Pokémon O Filme: Genesect e a Lenda Revelada

The Pokemon movies can get pretty formulaic, but I still like to see them because the animation gets a humongous upgrade from the anime series (although that rift diminished in the spectacular XY anime series). This movie sees Ash and co. exploring a Central Park-esque Pokemon Hills. Trouble looms, however, as a group of Genesect are set on making Pokemon Hills their new home, disrupting the Pokemon ecosystem and potentially the power plant beneath it that runs the city. It's up to Ash, Cilan, Iris, the Pokemon Hills director Eric and Mewtwo to put a stop to it.

The Genesect's motivation at the beginning of the film is clearly established; they've been fossils for 300 million years and have been woken up by Team Plasma and weaponized. This is clear enough, but having the Team Plasma scientists play a bigger role could have greatly enhanced what is a middling entry in the series.

Mewtwo's appearance in this film is understandable given that they wanted to advertise its mega form. What was unnecessary, however, was erasing the relationship Ash and Mewtwo built up through two movies plus several other appearances.

The way Mewtwo and Genesect's conflicts were resolved were also very unclear. Overall, this is a passable film and one I'd put around the middle of the Pokemon pack. It didn't take full advantage of its unique setting, but it did shed some light on Genesect, a Pokemon that even in the games is very mysterious.

It's not a bad movie in any way, it's a good kid movie and there are plenty of pokemon to entertain young kids and pokemon battles between Genesect and various other pokemon. But if you're like me and you've been playing pokemon since the 90's this film is not going to be as good as for example Mewtwo returns or the movie 2000. Mewtwo and Ash act as if they've met each other for the first time ever, team rocket get barely any screen time and the only one of ash's pokemon that get any action is Picachu. This movie is primarily aimed at younger audiences like 3-8 because those of us who are 16 and above have been forgotten about by the pokemon company. But like I said, your kids or younger siblings will love it.

This Pokemon movie is pretty good. It had a good plot, good themes and good animations. There were many kinds of Pokemon from older generations. Kids are sure to enjoy Ash's adventures and Pikachu's heroics. However, I hated Mewtwo's voice, personality and character design. It's definitely not the same Mewtwo from the Pokemon movies back in my day. They would've been better off leaving Mewtwo out of the movie. Also, I wish Cilan had gotten more screen time. Cilan is my favorite character. He is funny and has a great personality, but they made him run off somewhere for 1/3 of the movie. The movie was too serious.

This was a fairly decent Pokémon movie. This is hardly up there with the best ones, but it's at least a vast improvement over the fiasco that was "Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice."

I thought the premise was kind of interesting. I liked the dynamic with the Genesect having been created the same way that Mewtwo was. Not a bad way of using the cliché of machines created by humans turning into monsters.

The animation and GCI are top-notch, and the scenery is really nice in a setting that is based off Manhattan. The action scenes were also pretty good, and it was nice to see Ash's Charizard again.

However, there are lots of flaws. Of course, I didn't think there was any need for another movie involving Mewtwo, and I have no idea why Mew has a female voice in this film. It was kind of strange how Mewtwo just suddenly started caring about humans during the climax of the film.

The baby Genesect was kind of annoying with it constantly repeating "I want to go home" over and over. The script has its weak spots and some scenes are kind of strange. Also, there's Iris and Cilan.

While not everything in this one measures up, this is still a mostly satisfying addition to the series. Not really a must-see, but still worth a look for Pokémon fans.

RATING: B-

Not sure exactly what bug bit Nintendo's Pokémon studio but their string of features during the Unova region just hasn't hit the mark in entertainment. As mentioned in the previous entry, it seems like things are just on auto-pilot. The stories tend to feel repetitive despite trying to appeal to their current fan base while expanding on the foundation when the anime began. There's even been callbacks to certain things but it just hasn't been enough to feel like anything new is really being done. Unfortunately, this entry is very much the same again with only slight variations in different places. It's possible the production crew thought this story would get more viewers' attention because it involves a familiar face other than Ash, but that would be the only familiarity.

Once again handled by the Yuyama and Sonoda duo, this film finds Ash, Cilan and Iris headed to another city looking a lot like central park of New York City. Inside the park is a sanctuary where Pokémon of several regions live together. Meanwhile far away a group of 300-million-year-old telepathic Pokémon called Genesect are searching for their home. Thinking the area Ash and company are in reminds them of it, they begin attacking everyone so they can claim it for themselves. At the same time, Mewtwo who can relate to Genesect's feelings gets involved in the situation too. Really it's not that good of a story for several reasons. For one, it's just not engaging. Genesect was apparently resurrected by scientists and no longer trusts humans. See how Mewtwo understands? But even after all that Mewtwo has from its previous experience, it too doesn't trust or like humans. So no one's learned anything then.

Let's also not forget Mewtwo began the whole concept of telepathic English speaking Pokémon (other than Meowth). Genesect is just another copy of those usual things to be expected. Aside from finding their home as its repeatedly mentioned, there isn't much else to really get behind for these new Pokémon. Making things even worse is how botched Mewtwo is as a character. Upon meeting Ash again, Mewtwo recalls nothing of what it went through with Ash from the first movie or when it crossed paths with Ash after that. Unless this is a new Mewtwo, which makes no sense. Where's the continuity? So much for Ash promising they wouldn't forget what they experienced together several movies back. Making things even more confusing is whether this is actually the same Mewtwo from before. Reason being the voice is totally different and Mewtwo can now transform into another form. When did this come about?

There really are more questions now than from before. Miriam Pultro who now voices Mewtwo is okay in her delivery, but because the original performance was different it is very jarring. This also seems to be Pultro's only voice acting credit to date. The same could be said for Samia Mounts who voices the Genesect who befriends Ash and company. However, voicing the lead Genesect is Scott Rayow who does have experience doing anime dubs before and even in Pokémon. Then there's Eric who is Ash and friend's tour guide through the park voiced by Jake Paque. The character is useless as he tries to fix the tech being destroyed by the fighting Pokémon. Somehow he's the only one working among all other park employees. It's almost pointless to have this character.

Voice acting in general is fine though as usual. Even Team Rocket gets lines this time, which is cool. Animation was also an equally good looking component. Featuring bright colors and fluid movements there isn't much that needs correcting either. Cinematography was credited to Tatsumi Yukiwaki in their first Pokémon project although, like everyone before them, no idea what it's used for. Finally, the music composed by Shinji Miyazaki believe it or not felt a little more noticeable this time. The tracks heard in this feature feel a little more heartfelt despite the connections not fully being there. But like always there was no domestic release so the album is again unattainable locally. One day, maybe one day they'll get a rerelease. That's all there is to it though.

Regular components like the animation and voice acting are kept the same. Music even picks up some but the story in general is still bland. Continuity is also very confusing with the changes made to Mewtwo.