Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back (Evolution) | Movie Review

So as a pretty big fan of Pokemon I was pretty excited when I heard there was going to be a new Pokemon movie. However, I was aware that it would be completley revamping the animation of the classic movie Mewtwo Strikes Back. It was safe to say, my excitement was bolstered even-more, I absolutely love this movie, so I knew exactly what I'd be doing on my Friday night.

Before I even watched the movie, I had seen glimpses of the new movie, showcasing the brand new 3b animation used to bring the movie to the modern era. This had already caused a huge debate at work, with some people loving it and others absolutely hating it, there didn't seem to be any sort of middle ground. The unique point of the argument was that it was amongst people who work within digital design; as I don't work in the design relm, it was up to me to watch the film and bring a fresh perspective on the argument. So here I am with my review of the film I loved as a child...

The Story

I'll start with the actual story, although it is inherently the same movie as the original, its still beneficial to note if the story held up so many years after the original and if I still enjoyed it now that I'm older.

Firstly, I have a weird memory so I'm able to remember plots of movies/TV shows really easily, making watching this movie very relaxing. I could just sit back and watch while I was on my laptop. From the moment the iconic theme tune played I was in nostalgia heaven; I was once again a young boy sat in front of the TV trying to guess "who is that Pokemon?" and trying to become the greatest Pokemon trainer.

When it came to the origin of Mewtwo I felt a little disappointed. Mewtwo's dialogue was repetitive and cliche; I'm aware that it is a children's movie, but it was tiresome to listen to after a while. Not sure if this was due to the translation into English, but it made the opening very stretched out and long. Thankfully, once this was over and the remixed theme tune was playing the plot plowed ahead with the fast paced action I was expecting.

The Ending...

Now, I won't actually spoil the ending - I'm aware there is a whole generation of people who wouldn't have seen the movie yet, so I'm not going to be the one to ruin it. However, its still worth mentioning that it was just as great to watch as when I was younger. From the moment the final scenes were playing I was an emotional wreck, I was sat with tears in my eyes, my attention taken away from the laptop and glued to the screen. Even with the new animation, nothing distracted from the emotion that was played out during a very iconic Pokemon scene.

I could be remembering this incorrectly, but I'm pretty sure they really amped up Pikachu's reaction during this scene. There is no way I'd have heard the sounds coming from the little fluff ball without being emotionally scarred when I was younger. This only improved the scene for me - it made it all the more heartbreaking to watch.

The Animation...

Something which I'm sure was talked about all over the world by Pokemon fans young and old when the trailer was released was the new animation. Like I said at the beginning, this review has stemmed from an argument between a bunch of designers who either loved the new animation or hated it; honestly, they seemed more divided on that than the animation from Detective Pikachu.

When I'd seen the trailer I'll admit that I didn't entirely love the new look, the classic look is the epitemy of the Pokemon series, and something that made me fall in love with the show when I was younger. So for, that I was slightly tentative to actually watch the movie. Yet, I wanted to see what had the designers in such an argument seeing as they too were split between people who weren't going to watch the movie after seeing the trailer and others who changed their opinion once they'd watched the movie.

Having got through the clunky beginning and settled into Ash and Friend's latest (revamped) adventure, I decided to start paying attention to the overall look. My reaction to the change was very much like the change to the games, I was at first unsure and slightly confused on how to take the new look and how it affected the story. This only lasted a few moments, with the 3d animation actually making the movie more enjoyable to watch; it suddenly felt like a different movie - making some of the reactions more realistic and hilarious. I'll also say, it made Mewtwo's capturing of the Pokemon even scarier and intense to watch.

A flaw I couldn't help but notice was there was the odd final evolution Pokemon that looked more fluffy rather than powerful and scaly. For example, Venusaur had a very clunky walk and a weirdly fluffy skin texture for a Pokemon based on a frog. It didn't actually take away my enjoyment of the movie.

In conclusion...

I can safely say that my geeky Pokemon heart has been suitably filled with this movie, it was a great watch, not too long and still just as entertaining to watch. When it came to the animation, was it a bit weird? yes, but that doesn't necassarily mean something bad - the animation was different and only slightly clunky on some Pokemon, but not enough to ruin the movie. At the end of the day, I actually watched and enjoyed this movie, unliked Detective Pikachu, which I still haven't watched to this day.

There is every chance I'm going to watch this version multiple times throughout this year, its an easy watch and great for background listening while giving me enough entertainment when I want a distraction.