Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution (GUEST Film Review)

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.