Lucas Versantvoort / March 11, 2013
My inner child: Ah,
Pokémon…so many good memories. My inner adult:
Yes, the Pokémon series/games/trading cards were
massive hits when they were released in the West. The franchise is still
running strong even to this day. It’s
impressive, really. Yeah. Remember the first
Pokémon movie with frickin’ Mewtwo? That movie was epic and awesome …Yes, well…I’m afraid I have to disagree. Looking back,
there’s so many things wrong with it. What
are you talking about? There’s so much to like. Ugh,
look I don’t have time to talk to you about a children’s movie. No way. You can’t just say the first Pokémon movie sucked
and then walk away. Hmm, it seems we’re going to
have one of these arguments again. Very well, but let’s get the plot
summary out of the way first…to make sure we both remember exactly what
happened. Fine.
As its Star Warsian title suggests, this movie focuses on
Mewtwo. Pff, you’re just trying to make
yourself look smart with those references.
*Coughs intellectually* We discover Mewtwo is created by scientists on some faraway island
using the DNA of a supposedly extinct Pokémon known as Mew. From Mew to
Mewtwo…cute wordplay I suppose. Of course.
Pokémon is full of clever Pokémon names. Anyway,
Mewtwo discover he is merely a lab experiment without purpose and in his anger
he destroys the lab. Afterwards he comes across Giovan- Giovanni, the head of Team Rocket, I know. …Exactly. Giovanni offers Mewtwo a quid pro quo
wherein Mewtwo aids Giovanni and Giovanni helps Mewtwo to ‘control’ his own
powers. (Quid pro what?) Mewtwo soon discovers Giovanni merely thinks of him as a
tool and destroys Team Rocket HQ. Distraught about of his lack of purpose, he
decides to go back to the island where he was created, essentially turning it
into his private Evil Island, and plots revenge against humankind.
We
then cut to Ash and co. relaxing and eventually receiving invitations to go to
Mewtwo’s island to meet the world’s ‘greatest Pokémon master’. After struggling
to make their way to the island (a storm summoned by Mewtwo testing their
resolve), they finally meet Mewtwo. Yeah, the way he is
introduced is so badass. Mewtwo uses his psychic powers to easily smash away any of those other
foolish trainers in his way and a series of battles erupts between Mewtwo’s
pokémon clones of Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise. Mewtwo’s clones easily
defeat them and then Mewtwo uses these special Poké Balls to steal the
trainer’s pokémon, including Pikachu. They are taken inside a cloning facility
to be cloned, but Ash saves Pikachu, the cloning facility explodes and all
original pokémon come flying out. And then we have it: Ash and all the original
pokémon stand opposite Mewtwo and his army of clones. Mewtwo says he sees pokémon serving humans as nothing more than slaves
and seeks to overthrow humans and…*sighs* take over the world. But the slave angle is
pretty interesting considering the entire series consi—And then Ash tries to attack Mewtwo, but he blasts him away. He is
almost smashed against a wall, but is saved by none other than Mew. Oooh. Shit
just got real. The biggest pokémon battle ever erupts with Mewtwo fighting with
Mew and the original pokémon with their clones. But amidst all this fighting, Pikachu takes a moral stand and refuses to
fight his clone who in tearful desperation starts slapping him, perhaps
experiencing the same existential crisis Mewtwo experienced. Brock, Misty and
others (even Ash from a distance) are unable to watch these pokémon fighting
and…talk about how wrong it is to fight. Yeah, it was terrible to see all the pokémon desperately fighting. Then
Mew and Mewtwo gather all their remaining strength for one final attack. They
fire, but Ash, trying to stop the fighting, runs into the line of fire and is
turned to stone. This was so sad…with Pikachu trying to revive Ash with his
thunderbolts. It doesn’t work…and then he starts crying. (Looking back, this was pretty tear-jerking.) And then…something
magical happens. All the other pokémon and clones are also reduced to
tears (oh boy, here we go…) and their combined tears help bring Ash back to live! (Pfffffff…can you say Deus ex Machina?) Mewtwo then realizes he was wrong, saying something
about how you were born not having to be used against you. Mewtwo leaves with
Mew and the clones and erases everyone’s memory of what happened (…), saying he knows
that this is for the best (………). Ash and the others wake
up back on the mainland wondering how they got there and they basically resume
their usual adventuring.
Well,
like I said, an epic movie! Hm. Well, to be fair this
film does have good qualities. Although the original Japanese score was
changed, I find the resultant, dark orchestral score to be quite satisfying. I
still remember some bits and pieces of it even now. (Pokémon is what now? Japanese?) It also generates and sustains its epic and dark feel throughout, unlike
the main series with its generally lighter tone. And there’s a scene that still manages to
tug at my heartstrings even now…Pikachu trying to revive Ash, of course. Of course.
But
come on. Don’t you see there’s something wrong with the ending? No, what? It’s a Deus ex Machina! Deus ex what now? An illogical, ‘magical’ solution to a conflict within the story. Ash is
turned to stone and what revives him? The tears of pokémon. I mean, come
on…really? Even though an explanation is given earlier in the film in the
English version – pokémon tears can bring people back to life – it’s
still very much in Deus ex Machina territory. And what’s worse, Mewtwo erases
everyone’s memories of the event. Everyone learns how fighting, or at least
dueling pokémon, is wrong and now that lesson is unlearned in the blink of an
eye. Yeah, I guess I see what you mean…But
even then, it’s still a good lesson, right? …Well yeah. Of course it’s great that the film promotes this message
amongst kids (or tries to…), but it doesn’t fit Pokémon at all. The entire
series is based on becoming ‘the very best’ and using pokémon to battle other
people’s pokémon. You know when the movie ends, Ash and co. are going back to
their fighting ways. They’re not going to spread the Pacifist word.
Also there seemed to have been a lot of elements that were
lost in translation. Apparently, Mewtwo had to be less ambiguous and be more of
a Big Bad to make it more fit for us Westernized folk… Insulting, really. Also,
in the original Japanese version Mew was radically against the concept of
cloning and wasn’t talking about how Real Strength comes from the heart and
Mewtwo was angry because he wasn’t created by God with the dub obviously having
changed this part of the backstory…*Big sigh*… Actually, when I think about all
the themes present here – cloning, being forced to confront your clone, God,
existentialism – the movie could have been a truly good one, had it had been intended
for adults from the beginning…Well, I say you’ve just forgotten how to let go and
enjoy it, you and your grown-up ways of thinking. It’s a kid’s movie! It’s
exciting, it’s got good action, a good message…I don’t see the problem. Hmm…Well I
can’t help it. I can’t just go back to my childlike mindset and experience and
enjoy it the way you do. Yeah well, sucks to
be you then…
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