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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Pikas for An Improvement Over the First Movie!!!!!, November 15, 2000
This review is from: Pokemon: The Movie 2000 [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Pokémon 2000 The Movie: The Power of One This movie starts with a little short called "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure." Unlike the short which accompanied Pokémon The First Movie, Pikachu's Rescue Adventure contains substance as well as cuteness. It focuses, as the name suggests, on Pikachu's adventure rescuing--Togepi! The short treats the viewer to Pikachu's intelligence, bravery, and of course, cuteness. Like the first short, it goes out of its way to show a wide variety of Pokémon, including four new ones, which I understand are named Hoothoot, Ladyba, Bellossom and Elekid. Elekid, a new electric Pokémon, plays a major role after becoming friends with Pikachu through an exchange of electricity. (Hoothoot and Bellossom now have played important roles in episodes of Pokémon: The Johto Journeys on television as well.) You'll even finally get to see a Snorlax do something other than eat and sleep! The Power of One itself seems substantially less dark than its precursor, yet manages to outdo the First Movie's tale of MewTwo versus Mew. The Power of One Introduces us to a new Pokémon, a powerful Guardian of the Water named Lugia which is nearly as large as the three legendary birds--Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno--combined. It's also nearly as powerful as the three combined. I say "nearly" because, according to an ancient prophecy, without the help of the Chosen One all of its efforts to stop the three from fighting will come to nothing, "making the world turn to ash." And who should be the Chosen One? Well, as Misty realizes, the prophecy DOES say that the world will "turn to Ash." As an added little bonus, the movie finally provides first names for Professors Oak and Ivy, and for Mrs. Ketchum, Ash's mom. It also gives two uproarious, albeit non-speaking cameo appearances by the original companion of Ash and Misty--Brock the Rock. Fans of Brock, myself included, may find his limited role disappointing. Fans of Tracey, Brock's replacement, may also be disappointed at his limited role in The Power of One. Moltres fans might be disappointed that he isn't a good-guy like he was in his one appearance in the TV series, and at the way he's been drawn for the movie. Misty fans, however, will revel in her pivotal role. Team Rocket fans, perpetually hoping to find their heroes playing a role other than that of the inept butt of jokes, will find their hopes finally realized. Team Rocket too plays a pivotal role in The Power of One, believe it or not, deliberately and through the creativity of Jesse, James and Meowth! Ah Team Rocket, we always knew your tendency to "think outside the box" would pay off one day. In addition to Lugia and Team Rocket's effectiveness, the movie offers something else new: a new Pokémon called Slowking. Slowking, the final evolved form of Slowpoke and Slowbro, resembles a Slowbro, but with the spiral Shellder on its head rather than on its tail. Best of all, the Slowking can speak. When you hear what he has to say, you'll be glad he can. Lugia's no slouch at communication either--like MewTwo, he just psychically speaks in Ash's head. Neat, huh? The Power of One offers an amazing spectacle of color and animation. The movie produces vibrant images, color and sound. I found the music good too, although I must warn you that as with the first movie, most of the songs on the soundtrack appear only over the closing credits and have little to do with the movie itself. At least more of the songs from the this soundtrack seem at least generally related to Pokémon. You will definitely want to watch the closing credits, however, both to hear "Weird" Al Yankovic's "Polkamon" song and to see the second, hysterically-funny, cameo appearance by Brock. If you like Pokémon you will like this movie; your little Pokémaniac (either the one you tuck into bed at night or the one hiding inside you) will love it.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of the lot!, April 20, 2003
Although probably not met with as much praise by the critics as with the Pokefans, it was significantly better than the first film, Mewtwo Strikes Back. This may be a biased opinion, however, as Lugia is my favorite Pokemon, but Mewtwo is one of them as well. Anyway, in this film, a Pokemon collector wants to capture the legendary bird Pokemon, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres to flush out the big prize, Lugia. Unfortunetly, this tips the balance of power, and disrupts the weather around the world. Meanwhile, Ash, Misty and Tracey journey to a small island near to the island homes of the legendary birds and keeps up its old traditions with a yearly festival. The young girl who leads the tradition this year is Melody, who chooses Ash as the festival's "Chosen One." He is to travel to the islands to collect three elemental spheres and bring them back to the first island. How this movie is better than the first (and the ones that follow, too, I might add) I will explain in numerous points: First of all, the movie is less dark, and has a bit of a lighter mood. This can be good or bad, depending on how you like your Pokemon movies, but people who watch the anime series tend to like the lighter mood more.
Secondly, this movie explores more the possibility of Pokeshipping, which is the more-than-platonic relationship between Ash and Misty. The movie has many cute moments, like Misty geeting jealous over Melody kissing Ash, and Melody telling Misty how she will marry Ash eventually. There's even a Rocketshippy moment! (Jessie and James)
Third, the score to the movie goes way beyond what is possible in the anime series. I personally love the score, especially "The Legend Comes to Life." Yes, the movie's soundtrack still carries the pop songs, but keep in mind that the English version of Pokemon is geared mostly towards younger children.
Fourth, the movie explores more about how Pokemon interact and influence the enviornment and the people around them. Not like the first movie, which was mostly about how Mewtwo's injust treatment by Team Rocket caused it to "go bad." This movie proved that Pokemon control and keep nature in balance, and carries the underlying message of how destructive human beings can be to the enviornment with selfish ideas.
Fifth, the movie is just more engaging and exciting. The fate of the world rests in Ash's hands (and his competence as a hero). Team Rocket have a bigger and better part in the film, becuase they become temporarly changed and help Ash save the world. The battles between Lugia and the three birds and the Pokemon collector are more exciting. And also, there is more of what I deem as the most important aspect: character development. All of the characters change a bit (with the exception of Tracey), even if it is for just within the time of the movie. All in all, Pokemon 2000 is my favorite of the 4 Pokemon movies, and continues to be a popular film among the Pokemon fans.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than the First Movie, April 22, 2001
This review is from: Pokemon: The Movie 2000 [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Many people criticized "Mewtwo Strikes Back" when the first Pokemon movie was released in the US, because in comparison with the excellent Japanese version it was a mess, missing out important things that explained about the characters (such as The Birth Of Mewtwo), and it had sloppy characterization. However, I'm pleased to say that this film is generally much better than the first Pokemon movie. The plot involves a Pokemon collector called Laurence III who wants to capture the three Legendary birds Articuno. Zapdos and Moltres - or the Gods of Ice, Lightning and Fire as they're called here. Unfortunately, this creates a huge problem with Earth's weather patterns, causing violent storms and snow, and it is left up to Ash to get them back, and return things to normal. There are some little hints to the possibility of an Ash/Misty romance in this film - when Ash arrives on the island at the beginning of the movie, a girl called Melody kisses Ash on the cheek which makes Misty really jealous, as well as some other cute moments. Sadly, in spite of an improved plot I believe that, as before, the choice of music stands out as the film`s downfall and the producers haven`t learnt from the mistakes they made in the first film. Apart from a few exceptions ("The Legend Comes To Life" is a wonderful track), this movie replicates the same pop-styled rubbish used in the First Movie. The remix of the TV theme song ("Pokemon World" performed by Youngstown & Nobody's Angel) is absolutely horrible, with a scratchy beat and synthesized vocals. The campaign to ban vocoders starts here... Next time round, I would like to see a better choice of music which is less pop-orientated, but I`m not holding my breath... Overall though, in spite of the terrible soundtrack, this is a major improvement on the First Movie which I think any Pokemon fan should add to their collection.
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