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Pokemon the First Movie - Mewtwo vs. Mew Actors: Veronica Taylor, Rachael Lillis, Eric Stuart (III) Directors: Michael Haigney, Kunihiko Yuyama Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Format: Color, Animated, Dolby Audience Rating: G (General Audience) Running Time: 96 minutes Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-02-08 Buy from Amazon |
 "Ehhh...."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.  "The best movie"This movie would have to be the greatest in the Pokemon series, it has awseome battles, emotional scenes and an awesome villian. The special features are pretty cool with the audio commentary, and how they redone the movie for its american release. The soundtrack is also the best one i have ever heard in a movie. "Not a great way to introduce Pokemon to the big screen..."Out of all the Pokemon movies released in America, this is the one that bugs me a little. 4Kids Entertainment have watered down Mewtwo's personality, and the irony of it all is that out of ALL the Pokemon anime characters, Mewtwo is the most human, even though he's a Pokemon. That is, in the Japanese version. The first [thing] that 4Kids did to Mewtwo Strikes Back was changing the beautiful and haunting orchestral score that was in the Japanese version. Instead, they added in their own little MIDI track, which isn't SO bad compared to their later work on future projects, but that's not saying much. The next thing they did wrong was altering Mewtwo's personality somewhat. Instead of the soul-searching, philosophical Mewtwo that pondered it's existence in the Japanese version, we now get a "I am the most powerful Pokemon ever! Fear me and my great power!" Mewtwo in the English version. Plus, the English voice actor that does Mewtwo's voice doesn't sound quite as threatening or frightening as he did in the japanese version, but at least he did OKAY. The only thing 4Kids did right was paying the japanese Pokemon animation studio, Shogakukan, to re-animate a few scenes to make them look better. Anyway, on this DVD we get a bit of extras, including the never before seen 'World of Pokemon' segment which introduces people to, what else? Pokemon. We also get to see the short film, Pikachu's Vacation, which is VERY silly and Loony Tunes-esque(Heck, 4Kids redid the music to make it sound JUST like a Bugs Bunny cartoon!). 4Kids made some changes, but they weren't as major as the ones they did to the main film. There's also a 'Origin of Mewtwo' segment which is quite lacking, considering that we only get to see LESS THAN A HALF of the whole thing! (Luckily they released the 'uncut' version on the Mewtwo Returns DVD) There's some other stuff on this DVD too, like a directors commentary that isn't very informative, a music video of M2M(which, along with the song that's in the movie, has nothing REMOTELY close in common with this movie), and a trailer for the 2nd Pokemon movie. But one question left is: Why didn't they put the japanese version on here? Hmm... If you aren't a Pokemon fan, this movie probably won't change your mind about the franchise, but then again... IF they would put the original version on here for once, maybe it would.  "Could lead to Interesting Classroom Discussions..."In the first theatrical release of the Pokemon series, we are given secondary stories to follow - stories that might lead to interesting classroom discussions. This is not only a movie children will enjoy, but a movie that adults will find has story elements worth following up on. If you're unfamiliar with the basics, Pokemon (short for "POcKEt MONsters") are creatures a little like those from this world, but with strange and unusual powers and abilities that they use for their masters - masters that can be either good or evil. Ash and his friends train their Pokemon to fight battles with their enemies. They travel all over the planet to collect new and unusual types of Pokemon. They trap Pokemon in "Poke Balls" - a small device that hangs from a belt. When Ash's enemies release their Pokemon to do their work, Ash and his friends release their Pokemon, and they have a big battle. In the main story, Giovanni, the leader of the evil "Team Rocket", uses cells from a prehistoric Pokemon named Mew to create a whole new creature. But MewTwo is not a true clone - he is manufactured to be better than his 'parent'. Giovanni wants to control MewTwo for himself, but MewTwo revolts against this, breaks free from his creator and begins a campaign of revenge. It's up to Ash and his friends to stop MewTwo before he kills everyone on Earth with his scientifically enhanced psychic powers. MewTwo begins his reign of terror by cloning other Pokemon to be better than their predecessors. It is MewTwo's revolt and its results that can start interesting classroom discussions. Questions for discussion include: "Is Cloning Wrong?" "If we do clone, do we want to try to alter the original?" And, the most interesting dilemmas of all - "Is this all I am?" "Why am I here?" "Where do I go from here?" These are dilemmas everyone must deal with. I won't spoil the ending - it has to be seen. Even the original Mew shows up to add to the fun. The ending caused hours of talk between my daughter and myself. I gained a whole new respect for Pokemon thru this movie, and I'm sure you will too. The story's twin messages - one about cloning and its effects and one about "Is This All I Am?" are not preachy and the art is Japanamation at close to its best. There's also a short Pikachu cartoon that younger Pokemon fans will enjoy. Fans of the TV show will love this extra. The story makes this movie well worth adding to your home video library. "A nice movie."It's a good movie overall. For an overview, read editorial and other customer reviews. Although it would have dome better as a multi-part cartoon, it's still an okay movie. (Although the other Mewtwo Pokemon movie stinks, and is completely illogical.) If you're a hard core pokemon fan, get it. If not, you might want to take it into consideration. I mean, it's great and all, but it still has the common "cheesines" found in childrens cartoons such as this. (For some odd reason I still enjoy the show.) SO, again, so-so movie, although take into consideration. (They completely messed up Mewtwo with that weirdish personality they gave him.) |
