Before I get started, I would like to thank Dogasu for being able to provide the prize tickets that I got to attend a theatrical showing of this movie. My plan was to do this post after the movie aired on Disney XD; and I will still do the recap after that, with my goal to have it done and ready to post by Christmas Eve as my final Pokémon recap. Still, due to the change in plans; I will give you my thoughts on my first viewing of Pokémon The Power of Us.
First off, I will give you the dub names for each new character. Risa keeps her Japanese name, since that was one of the most common Romanizations for it. Her brother Riku is called Rick. Largo is called Margo. Hisui, the old woman is called Harriet. The scientist Torito is called Toren. The braggard Kagachi is called Callahan. His niece Lily is called Kelly (due to another character already having a similar name) and her mother Mia keeps her Japanese name. Mayor Oliver also keeps his Japanese name. This is also the first theatrical Pokémon movie to be rated PG by the MPAA (not counting Mewtwo Returns or the Darkrai movie), so here we go.
After a reel of highlights from the series’ history and some behind-the-scenes stuff from the Detective Pikachu movie (still looks like fun, by the way), the film begins. It’s different, but I actually rather like it. It almost doesn’t seem like a Pokémon movie at first. If it weren’t for the names and music, it could be the opening to Beauty and the Beast (the 1991 original, not the 2017 remake). Ash isn’t the first character we see even. Risa is, and the film a strong sequel to I Choose You overall even if The List and The Guardian didn’t like it.
I was wondering what would happen when Kunihiko Yuyama handed the reins to Tetsuo Yajima, but I am quite pleased with what he’s doing. Visually, his experience with the series overall and Origins/XY in particular was perfect. Everything is dynamic and colorful, and even in scenes where there isn’t much action, each scene is full of lively details. Even though I was curious how the film would handle the ensemble cast, everyone seems to play off each other naturally. It’s simple idea in any kind of world-building. Making the setting of Fula City and its inhabitants fully realized definitely helps this new continuity as a sequel to last year’s movie, which I absolutely loved.
Voice acting is relatively solid across the board, very energetic without being too over the top. I am also surprised to find out the score from the Japanese movie is intact. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but we’ll see. I don’t mind what TCPI does for the music, but I can’t deny it was really cool to hear the anime version of the GSC Rival theme in a theater with digital sound setup.
I won’t be addressing any major spoilers, that can wait for the Disney XD premiere and my full look at the movie. I will briefly say that all politics aside; this movie is essentially The Last Jedi of the Pokémon franchise. Not only does it have plenty of surprises, there will be lots of people that will love this movie and many that will hate it, ironically for many of the same reasons. I openly admit that I fall in the “love it” camp for both. It not only reminds me of the older movies, but also of the 1986 Transformers movie and the first two 1990s TMNT movies in style and tone.
As for how I would rank the movie, I would put it on the same level of quality as the last movie. It’s an excellent new direction for the series; and I’m eager to see what comes next even beyond this blog. Regarding Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution: I just hope it’s a better Evolution than Dragonball Evolution. With this, I shall begin work on my recap of the movie once it airs on December 8 on Disney XD. I still want to have it, along with my remaining non-Akira posts done by Christmas Eve. That will be all for now. Later.
No comments:
Post a Comment