Pokemon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back is, as you'd guess, the first feature film in the Pokémon franchise. As the tvtropes page says, I suppose there was no point in pretending that there wouldn't be more. It was released in 1998, when Pokemon fever abroad was at its highest. The film was a pretty substantial financial success, grossing several times its budget worldwide. It was panned by most western critics however, and generally seen as a weak kids' film (we'll get to why it was received that way momentarily).
(This was actually one of the films I have watched beforehand, but obviously like most children not in Japan at the time my experience was entirely with the dubbed version of the movie. What I'm reviewing from this point on is the original japanese version. For the sake of convenience and because I'd feel like a bit of weeaboo otherwise, I'm going to be referring to any Pokemon and characters by their dub names).
The film begins with a group of Team Rocket scientists on a jungle expedition attempting to find traces of a Mew, a mythical creature said to be the strongest of all Pokemon, seldom seen by humans. The scientists do manage to obtain a fossil containing Mew's DNA, which allows them to develop a genetically modified clone which they dub Mewtwo. Due to its telepathic abilities Mewtwo is able to interact psychically with the consciences of other clones present in the facility, notably “Aitwo”, a clone of the chief scientist's own daughter (it's implied that Dr Fuji only took up this project in the hopes of gaining enough insight into the cloning process to be able to revive his deceased daughter). The two become fast friends, but the cloning process is still imperfect at this point and the clones eventually dissolve, leaving Mewtwo alone and emotionally disraught. It is stated earlier that Mew has an extrordinarily powerful lifeforce, só mew's genes are presumably what makes mewtwo resilient enough to be a successful clone. His brainwaves almost overload the lab's systems, but the scientists manage to pacify him. Over time the memories of his friends are buried, but the rage and sorrow he experienced remain.
Mewtwo grows over time and eventually breaks out of the test tube he was in. His interactions with the scientists upon his awakening confound him and leave him puzzled and angry about his existence and purpose in life, leading to a temper tantrum which destroys the entire island. Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni, then manipulates him into serving Team Rocket, using him to capture Pokemon and win gym battles for him. Mewtwo realizes he is being used and trashes Giovanni's facility. With no answers to his initial existential questions, and bitter about humans using him, Mewtwo decides he will “strike back” against the world (hence the title) and enacts a plot which gets the main crew and several other people involved.
All things considered, this movie is actually pretty decent entertainment. Its plot is reasonably engaging, and deals with surprisingly mature subject matter for something as seemingly harmless and childish as Pokemon. This is exemplified by the title character (and arguably, true protagonist) of the film. Mewtwo is a conflicted character: all of his early interactions are all incredibly unfortunate and devalue him as an individual, and he is at a loss as to why he was created and why he is even alive. The only answers people give him are that he is a tool unworthy of consideration, which only leave him more bitter and detached and motivate his villainous plot to destroy humans and replace Pokemon with “superior” clones, like himself.
A lot of Mewtwo's dialogue makes him come off as frightened, confused, and angry, almost like a child. His plot is reactionary and entirely motivated by a desire to prove the worth of his own existence. Rather than being a strike against him however, this makes him a more sympathetic character. By the film's end, Mewtwo realizes that his life is precious, because all life is precious, whether it's cloned or not, and that the reason why he was created is irrelevant. He is alive NOW, só he should simply live and try to be happy. This is a surprisingly powerful message for a kids' film, and though it isn't executed as well as it could be, it does get points for trying.
The film's plot is elevated by the animation and music. This is an old film, só the quality of the animation isn't necessarily going to stack up to modern standards, but it's still pretty enjoyable to look at and by no means bad, especially if you look at the HD version released recently. Some of the film's locations (like the jungle the scientists venture in and Mewtwo's castle on New Island) are actually still pretty cool visually even today.
The music for the movie is a pretty cool orchestral score. It's not the absolute best I've heard, but it sets the mood well and is pretty enjoyable in its own right. I had actually never heard “Pokemon Get Da Ze!” (the first japanese opening) prior to this movie. It doesn't have the same nostalgia value as the dub's first opening but it's catchy and grew on me pretty quickly. It's not “I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST LIKE NO EVER WAS” awesome, but it's more than adequate as a substitute.
With that said, the film is far from perfect.
- Almost every other character besides Mewtwo, Dr. Fuji (and to a lesser degree, Mew) is pretty flat and uninteresting. The trainers that make it to New Island along with Ash and Misty don't even get named in the movie and don't really have noticeable personality traits. Everyone eles besides Mewtwo just feels like an extra. This is a symptom of the anime's larger problem with characterization, which would only get worse in the main TV series as time went on. I also find Mew's character to be a bit strange, all things considered. You'd think he'd be just a Purity Sue, but according to Meowth he actually states outright that clones are inferior and wants to prove their superiority over them through battle, which makes him Not So Different from Mewtwo. I wouldn't say it's a problem per se though, and definitely interesting.
- Because of the aforementioned problem, the latter parts of the film drag a bit. There's a larger focus on the human characters and fighting instead of Mewtwo's psychological issues, which are way more interesting.
- Mewtwo is a good character, but he repeats the same questions a lot. You do feel for him and his existential problems, but the script could have been polished a bit in this regard and made him sound less repetitive.
- The “Ash gets revived through tear scenes” is present here too. And it's still just as stupid. I don't want to be too hard on it, but there's no excuse.
- The “value of life” themes are good, but the characters are very heavy-handed and blunt about it, stating it outright during the fighting sequence of originals vs clones. It doesn't really feel that natural, and I think letting the movie speak for itself would have been far better.
- It seems like even after being a victim of their shenanigans and hearing their voices on a constant basis, Ash and company still have trouble recognizing the Rocket trio in disguise. This is just a small nitpick though, and doesn't really bother me much, if at all.
In spite of its flaws, I still think the film is decent as a whole, and that most Pokemon fans and even people not into Pokemon per se would at least find it moderately enjoyable. This film predated the storytelling in Black and White by a long time. Frankly I think it's the best writing that Pokemon has ever seen, and it's unlikely that it will really get much better. So why was it derided as bad children's entertainment?
It was because its dub was...less than stellar. I actually had so much to say about the dub changes that it ended up being longer than the actual movie review! So we'll be looking at them next time. Think of it as a special "bonus" entry, I guess. I doubt most dub changes after this movie's are going to be so large as to warrant their own entries.
Comments
of the Pokemon films? They've only gotten up to the third one so far but they're fun and critical and could be useful to you in revealing additional points of critique.
even opens with him admitting he can't figure out anything about what the franchise is, even though he tried.
It's not actually Doug reviewing, it's three associates of his: That Dude in the Suede, Linkara, and Jew Wario. Their collaborative review is pretty helpful because they're fans of the series, so they don't have to spend the majority of the film(s) confused at what anything is.
