POKEMON: THE MOVIE 2000 ------------------------
Ash Ketchum and his gang of humans and pocket monsters, including the prized Pikachu, are back and this time he's saving the world in "Pokemon: the Movie 2000."
LAURA:
"Pokemon: the First Movie" was perplexing in its anti-violence message when its titular subjects are pitted in battle against one another by humans. Nintendo (who own Pokemon rights) have apparently lightened up this time around as the new film's message is that it's bad to collect Pokemon simply for the joy of possession.
Firstly, though, the film is once again preceded by a short, "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure." While these 22 minutes were nowhere near as excrutiating as "Pikachu's Vacation," once again we must endure the Pokemen at summer camp where the little starry-egg guy gets into trouble so Pikachu can get a group to cooperate and save him. At one point, five eggs transform into a three-headed walking pineapple. (I'm surprised this series doesn't have the same reputation as the Teletubbies for drug trippers.) At least the animators have relaxed the editting style which once caused Japanese children to suffer seizures.
The film itself is both better and worse than its predecessor. It opens as a lone man in a spaceship converses with his computer about the three Pokemon he intends to capture for his collection - Moltres, bird of fire; Zapdos, bird of lightning and Articuno, bird of ice. According to the lore, having these three in one place will draw out his real prize, Lugia, the beast of the sea, which will result in the disruption of the world's weather patterns. Ash and friends are on a pleasure sail when a sudden squall forces them to land at Shimuti Island, just as an island ritual is about to be performed. The weather is being caused by the collection of the three birds and legendary ritual decrees that 'the world will turn to Ash,' who must collect three treasures, to prevent the destruction of the planet. (That Ash is constantly referred to as 'the Chosen One,' is a bit of religious symbolism in the weirdest place.)
The animation is a mixed bag of impressive looking high-tech effects and Saturday morning cartoon sweat shop, but at least it's taking steps in the right direction. The spaceship is beautifully done, as well as some of the weather effects. The human characters are fleshed out and their ranks added to, although the returning Team Rocket duo are annoyingly superfluous. Oddly, the Pokemon almost take a back seat in this story, which frankly, has far less to it than the first, yet takes the same amount of time in the telling. Environmentalism is once again a strong message. A pretty tune's played on a conch shell.
The kids at the screening I attended were mostly captivated, laughed at some of the inane jokes and applauded at the end, so I'd guess the target audience will be happy with the product. For adults, however, a few jokes and improved technical aspects can't quite counter overall boredom.
C
ROBIN:
Ash Ketchum is a Pokemon master par excellent. He and his favorite pocket monster, Pikachu, are about to embark on a new adventure, but, this time, it's not just to do battle with other Pokemon. An unscrupulous collector, named Lawrence III, is hatching a plan to capture three powerful Pokemon birds - fire, ice and lightning. These magical creatures, while free, maintain harmony in the world's weather. Their capture will disrupt that harmony and allow Lawrence to seize the most powerful Pokemon of all - the water borne Lugia. The havoc the collector creates draws Ash into the fray as the Chosen One, the only person who can save the world in the feature portion of "Pokemon the Movie 2000," "The Power of One."
Following the same formula presented in "Pokemon the First Movie," the sequel is in two parts, too. Part One is a 22-minute short called "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure," where the title character, with his Pokemon buddies, must brave the elements, including other creatures, to save one of their number. It's light on dialogue, which consists mostly of the inane babble that the little creatures constantly voice - it's amazing the volumes that can be said by repeating "pikachu" over and over and over again. The visuals are geared to the pre-school crowd with lots of movement and color to please the tiny eyes of the target audience. For anyone over age 8, I think it may cause brain lesions.
Part Two of "Pokemon 2000," "The Power of One," has a little more meat to its story than the short and reps the main draw for the more hardcore pocket monster fans. The story owes more than a nod to Toho Pictures and the Godzilla franchise, with the action of the battling birds straight out of such films as "Godzilla on Monster Island." As such, the setup from the first feature - Pokemon fighting Pokemon - is laid to rest as the more "conventional" monster against monster and save the world yarn kicks in.
Ash is, again, the hero, but this time, instead of pitting his prized Pokemon against those of Team Rocket, he is a boy on a quest to save the world from destruction. It's a daunting task as he throws himself into his mission and gets the help of friend and Pokemon alike. Of course, he accomplishes his assignment and returns the Earth to its former harmony, before Lawrence reared his conniving head. Of course, as the hero, Ash is expected to accomplish the impossible - no job is too big that it can't be tackled - and he does. The young Pokemon master is a good role model for kids.
There is a distinct split in the demographics targeted for this two-part anime. "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure" is for the very young fans of the franchise. Dialogue is simple and visuals are geared toward the short attention span of smaller kids. "The Power of One" is a more mature story with its complexity and variety of action. It, too, has the visual eye candy that will entertain the little ones, but the action and fights will definitely appeal to the older of the Pokemon fans. There is even some humor that will appeal to the parents accompanying their kids to the theater, but, be warned - there isn't anywhere near enough adult-level humor in "Pokemon 2000" to warrant calling it "family entertainment." For me, if Pikachu said "pikachu" one more time, my head would have exploded.
But, the kids like "Pokemon the Movie 2000" and that's what counts, so I rate it solely from their viewpoint and give "The Power of One" a B- and "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure" a C.
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