Written by my special guest and close friend Joel Coppadge!
Pokémon Company: Hello Pokémon
fans. Remember the first Pokémon movie?
Fans: YES!
Pokémon Company: Wasn’t it awesome
seeing your favorite Pokémon on the big screen?
Fans: YES!
Pokémon Company: Want to see
a remake of it?
Fans: WHAT?
Pokémon Company: And let’s
make it CGI
Fans: That’s not what we
want!
Pokémon Company: But that’s
what we want. Glad we came to this agreement. Kay thanks bye!
Fans: No that’s a terrible
idea!
And
that is how most of the fandom felt towards this movie. No matter how you feel about The First Pokémon
Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, I believe most of the fandom agree that no one
asked for this. In a world of classic movies
getting remade and losing their magic (as I stated in my Lion King review) I had hoped Pokémon wouldn’t go down this path, and yet here we are. When I finally watched this movie, I was ready
to tear it to shreds. But to my
surprise, there are a lot more changes in the remake that are worth talking
about. It ended up not being the
steaming pile of garbage I thought it would be. But are the changes enough to warrant the
remake’s existence? Let’s find out.
PLOT:
Scientists dreamed of creating the world’s most powerful Pokémon, and with the
mythical Pokémon Mew’s DNA, they have succeeded. Enter Mewtwo, a psychic Pokémon unlike any
other. Feeling used and manipulated by
his creators, Mewtwo declares he will destroy humans and Pokémon alike and rule
the planet. Can Ash, Pikachu, and the
gang put a stop to his evil plans, or will the clone reign supreme?
Now with the plot out of the way,
let’s discuss the major changes the remake made that do affect the story.
CGI:
The most notable change in the movie is, instead of being 2D hand-drawn like in
the show, the entire movie is CGI—the change I hate most. While the Pokémon themselves look fine in this
art style, the human characters look ugly in comparison. The problems aren’t just in appearance,
however, as the movement additionally suffers. Characters walking look like they are moving
in constant slow motion, and the Pokémon can look stiff during the action
scenes. One of the most awkward shots in
the movie is when a Dragonite is stopped by Team Rocket’s frying pan. In the original, he is flapping his wings to
get away, but in the remake, he’s just floating in the air.
Voice Cast:
If you fell off the Pokémon train many years back, you missed out on the dub’s original
voice cast being replaced by a new cast. So, if you watch this movie out of nostalgia
and wonder why characters like Ash, Misty, and Brock sound different than you
remember, well now you know. But I have
to imagine the voice cast didn’t really care much about this movie as half the
time it sounds like they are phoning it in. When heavy scenes require emotion, I got far more
from the original Japanese voice actors like Pikachu’s (with Ikue Ōtani giving a, dare
I say, Oscar-level performance) than the English dubbers.
Missing Details on
Mewtwo’s Origin: One thing I wanted in the remake but didn’t get
was the missing details on how Mewtwo was created. In the original release of the first movie,
there were about fifteen minutes cut that explained why the lead scientist was
obsessed with creating a clone from Mew (his daughter died and he wanted to
create a clone of her so he decided to do Pokémon trials first). This would lead to some psychological trauma with
Mewtwo’s birth, giving more explanation as to what drives Mewtwo’s actions. Sadly, those details are not in the remake and
Mewtwo comes off as someone with shallow motivations. When Mewtwo awakes, he blows up the lab and
kills the scientists (who at that point hadn’t done anything bad to deserve
such fate) just because they gave him life. Instead of hearing the scientists out for why
he was created, Mewtwo just decides to kill them and then go work for the
leader of a criminal organization. Speaking of crime…
Over the Top Armor
and Team Rocket: Another big change is the armor Mewtwo wears in
the movie. Even though it’s way more
over the top in design compared the original, Giovanni has restraints built
into it to keep Mewtwo in check. While
that does fail in the end, it’s good forward thinking on his part. What caught me off guard is the scope they
gave Team Rocket. This is the first time
Team Rocket felt like an army bent on world domination. It makes me wonder why we never got any of this
in previous Pokémon movies?
Ash’s First Battle
and More Screen Time for Pokémon: Ash’s first battle in the
movie has a few changes worth mentioning. The trainer he battles got a redesign to look
more like a pirate, and instead of having a Golem on his team, he now has a
Drowzee (going along with the newer seasons’s retconning of Pikachu’s
game-breaking electricity). Unlike the
remake where you don’t see the main Pokémon Ash, Misty, and Brock use until
they face Mewtwo, you see them much earlier in the movie. Specifically, Misty’s Psyduck, Brock’s Vulpix,
and Ash’s Charizard (which tries to burn the Dragonite that gives them their
invitation to battle Mewtwo).
Harbormaster
Miranda and the Journey to New Island: Remember the blue-haired
woman (not Officer Jenny) in the original movie that warns Ash and co. about
how dangerous Mewtwo’s psychically created storm is? Give the remake credit for naming her on
screen. She’s Miranda the harbormaster,
a character I’ve always felt belonged in a different movie what with her
distinct storm talk. Just like before, the
Pokémon trainers venture to New Island despite the storm—yet instead of it just
being Ash, Misty, Brock, and three elite trainers, there are additional trainers
riding on a Fearow, a Scyther, and a Kingler. Unfortunately, only the same six trainers (and
Team Rocket) make it to New Island just like in the original. So does that mean those other trainers died in
the storm? Moving on…
Team Rocket
Shenanigans: No English dub Vikings joke in the remake. Instead, Jesse, James, and Meowth are sailors on a Lapras-shaped
boat with Meowth as their captain. Not
much more to say except I actually found the scene funny.
Updated Pokémon
Moves and Getting the Names Right: When it comes time to battle
Mewtwo, hardcore Pokémon fans who have played the games will notice they are
using attacks from beyond Generation I (like Energy Ball and Leaf Storm). All the Pokémon are also named correctly in the
movie so no getting a Scyther mixed up with an Alakazam.
No Cheesy Pop
Music: Since the remake is not a product of its time period, no
cheesy pop music is played in the movie. So that’s good or bad depending on how you
felt about it the original movie. I was
actually looking forward to hearing a remake of “Brother, My Brother” during the fight
between the original and clone Pokémon. And this leads to biggest change yet.
The Moral of Story:
One thing most of the fandom agrees on is how stupid it was when Nurse Joy said,
“Pokémon weren’t meant to fight, not like this.” I know they are talking about fighting to the
death, but it’s still hard to take it seriously when the freakin’ franchise is built
around Pokémon fighting one another. Yet
here the trainers helplessly watching add on how all living creatures deserve
to live whether they are clones or originals. Such an added piece to the script would have
made the original a much more coherent film.
Ash’s Death:
When Ash is turned to stone, there is very little music played during the Pokémon
tears scene. So, enjoy solely hearing Pikachu
cry his eyes out (Oscar, level, performance) over Ash’s apparent death. Seriously, if you don’t feel anything during
that scene, there’s something seriously wrong with you.
Post-Credits Scene:
The movie ends with a post-credits scene where Mewtwo is taking himself and his
clones to live in peace, which looks to be setting up for a remake of the original sequel to Mewtwo Strikes Back: Mewtwo Returns (I really hope
that’s not the case).
Final Verdict:
There are a lot more changes in the remake than I thought there would be. Unfortunately, the film flows the same as it
did originally, with the same battles and the same outcome. While the changes somewhat save the movie from
being completely terrible, I still think this movie should not have existed. Let’s hope this was a one-time thing for the Pokémon
Company and it sticks to fresh stories and 2D animation for future animated
films.
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