Pokemon: The First Movie

Distributor: Warner Bros, 4-Kids Entertainment, Nintendo.
Original Story: Satoshi Kon
Volumes: N/A
Rating: G
Anime Code: F

An ultra-powerful Pokemon clone named Mew Two was created by Team Rocket from the hair of a Mew. Mew Two however broke away from his creators and set out to destroy humanity and replace all Pokemon with super clones. He lures unexpected trainers to his island where he battles them using his own Pokemon then steals them. Ash must stop him.

Review: We can hardly blame 4-Kids for screwing this up since I also own the Japanese version and it follows along the same lines (unlike Digimon which is totally FUBAR). It was a little weak, especially at the end where Mew Two seems to turn back time/erase everybody's mind. But... wait a minute, did he erase Giovanni's mind too? Hmmm....

Action Level: 3/5
Pokemon biting, scratching and meleeing each other was hard to watch, for the viewers as well as the human characters.

Romance Level: 1/5
Brock develops a crush on the Mew Two controlled Nurse Joy. That's it.

Comedy Level: 1/5
The only funny thing I saw (besides Nurse Joy dressed up like a nun) in this movie was the look on the face of the enemy trainer who battled Ash during the opening theme. Team Rocket's commentary was stupid, not funny.

Adult Level: 1/5
Pokemon biting each other is as adult as you're going to get here.

Drama Level: 3/5
They really try to be dramatic during the Pokemon Brawl between clones and originals. The Japanese did it successfully, the Americans did not simply because they dubbed the heart-beating background noise with a Blessed Union of Souls song. Now, I like BUoS, but that song's the last thing I would want to hear in a climatic final battle.

Overall Level: 3/5
4-Kids and Warner Bros., like FUNimation, didn't do such a bad job with their first try. The Americans could've tweaked it a little more before they put it into print. It's all right, the extras more than make up for it. My opinion: rent the movie, but buy the CD, it has some good songs.