Friday, August 7, 2020

Pokemon: The First Movie (1999)


Pokemon:  The First Movie, also with the subtitle Mewtwo Strikes Back, is the first film of the Pokemon anime series.  Unfortunately, unless you are a huge fan of the anime, The First Movie can came off as quite shallow and uninteresting save for the ending.  The film starts off good enough, with an intriguing premise of the creation of Mewtwo, and the meaning behind his creation.  Then it starts following Ash, Misty and Brock on their adventure.  The plot has some philosophical themes including cloning, the meaning of one's life and the negatives of violence.  These themes never eventuate into something with substance.  The other flaw is the plot structure which is little more than a prologue, protagonists gets invitation to a challenge, protagonists arrive and a battle takes place, along with Mewtwo's scheme being fully revealed.  It leads to a very boring and rushed story.  However, the ending involving Ash and Pikachu is very touching and emotional and almost saves the film.  Pokemon:  The First Movie is disappointing film for non-fans, but a great one for fans.
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