Gekijôban Poketto Monsutâ Kesshôtô no Teiô Entei

The other day, I was looking through some old boxes filled with old stuff of mine. In this box was my original NES, some games, and all of my Pokemon stuff. Including each of the films on VHS (well, the first three and Mewtwo Returns).

I remember watching the movies when I was still a Pokemon passionate, and wanted to see if I could get that same rush still, four years later.

Well, with the first two, no chance. The third one, Pokemon 3: The Movie, however, was different.

Again, this review is coming from an 18 year old high school graduate. And even four years later, Pokemon 3 still delivered the thrills.

Loaded with excellent animation, some tense battle scenes (Charizard vs. Entei, anyone?), and a heartwarming theme that children can embrace, I recommend Pokemon 3 to anyone who wishes to rediscover their childhood or for anyone who is just up for some great animation.

9/10

Returns some of the darkness of the first film. Here we find a bunch of legendary Pokemon making one young girl's dreams come true. Not as nice as it sounds when her imaginary world is a nightmare for the rest of the earth. Pokemon 3 does a lot of things right, such as limiting the number of Pokemon, allowing for more story. It also brings Ash back his Charizard for a while, which only makes sense, since he doesn't have any powerful Pokemon at this point in the continuity. Team Rocket are reduced to such a joke that even they question their appearance by breaking the 4th wall. More CGI, which doesn't quite mix with the simple anime style, adds something new but not essential.

Seeing how many adults despise Pokemon, my comments might strike those as the ramblings of a social oddball. But so what?

My child likes Pokemon and I happen to like the Pokemon show, it's not always great but it good to see a show that teaches kids to strive for a goal that is not reachable in half an hour. Name any other children's show where the characters take an entire season to reach a stated goal. In a funny way this show is more realistic then any other children's show on American TV. The program is very tolerant of people's differences and celebrates everyone's unique talents. And I like the different Pokemon creatures and my son and I enjoy playing the N64 Pokemon Stadium 2 game together. He really enjoys explaining the different Pokemon to me as we play. I have a friend who runs tours at a local science museum using the Pokemon as a way to get the kids into natural history and sciences. It really sparks some of the children into learning more.

That said, the movies have been a different story. The first was a very dark movie and the second, although better, still had a strange apocalyptic undercurrent more typical of Japanese animation for older audiences. I missed the light hearted nature of the TV show. The new one is different, the story is more suited to young audiences and it's mostly more coherent to adults who are with the young ones. (Although the kids will have to explain some plot elements to you if you haven't kept up with the show.) The film also has a much better story than the first two. There is still quite a bit of large scale fighting at the end but it's not the end of the world stuff of the first films.

Do I recommend the film to regular audiences? No, but I do suggest to parents that you don't make excuses to not take your child. This should not be the torture you may have experienced with the first two.

I'm at the point now where I can name the well-known Pokemon, but I still consider myself mostly Pokemon-illiterate. I never much cared for the TV show, and I don't play video games anymore. So why, you may ask, would I go to see the movies? Well, I confess that I love seeing animation on the big screen. I don't know if they spend more money or what, but animation to me almost always looks better on the big screen. I loved the first movie, didn't like the second. And now that I've seen the third, I gotta gay I love it, too.

The "Pikacu and Pichu" short is, just like its two predecessors, merely a showcase for more Pokemon. Didn't leave an impression. The feature, however, is great. Entei is now my second favorite character from these movies, second only to Mewtwo. Like Mewtwo, Entei has a reason for doing what he does, even if it is misguided. Also, he (again, like Mewtwo) is one of the reasons why you must experience this film in the best sound system possible, because his voice comes out of all the rear surround speakers. Ralph Schuckett does another good job with the musical score, and the two songs I heard I LIKED. I also liked the use of the little girl Molly and her imagination as the reason for the happenings, and the inclusion of Ash's mom, no doubt making this a more personal battle for Ash. Oh yes, the animation is quite nice (best of the three), and the action rarely lets up once it starts!

No doubt some will bash this simply because it is Pokemon, but all I can say is if you can get past "Pikachu and Pichu," TRY giving it a chance--even if you know nothing about Pokemon, you might still enjoy it. I sure did.

It still lacks the cinematic style from the first, however it is a definite improvement from its predecessor. As always, this is slightly biased as I am a massive fan of the franchise. A young girl who's father mysteriously disappears is left alone and sad. Through her sorrow, the mysterious Unown feed off of this and grant her the ability to create a dream reality where she can find happiness, but at a cost of destroying the world. Instantaneously you are thinking "well that just sounds like the fable 'The Snow Queen'", to which you are right. Substitute a snow castle for a crystal palace, add in Pokémon and surreal dream manipulation and you are in for an imaginative adventure. The reason why I like this instalment the most is because it has a story that feels complete. It's creativity and rapid runtime (way too short in my opinion) makes for an emotional plot that revolves around the fear of loneliness. In order to keep this consistent with the franchise, we have energetic Pokémon battles embedded within the narrative, a corny pop song for the introductory credits (I just despise them...) and a child-friendly message about friends and family. Plenty of battles in this entry, the most in the trilogy, and all of them feel electrifying as the monsters fight to the sound of pounding electronic pop music. The final showdown between Charizard and Entei was well animated and chaotic. The sweetness and innocence that exhumes from Molly was a nice addition, and the dream worlds she creates looked creative. The animation of the Unown to make them look 3D was terrible, I hate it when animation includes 3D textures on a 2D background. The plot structure does start to become formulaic, and after this entry the future of the series continues the trend of utilising a legendary Pokémon as the pivotal plot point of a story. Overall, this third instalment rounds off the original trilogy in an creative and emotional way.