Pokémon - Movie 22 - Mewtwo colpisce ancora, L'evoluzione

Was this a necessary remake? No. Was it enjoyable? Yes. Did I watch it with a smile on my face? Absolutely.

It stays true to the original Mewtwo Strikes Back from my early childhood, which I remember going to see in the cinema when I was about five. While not really deviating from the original story, there are extra bits that weave in beautifully and pad out the movie a little, giving it a fresh feel. The animation isn't amazing but it isn't bad either. It is what it is. Either way I'm reliving a childhood favourite of mine, and I'd recommend that any Pokemon fans at least give this one watch!

I rarely write reviews on here, im only writing this to give my opinion. I grew watching the original, it was my childhood and i loved it. This remake isn't as bad as everyone says, at some parts I would get goosebumps on how closely it is to the original, scene for scene, word for word. Animations look beautiful and it's nostalgic. I'm glad they remade even though nobody asked for it. I felt like a kid again watching this movie. I would give it a chance if you really love Pokémon movies especially the older ones. My only complaints is that they didn't get the original voice actors for ash, misty, and team rocket. Mewtwos voice actor was convincing and smart. Really enjoyed this movie.

Long story short, this is a CGI remake of the first Pokemon movie from late 90's (January 2000 here in Brazil). There is no improvement, in my opinion. The CGI does not impress.

Same old, same old. I'd rather stick to the fond memories the first movie brought me when I first saw it at the movies 20 years ago.

The first pokemon movie can be broken up into three different versions. The original japanese (known as "director's cut" in the U.S.), the 2D US version, and now this new 3D "Evolution" version. The original japanese version has the most developed story and mature moral. It includes a 10 minute prologue to develop Mewtwo's character and motivation. Through this Mewtwo's ending monologue about the 'circumstances of one's birth' has a much more profound meaning. The ported 2D U.S. version cut out the 10 minute prologue and tweaked the storyline to give it a paradoxical moral conclusion that 'fighting is bad'. Its one redeeming quality is that it added foreshadowing by including a legend of pokemon tears to make sense of the climactic finale. This latest 3D "Evolution" version plays off the 2D U.S. version and further degrades the story. The most jarring story change from the 2D U.S. version was the removal of the pokemon tears explanation. This version also adds 20 minutes to the runtime without adding any depth. The extra dialogue mainly comes from stating the obvious which the audience could already deduce and the other scenes added were just panning shots. It was interesting to see the movie in 3D, but it was also a bit odd as at times it felt like a claymation. The worst, though, was that a lot of the emotion and visual intensity that was put into the 2D version was lost in the 3D version. For example, when Ash was being hit by Mewtwo's pokeballs in defense of pikachu, I felt like I was watching rocks being thrown at a limp sandbag; dull and lifeless. In conclusion stick to the original japanese version or "director's cut". It has the most fulfilling story and feels the most heartfelt.

In 1998, for reasons that may be better left unknown, Gus van Sant released upon humanity his parvum opus "Psycho". One of the many questions pondered was "why?", as in why would you release a remake shot-to-shot, identical to the original?

The first Pokémon movie is far from being a landmark of cinema and the arts as a whole like Hitchcock's "Psycho", but it has its place among fans, and is still one of the most popular Japanese anime films outside Japan, if not the first. The Western release unfortunately was handled by 4Kids, infamous for their "americanization". This can be mild such as changing character and location names, understandable like removing substance use, questionable as in changing food, and infuriating when they decide to change the plot.

And oh boy, they changed the plot. The three most egregious are Mewtwo's characterization, Mew's motivations, and how human characters react to the copies vs originals fights. In the original, Mewtwo had a philosophical crisis about who he was, what was he purpose, and if his existance and life had the same meaning as natural beings. They changed him to this unidimensional villain bent on evil, because it would be simpler for young children to understand and, in contrast, sympathize with Ash. Mew is painted as this messianic savior, appearing out of the blue to fight against Mewtwo and saying that "real strength comes from the heart", while the original Japanese was pretty much "copies aren't deserve of living, and must be wiped out".

Both parties were to fight to the bitter end. The human characters realize this is pointless: they are all living beings, worthy of being here and all that. Then, 4Kids used "American Beam", and suddenly characters are shouting that fight is bad. Very contradictory with the whole Pokémon media being based on fights.

Lastly, I never understood as a kid why would a bunch of tears can revive someone. This was actually covered in a prologue released along the first film that covers Mewtwo "infancy". It also covers the scientists motivations behind the cloning, why Giovanni was involved, why Mewtwo decided to create his first clones as the final forms of the Kanto starters, and also explains that tears carry lifeforce. Granted, this prologue wasn't part of the original movie, but since is part of it and actually fills plot holes of the original, they could easily included it.

Plotwise, I would like to include that Mewtwo is said to be the "greatest trainer". But in a Venusaur mirror match, he commands his to use Leaf Storm. The greatest trainer is using a 4x resisted move, which also drops the Special Attack. And somehow, he wins. Guess his clones were that overleveled.