres, and it still does here. I still think that the puns that Team Rocket pull are hilarious...except for the one James pulled at the start. Great music, good plot, I think you should buy it.

Rating:
Summary: The Best is still the best!!!
Review: Pokemon is my all time favorite anime. No other cartoon comes close to it!!! And this movie puts it on the map! The first movie is the best movie!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Pokemon Movie
Review: This movie is one of the best movies I have. ... Pokemon is the coolest cartoon ever. You've
got to see it if you haven't. Pokemon has the great stuff a
good movie needs. Get it now if you don't own a copy!

Rating:
Summary: An Objective Look from a Pokemaster
Review: I am a devoted fan of Pokemon, despite my age (a whopping 16!). However, although I found the TV series entertaining (in a baffling, obsessive way), this feature lacks the charm, humor, and tone of the episodes and instead, seems to be just winging it, exploiting the enormous success of the pokemon phenomenon purely for corporate profit, without the care of an artist. Not only is it crudely translated and dubbed (may I mention the some 20 minutes cut? or the error on the pokemon names?), but the emotion behind the original Japanese production is lost. And the whole "fighting is bad" tirade? Come on! Much of the effort at emotional content resulted in several mawkishly sentimental scenes. We don't need to be told; we want to be shown. I'm aware that this film is directly mainly toward a younger audience, but I don't think any less effort should be put forth to make it a quality film. Hopefully, with the some $83 mill from this production, the second pokemon movie will be handled with more tenderness. I (and I speak for many others) will be waiting to applaud this summer's Pokemon Revelation Lugia.

Rating:
Summary: I've never walked out on a movie...
Review: I just saw this movie on Cartoon Network and was reminded how much I hated watching this movie in theaters.

Although I am a huge Pokemon fan, I was disgusted by this translation. I say translation because I have seen the Japanese version of this movie; it is much different, more entertaining (and coherent), and not embarrassing to watch. I'd say it is at least three times better than this WB produced garbage.

If you've only seen the English translation, you've been duped. The Japanese original version has surprising depth, a striking soundtrack, and decent voice overs, all of which the English translation does not have.

See it, believe it.

Rating:
Summary: To extreme for some
Review: I love this movie. It's one of the best animated movies in exsitance. Those who give this movie few start and were strongly dissapointed are either very poor critics or didn't really pay attention to the film. The story is very powerful. A story about true equality in a world in which humans and animals are symbiotic with one another. Mewtwo is one of the best tragic villians ever put on screen. He is the Malcolm X of pokemon. Malcolm was extreme in his nature because the place and time demanded that he was. It's the same in this film for Mewtwo. Any self respecting human being would react in the same manner. The film takes kids, its target audience, through every emotional gamit possible. It also gives kids questions to ponder, serious life changing questions. In something so blatantly commercial as pokemon is, the filmmakers choose to point a very strong message admist all the advertisments. A very nice change of pace. Fans of pretty pictures in which stuff blows up without rhyme or reason should watch something else. This film is only for those who like substance with their anime. out alanS.

Rating:
Summary: this is good
Review: Well, I have to say when I was younger I didn't understand it that much but when I watched it again it pretty much gave me the big picture of the movie. First off parents might find it a bit violent but trust me theres a big lesson in it! Which I'm not gonna give away cause we all have different poit of views.

I normally don't do this but this movie sorta brought a tear to my eye because it gets kinda sad. But overall it's a good movie. The art is beautiful although it could have better music.

Rating:
Summary: FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR EARS, DON'T WATCH THIS IN ENGLISH!!!
Review: In all my years of anime viewing and reviewing, I don't think I've ever seen a movie get torn to bits like this.(accept The New Adventures of Kimba and Digimon the movie) PEOPLE, IGNORE THE DUB!! The Japanese version is almost an entirely different movie. It's just a shame 4Kids Entertainment will do anything to keep you from seeing it. Although the main characters don't really evolve in character (what to you expect from a movie based on an anime that's been running for almost 10 years) the characters show their emotions more than they do in the T.V. show. If there is one thing positive about this trash of a dub it's that the new music isn't all that bad. However there was nothing wrong with the original music. It sounded just as good, it wasn't so overdramatic, and there also wasn't a million pop songs that had nothing to do with the movie playing in the backround. There's also another important difference between the English and Japanese cut. The most recent Japanese cut that was released before this version was about 12 minutes longer. Some of it can be seen on the American videos. One of the scenes cut plays after Pikachu's Vacation and another can be found in the Extras section of Mewtwo Returns. Anyway, do yourself a favor and try to ignore the hippie, tree hugging, cracked out English diolgue as much as possibe because other than that the movie is very good. I give the Japanese version 4.5 out of 5.

Rating:
Summary: This film STILL touches me!!
Review: I was a huge pokemon fan about 4 years ago when I was 10. Now I'm 14 (wow that was SO long ago lol) and I was REALLY board one day so I sat down and watched this movie, and I'm still touched by it. This movie is a really great film even for former pokemon fans like myself. I SERISLY RECOMMEND THIS FILM