When Satoshi Tajiri created a simple RPG (role-playing-game) about catching and training pixelated animals in 1996 which he based around his love of exploring outside and catching various bugs and insects, he probably had no idea of the behemoth that he just created. Pokémon was and still is one of the biggest as well as highest grossing franchises in the world, spawning a very popular anime series which premiered in 1997 and is still ongoing to this day, which in turn led to several both theatrical and straight-to-video film’s based within the anime’s canon, with one of the first being the 1999 film, Pokémon 2000: The Power of One. Following the set-up and characters of around the second season of the anime, Ash Ketchum (voiced by Veronica Taylor) along with his companions, Misty (voiced by Rachael Lillis), and Tracy (voiced by Ted Lewis) get washed up on an island called Shamouti where Ash is selected by a island’s festival maiden, Melody (voiced by Amy Birnbaum) as the chosen one in a prophecy which could lead to the end of the world. He is told he must gather three special crystals to qualm the anger of three legendary bird Pokémon, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, also known as the Titans of Ice, Lightning, and Fire, as their rage has caused an imbalance in the earth’s weather system which could be catastrophic if left unchecked. On the journey, he comes across Team Rocket, a group that are constantly chasing after them in order to capture his Pokémon, a talking Pokémon called Slowking (voiced by Nathan Price) who is the guardian the stones and an evil Pokémon collector named Lawrence III (voiced by Neil Stewart), who is looking to capture all the birds (and was responsible for disrupting them in the first place) in order to bring out his ultimate prize, the Pokémon ruler of the sea, Lugia (voiced by Eric Rath). For someone who grew up with and was a fan of the show, this movie will give exactly what they are looking for and containing the same kind of pros and cons that were prevalent within the anime. If there is zero attachment however, there isn’t anything to grab new audiences and there is a large assortment of things that are blatantly wrong which make the film very clunky, uneventful, and boring, but also altogether harmless.

Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama (the one responsible for directing, Pokemon: the First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back, as well as most of the consecutive films that came after)The movie doesn’t even attempt to establish anything for newcomers coming into this world without much context and while that is something that occurs a lot in these kind of films, so it can be given a slight pass, zero context at all is bizarre to say the least. With that said, you do have to take a grain a salt when it comes to films based on pre-existing series and know that it’s really just trying to appeal to its demographic rather than branch out.  Considering Pokémon seems to be all about exploring new worlds, interacting with new people, and capturing brand new creative looking creatures, this plot, while nothing gripping or deep, seems functional enough for what its building up. It’s very simple and sounds like a fun adventure, but despite how much build-up there is surrounding the severity of the journey, it never feels like there’s ever any risk of danger. The world is apparently falling apart, yet there is no feeling of tension at all, more just slight signs of concern from the main characters and occasional side characters outside of the main group. Nothing about the story feels flowing or natural in regard to how it progresses, as each time something impactful occurs, it moreso feels like it was by mistake or just through happenstance rather than because the characters were written to reach said point. It’s also a very talk-heavy film, with a lot of expositional discussions about the prophecy and the legendary Pokémon, which seems odd considering how this franchise is known for its creative creature design and flashy battle scenes, the lack of action might turn some kids off pretty quickly. The film offers no surprises, no unexpected twists, and its reliance on lame cliches like the ”chosen one” angle not only make this much lamer and more standard than it could’ve been, but within the context of the story, it feels incredibly and only put in just so that the main characters somehow feel relevant are required to be the only ones to complete the task.

The characters are all incredible wooden and have no personalities at all, which isn’t too dissimilar to the anime it’s based on, so at least it keeps that element alive. It’s not like they need to be the most complex or engaging roles as it’s not a series that relies on its depth or intricate protagonists, but they are so boring and uninteresting that it’s almost impossible to care if anything happens to them. They feel like basic archetypes out of any other anime that came out before or after it, so it just comes across like they inserted in the most inoffensive and generic roles they’re familiar and put them within the Pokémon universe to constitute an anime (and it did work so you’ve got to give them that. They don’t change or develop, all their writing is either generic, interchangeable between each other, or just inconsequential, and the film doesn’t really feel like it’s about characters going through a turmoil, rather a giant set of circumstances pushing them through a story in the worse way possible, they aren’t active roles, they’re chess pieces being pushed across a board. The villain is also phenomenally boring too, he never has an established reason for his evil deeds, he has no character, no backstory, he’s just a jerk wanting to collect things, and even with that mindset, the role isn’t given any trace of personality or purpose, so it can’t even function on that baseline. Some roles are so pointless that they don’t even feel like they need to be in this film at all. The secondary companion Tracy and the talking Pokémon are so pointless and add so little that they feel like they’re just in this film to pad out more screen time or fill the roster up a bit more. The talking Slowking could have been cool as his design is a little fun and he could easily fill some kind of guru or all-knowing figure archetype (it’s not like the film is lacking in reused assets), but nothing is done with him or any of the new characters, so it can’t even do the bare minimum of making its new characters at least a bit intriguing. Team Rocket occasionally could be entertaining, and they succeed at being the only characters in the film and the show with any form of personality and backstory, but they also feel completely pointless in the film, like they were only included just to have someone provide a sense of entertainment.  All of the voice’s actors are perfectly as some have been doing this for a while on the show, but it’s hard to say that there’s any great performances, it just feels like they’re doing the bare minimum and that’s it. The voice of Lugia feels a little awkward and didn’t seem to fit the look, but it isn’t awful, and that design does have a grand feel to it.

The animation is a definite update from the show but is nothing warranting a movie. Despite being a theatrical release, nothing about its quality screams that it deserves to be seen on the big screen, it just feels like a slight upgrade from the show and even then, certain moments in this film look like they would in the show, so it isn’t too spectacular. With that said, it doesn’t look awful, and it does have some nice-looking backgrounds, some decent expressions, and some okay action moments. The CG doesn’t look especially good, but that was more than likely an inclusion placed in because it was theatrical and acted as their attempt at something grander and for the time, it probably looked better. The action in the film is very minimal and is relegated to only a single fight near the end, which as previously mentioned, is bizarre in a franchise that is not known for its dialogue and more for its battle scenes. However, the battle at the end between the three Legendary birds and Lugia is honestly pretty fun. It’s not anything and definitely feels like it done just for fans to gush over popular Pokémon fighting each other, but its nicely animated, has build up put behind it (because there was nothing else before it) and you can clearly tell all the effort from the movie went into it. While most of the score is just repetitive generic melodies in the background, some of the pieces sound a little cool. Each bird has a unique theme that uses various instruments, and it gives a cool atmosphere whenever they appear, it is kinda cool and does give a sense of scale and importance to them whenever they show up.

The Pokémon anime never had great characters, story, or animation and Pokémon 2000: The Power of One copies that pretty much spot on, but for those that got into the show despite those glaring faults, it won’t bother them here either and considering the film did decently at the box office despite not feel like a theatrical movie, it shows the power of the brand. You don’t care about the characters, the visuals aren’t anything special, the premise would be fine if they knew how to utilize it well and there’s barely any action in a franchise that kind of relies on its action (and has been called out as cruel for in the past). With that said, while not technically a great movie, nothing is awful about it either and for fans of the show, it will offer exactly what they are expecting to see and nothing more. Nothing terrible and perfectly serviceable for fans of the show, but for anyone else, it wasn’t exactly a perfect catch.

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