Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution Review

Pokémon anime movies are a long-running stable of the Pokémon franchise, with one coming out in Japan every year since 1998.  For the most part, they coincide with the Pokémon anime, featuring Ash and co. meeting either a Mythical Pokémon (such as Mew, Celebi, or Jirachi), a Legendary Pokémon (such as Mewtwo, Entei, or Giratina), and/or a Pokémon that will be introduced in the games' next generation (such as Lugia, Lucario, or Zoroark).  However, the 20th and 21st movies did things a little differently.  In Movie 20, instead of Ash and co. meeting the movie's title Pokémon during their journey, the plot is instead an alternate take on the beginning of Ash's journey, showing what would happen if Ash acquired a Rainbow Wing when he encounters Ho-Oh in the events of the first anime episode.  It also features several Pokémon released after Gen. I, including Piplup and Incineroar, as well as debuting the Gen. VII Mythical Pokémon Marshadow.  Movie 21 takes place in the same alternate timeline as Movie 20, with Ash and Pikachu arriving in a movie-exclusive location for a local festival and debuts the Gen. VII Mythical Pokémon Zeraora.

So what new and interesting ideas are showcased in Movie 22?  What new Mythical Pokémon debuts?  Nothing and none are the respective answers to those questions; Movie 22 is a CGI remake of the very first Pokémon movie!

Yep.  Granted, taking something made in 2D and remaking it in 3D isn't unheard of in the realms of video games and Pokémon is technically a video game franchise first and foremost.  But to do so in anime?  Weird.  Well, how does it look?

...Dear God, I cannot unsee this nightmare...

Plot

Plot wise, it's pretty much a Copy-Paste of the 1st Pokémon movie, Mewtwo Strike Back.  Changes made to the plot are very minimal.  There are a few instances of story polish, such as Ash's Charizard, Misty's Psyduck, and Brock's Vulpix being present at their Trainers' lunchtime to establish their existence before they're on Mewtwo's island.  When Team Rocket takes Ash and co. to the island, they are sailors in a Lapras-themed paddle boat instead of Vikings (nixing the Minnesota Vikings reference in the English dub 😢).  There's also an added scene of Giovanni showing off Mewtwo to an army of Rocket Grunts.

Other than that, there are some updates to keep up with the modern additions to Pokémon as a franchise.  The manager of the harbor mentions the Gen. III Pokémon Wingull instead of real-world seagulls, which were mentioned in the original.  When a character's Venusaur battles Mewtwo's cloned Venusaur, they are instructed to use Energy Ball and Leaf Storm respectively, both moves originating from Gen. IV.  Giovanni also wears a dark colored suit like his modern anime design as opposed to his original orange one.

In regards to dialogue, there aren't many significant changes.  The points the characters make throughout the movie are still the same, even though the lines aren't always verbatim from the original (though I swear some actually are verbatim).  There is an amusing line in the English dub where Brock mentions his "famous jelly donuts" in reference to the notorious dub alteration from the original series in which the Japanese food onigiri (cooked rice often formed into a rounded triangular shape usually with pickled or dried food in the center, normally translated as "rice balls") is called jelly-filled donuts.

"Nothing beats localizing a foreign food to cause misconceptions!"

So overall, the plot is the same as Movie 1, which admittedly is very good.  The quality of the story is intact, but the fact that it's almost an exact remake of something we've seen before really lessens its impact, unfortunately.

Design and Animation

This is where the movie falls apart... and also is pretty good.  While contradicting myself may make no sense at first, let me explain.

Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie, and James all look horrendous.  I have no idea how this happened.  In still shots, the designs are just completely off and the way their faces move when talking or expressing just make it worse.  Part of it is the uncanny valley effect of seeing characters one is used seeing a certain way (in this case, 2D animation) adapted into a completely different way (in this case, 3D animation).  While this is an easy and very applicable explanation, there is something one cannot overlook: 2D anime characters have been adapted into 3D animation before without it looking abominable.  Play any video game with 3D graphics based off Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, or One Piece and one can see that the transition from 2D to 3D is seamless; the characters still look like they normally do despite the change in visual art form.  I have no idea what the animators of this movie were doing when they designed the five main characters for the movie, but they failed in making them look aesthetically pleasing.

"Give us your money, weeb!"

The other human characters are passable... barely.  I guess because the five mains are so iconic, the supporting characters look less irksome because their designs aren't ingrained into the minds of longtime Pokémon anime viewers.  That said, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy are also off-putting in appearance, but because they're in less of the movie, it's not as distracting.

I also find it off-putting how inhumanly thin Jessie's waist is in 3D.  I know it's a common occurrence in animation to draw women with unrealistic proportions (not just in anime, but also in western cartoons), but it seems like they went too far this time.  I don't think her waist would even reach 24 inches IRL, and it just adds to the visual discomfort of character designs that make the viewers want to bleach their eyes.

"They smoked how much weed when designing us?" 

Human character designs aside, the Pokémon designs are amazing.  They look like they were ripped right from an HD video game.  The level of detail is amazing, with all the fur and scales looking beautiful.  The fire effect of Rapidash's mane?  Outstanding.  The stony armor of Rhyhorn?  Wonderful.

Admittedly, the heavily detailed designs for some take a bit of adjustment, but unlike the humans, the viewer's mind can adapt to HD Squirtle, where as it would take countless hours to get used to the way Ash looks... if one ever could.

The battle effects of moves and the movements of the various Pokémon's bodies are all great.  The battles are definitely the highlight the film.  The games pale in comparison to showcasing battles the way this movie can.

"I'M-A FIRIN' MA LAY-ZAAARRR!!!"

2D Version VS 3D Version

So the plot is the same as the original and the designs are horrible for the 'mans and great for for the 'mons.  Is there any reason to watch this movie over the original?  Of course not, I'd watch the 1st movie ten more times before rewatching this.  Is there any reason to watch this movie at all?  Uhhh...

As I said before, the Pokémon look amazing and the battles are pretty awesome.  Mewtwo is still a menacing villain and a compelling character, and the message of the movie still good and heartfelt.  Most of the other pros I've already mentioned (Brock's dub reference, updates to modern franchise additions) are enjoyable, but still negligible.  The ONLY major worthwhile addition to the remake is the camera shot when the Pokémon are fighting their clones.

Said camera shot would be very difficult to do in 2D animation.  As the Pokémon are fighting, the camera seamlessly moves from fight to fight magnificently in one shot.  It is an amazing, fluid shot that would make any director proud (and any cameraperson having to film it motion sick, probably).  The camera movements during other battles are excellent too, but this one really stood out to me.

"I could totally beat this clone if I could Mega Evolve!"

Final Verdict

It's ironic how a movie featuring cloning got cloned itself... especially since unlike in the movie, the original film could beat the remake.  That said, aside from the nightmarish human designs, nothing really makes Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution a bad movie.  Superfluous?  Definitely.  Necessary?  Absolutely not.  Worthwhile?  Probably not.

And so, I give this movie (2.5/5 Poké Balls).

Still better than Movie 15!

- nssfleahedgehog