Review of Pokemon: The Movie 2000

Introduction

After the poor full frame treatment that the original Pokemon: The Movie received, fans of the series were beginning to think that Pokemon: The Movie 2000 was destined for the same fate. For whilst the original was announced as coming with an anamorphic transfer, it actually turned up filling the screen instead. Obviously fearful of a repeat error, the latest film was declared to be full frame before its release, so it turned out a nice surprise that this is in 16x9 enhanced widescreen.

So basically we are off to a good start already, as whilst the kiddies probably don`t appreciate the above, rather older Pokemon fans such as myself definitely do. Now onto what`s on the disc, confusingly it is double sided yet each side contains an identical menu and film. This probably makes the chances of your kids breaking the DVD player by putting it in the wrong way quite slim, not that this should actually bust a machine. Okay at the very least they won`t come running to you asking why it doesn`t work.

But what`s on the disc? Actually its essentially a short film entitled Pikachu`s Rescue Adventure along with the feature length Power of One movie. Normally you would count the former as a bonus but the main show is so short it really isn`t anything other than a necessity to fill the time people would expect to get when seeing this in the cinema.

Video

Animation wise, this isn`t a ground breaking disc, in fact its extremely average. You do get some CGI thrown on top of the expected animation from the TV series but that really is it. Recently we have seen some great mixing of traditional cell animation and computer generated imagery in the likes of Titan AE, but not here. To be honest I`m not sure how this deserves to even be shown on the big screen, watching it on mine certainly didn`t make much of an impact.

Near the end continuity seems to have gone walkabout, leaving me wondering whether something has been drastically cut from the film. Since I didn`t see this at the piccies, I can`t tell you if the video release has been snipped for any reason. But I can say that it definitely comes across as a hatchet job in the editing room.

Transfer wise this is at least a top quality anamorphic transfer, as you would expect from Warner who have gone from their early days of edge enhanced horridness to setting today`s high standards for image stability, saturation and detail.

Audio

Audio wise the whole disc is pretty strong, with some good music both in the menus and throughout the main feature and the preceding short. All cartoons these days are expected to use the entire soundscape, yes including the subwoofer, and Pokemon is no exception.

Bar one unusual moment when the backing music cut out for a few seconds whilst the sound effects continued, everything is up to today`s standards. Thankfully there were no dull songs like you get in Disney`s stuff, music here is solely to compliment the on scene action rather than be a substitute for it.

Features

If you count Pikachu`s Rescue Adventure as an extra, then things aren`t too bad feature wise. Unfortunately as this isn`t really a special feature, the disc becomes one of Warner`s more bare attempts at added value content.

You do get the obligatory theatrical trailer, which is a nice thing to whet the kiddies appetites with prior to the screening. Also on board is what`s described as exclusive footage of Pokemon 3, but is really just the teaser trailer. Needless to say it does its job, if you enjoyed this film it will certainly have you drooling over the thought of the next.

Oh I suppose I should say the menus are cute, but you will soon get bored with them.

Conclusion

Pikachu`s Rescue Adventure is a great little short film which shows off pretty much all of the characters and creatures from the series, although oddly for the first time ever a Snorlax is one of the good guys. If you find Pikachu cute then you`ll certainly enjoy it, even if the story is somewhat weak.

As for the main film, well it`s not as good as the best TV episodes, and the plot is pretty dull and rather drawn out. There are about 3 or 4 funny jokes in there for the adults, but even Pikachu isn`t used to his maximum cuteness. There is a bit of play on the possibilities of Misty and Ash getting it together, but this romance is going to take longer to get going than Maddy and David in Moonlighting.

All your favorite characters make an appearance, except Jigglypuff which is a shame. But with very little excitement, a stereotypical British bad guy who never gets beyond a first dimension depth wise, this is definitely one for the most ardent Pokemon fans.

If you think this could be the one to hook you on the TV series, forget it, as even Team Rocket fail to lift it above the norm. In fact I would say this is a rather transparent cash in on the franchise, which coming from a Pokemon fan is saying something.