Opening with a voice over reciting the the legend that forms the basis for the plot, we are quickly introduced to the antagonist of the story. A collector seeking the ultimate prize, Lugia. After a quick bit of exposition setting up the objects of the quest, the collector catches Moltres after a brief game of cat and mouse. The heroes are shown enjoying a cruise while taking a break from Ash's quest to be the Orange Island champion. During the title sequence we get to see the Pokemon roster of the heroes.
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| USA Theatrical Poster |
A storm arises and forces the heroes offcourse and onto the Shamouti island where the annual celebration of Lugia is taking place.
The little sister of one of the natives is immediately smitten with Ash and declares him the "Chosen One" from the legends. Which is how our heroes get involved with the plot of the movie.
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| Ash getting some action. |
Team Rocket, AKA: Ash's Guardian's as I like to think of them, of course wind up tagging along in their never ending quest for Ash's Pikachu, and of course wind up helping save the world.
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| Ash and his goofy guardians |
Again, Ash is the one who is determined to move the plot forward at any cost necessary, and the other characters are dragged along in his wake.
Thankfully there are only three dragon balls and a dragon flute required to help Shenron, er.. Lugia to set things right.
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| BEHOLD! SHEN... er LUGIA! |
Anyway, a 3 on one battle occurs with some pretty cool animation and we are also introduced another unique to the movies Pokemon, a talking Slowking. Who has a deadpan delivery and an appropriately slow cadence.
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| The legendary trio Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres |
I had completely forgotten that Lugia speaks, I don't think I like the creative choice they made in regards to his voice. It just doesn't fit.
Team Rocket again shows up to get Ash to where he needs in order to save the day, supposedly because they need the world to be around so they can keep stealing from people. But at this point, it's clear that they view Ash & Co as friends and are desperate to keep them alive at all costs. Meowth of course is probably the only true nuetral character in the series. He does what's best for him. Regardless of the morality.
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| The true heroes of the franchise. |
The score is pretty good for this one as well. It's a shame that it wasn't released on CD in North America
It's important to note that the score for the USA version is completely different than the original Japanese version.
Lugia's Song is peaceful melody as well. Well worth tracking down on Youtube. Has hints of the Tears of Life in it as well. Actually, I think they just re-used that entire score from the first one. They seemingly blend Lugia's song into the finale from Mewtwo Strikes Back.
The goofy humor is more muted than in the first, but there are still some good puns sprinkled through-out. Particularly the, That's good, That's bad, bit at the end.
Overall a fun movie that fans of the franchise will enjoy. Solid animation and CGI that is a step up from the previous entry.
The Power of One is a great theme for the movie performed by Donna Summer that plays over the end credits.
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| Slowking, a talking Pokemon |
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| Marvel's The Collector crosses over to cause multi-universal chaos |
4/5
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