Contrary to the other two reviews here, I was left underwhelmed by "Mewtwo Returns."
Now, don't get me wrong. I like Pokemon. I'm not a mad fan, or anything, but I like to watch it, and so I picked up "Mewtwo Returns" from a local store that had the price slashed down to a third for clearance.
It begins quite promisingly, with the usual Poke-setup of "our heroes" going on their way, and Team Rocket in the background, scheming away, and plenty of puns and sight gags. However, after about twenty minutes (that's a third of the film, kids), it becomes increasingly obvious that not a lot is really going to happen in this movie.
Mewtwo is perhaps the movie's main minus point, ironically enough. In "Pokemon: The First Movie," he was a great character because he was so powerful and because he *fought.* But in this movie, he's totally opposed to fighting - and when you consider that the entire Pokemon franchise is BASED on fighting, you know that's not the best thing to focus a movie on.
Mewtwo is brimming with angst, and normally I'd say that's a good thing, but in this case, it's totally unengaging angst that anyone who's read a "Spider-Man" comic in the last decade or so will have heard all before.
There so little action in this film that's it's painful. Instead, it's just endless soliloquays from Mewtwo, and one particularly monotonous scene where a clone Pikachu yammers on to Ash's Pikachu, and they squeak back and forth as Meowth translates it into possibly THE weakest "dramatic" dialogue that has graced the Pokemon series.
When Giovanni and the Team Rocket combat squad arrive, there's a lot of threatening and the possibility of some action actually *happening*... but alas, no. It's just more posturing by Giovanni and Mewtwo. Whenever Mewtwo pulls off his big final stunt, it's all done from a distance, then the screen fades to black, and we come back, and it's all happened off-screen.
The dull and cliched "we must protect the environment" sub-plot is hugely unnecessary, and only results in more empty, needless scenes that could be filled with something interesting.
The movie's score is dull and sparse - there isn't even any kind of rendition of the Pokemon theme.
Now, don't get me wrong. I like Pokemon. I'm not a mad fan, or anything, but I like to watch it, and so I picked up "Mewtwo Returns" from a local store that had the price slashed down to a third for clearance.
It begins quite promisingly, with the usual Poke-setup of "our heroes" going on their way, and Team Rocket in the background, scheming away, and plenty of puns and sight gags. However, after about twenty minutes (that's a third of the film, kids), it becomes increasingly obvious that not a lot is really going to happen in this movie.
Mewtwo is perhaps the movie's main minus point, ironically enough. In "Pokemon: The First Movie," he was a great character because he was so powerful and because he *fought.* But in this movie, he's totally opposed to fighting - and when you consider that the entire Pokemon franchise is BASED on fighting, you know that's not the best thing to focus a movie on.
Mewtwo is brimming with angst, and normally I'd say that's a good thing, but in this case, it's totally unengaging angst that anyone who's read a "Spider-Man" comic in the last decade or so will have heard all before.
There so little action in this film that's it's painful. Instead, it's just endless soliloquays from Mewtwo, and one particularly monotonous scene where a clone Pikachu yammers on to Ash's Pikachu, and they squeak back and forth as Meowth translates it into possibly THE weakest "dramatic" dialogue that has graced the Pokemon series.
When Giovanni and the Team Rocket combat squad arrive, there's a lot of threatening and the possibility of some action actually *happening*... but alas, no. It's just more posturing by Giovanni and Mewtwo. Whenever Mewtwo pulls off his big final stunt, it's all done from a distance, then the screen fades to black, and we come back, and it's all happened off-screen.
The dull and cliched "we must protect the environment" sub-plot is hugely unnecessary, and only results in more empty, needless scenes that could be filled with something interesting.
The movie's score is dull and sparse - there isn't even any kind of rendition of the Pokemon theme.