Pokémon Heroes

The Pokémon franchise has always been one of the most recognizable icons of Nintendo. There's an intense loyal fan base who take pride in the wide variety of Pokémon events. One of those moments being the annual film releases. With Season 5 coming to a close, the next film was on its way for fans of the show. While this film itself marked quite a low for the brand due to its poor box office return, over time it has garnered a following because of course it would. Despite the nostalgia many fans have for Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1999) and that the majority of those watching this entry would only be fans of the show anyway, this movie actually surpasses the original film to some degree. This is in part due to technology and the rest is because of the experience in general.

The story for this entry follows Ash & company to the city of Alto Mare, the Pokémon version of Venice Italy. There they learn the legend of Latios and Latias, the legendary Pokémon that protect the city after it was once attacked from an evil Pokémon trainer. Keeping the city alive is the soul dew, an orb that contains the past Latios' essence who saved the city. This would all be fine if it weren't for Annie (Megan Hollingshead) and Oakley (Lisa Ortiz), top members of Team Rocket looking to steal the soul dew. Watching over this item is Bianca (Tara Sands) and her father Lorenzo (Wayne Grayson). The crew behind the Japanese and English productions are again the same pretty much as they've always been. Original direction is from Kunihiko Yuyama and the adaptation was done by Jim Malone. The script was written by Hideki Sonoda.

While the production crew is very much the same set of people, the reason why this story hits a higher mark than the last is due to a number of factors. For one, the story is dialed back in scale. Pretty much every film before it felt huge when it came to the number of Pokémon and trainers involved. Here, the narrative is focused more on Ash and the new characters introduced. Not even Jessie, James and Meowth do much in this film despite them also having their own scenes. And somehow that's okay because of how the story is executed. Not everyone has to be involved every waking minute. Additionally, the fact that the antagonists in this feature have a clear background and the audience will easily understand their intentions is a good thing too. Perhaps the one thing that doesn't make sense is a hint of a romantic relationship between two characters.

What throws this off though is that it is between a human and a Pokémon. It's a little...odd and because of the situation, it's not specified what it was really supposed to mean. Of course, voice acting is going to be good. The regular recurring cast members who voice Ash and company do what they do best, no questions asked. Tara Sands as Bianca who's no newbie to anime in general or Pokémon does just fine. Wayne Grayson is also not fresh to anime voice acting before this but became best known for playing Joey Wheeler in Yu-Gi-Oh. The same could be said for Lisa Ortiz as Oakley, who also voice Serenity Wheeler. Megan Hollingshead as Annie is also best known in Pokémon as Nurse Joy. As for action, while it's not as abundant as the previous entries, it is just as entertaining mainly because of the look of the film.

Cinematography again was provided by Hisao Shirai and it still isn't the clearest on the usage. With the use of more prominent CGI, there are sweeping camera shots in the film. Maybe it was used there? This does make the experience feel more cinematic than any other Pokémon entry before it. This also blends well with the animation which not only has better shading but more detail as well. It's the best it's ever looked. Lastly the music composed by Shinji Miyazaki was a great listen. Unfortunately, the soundtrack did not get a domestic release but it still can be enjoyed because of how unique it sounds. Because of the setting, it has a more Italian feel with instruments sounding like they came from the country. Additionally, there's the usual Pokémon cues and even a new spy genre motif for Annie and Oakley. Also, the song Secret Garden by Madoka is a very relaxing song.

Deep into the series, fans of the franchise should find this entry not only entertaining but also even better than all other entries before it. Aside from one little out of the blue romantic subplot and cinematography, if that exists, the animation, acting, action and music makes for a solid Pokémon feature.

Pokemon Heroes is fun. It's action packed, full of suspense, and everything a Pokemon fan like myself could want. Some may tell you different, Pokemon is known for being hated on for things every movie has. It may be short, but it will leave you entertained. My fourth favorite out of all of them, watch it yourself without a negative output, as most people who watch this movie do. Another example of why Pokemon is not for little kids, this movie will be entertaining to any fan of the show and people who don't watch the show might like it as well. Probably the most underrated out of all the films, give it a chance and you will find some soft-spot for it. Fans love it, others give it a try and you might like it for yourself.

This, the 5th Pokemon movie, is a step down from the previous entry in the series but is still better than a 5th movie ought to be. Ash, Misty, and Brock arrive in a Venice-type town called Altomare for a water Chariot race involving their Pokemon.

The town is protected by legendary Pokemon siblings Latios and Latias, who can assume human forms. Meanwhile, Annie and Oakley, a couple of cat burglars from Team Rocket (this affiliation is only in the Western dub) attempt to steal a special jewel called the Soul Dew, which powers the city.

It takes just a little too long to get going. Jesse, James, and Meowth are featured, but they don't really have much to do. However there are still some lovely moments, a bittersweet ending, and in the end they do add up to more than the sum of their parts. The animation and architecture of Altomare echoes the look and feel of Koriko from Kiki's Delivery Service. I just wish that Miramax didn't tamper with it before releasing it to Western audiences. There is about 5 minutes missing and its inclusion might have made the film a little bit stronger.

I don't see why this movie didn't get tens across the board. I loved the bond that Latios and Latias share with Ash. I also love how Pikachu zaps the crap out of the bad guys (girls, really) with thunderbolt ( ow). I came close to crying when they caught Latios. It also makes all the other movies shrink in comparison. The Pikachu movie was also very good (only topped by Pikachu's Rescue adventure.) It was without a doubt one of the best Japanese animation I have ever seen. Come on, people! Why don't you get up and give this movie a ten. The graphics have also gone vastly up from the last film. And the music is also so much better. Also notice, Ash and Misty will always have that little bond that no one talks about. The voices are also major parts of the rolls. If you had Jude Law do Lorenzo, yuck!

I enjoyed this one. Better than the 6th Jirachi movie.

From the start you could see the villains were much smarter and well prepared, their pokemon quite strong. You still see the other two Team Rocket members Jesse and James who are useless.

I had to rewind the part I thought Latias got captured, after a few rewinds Latios got in front of her otherwise it didn't make any sense. It was a bit hard to make out it definitely looked like she was captured.

The ending was sad, a bit confusing to see 3 latios. If you're going to see a poké movie this is the one.