Ranking the Pokemon Movies

The film that nails it. Not only does it have breathtaking animation and fantastic music, Spell of the Unown has the best story. It is very engaging and one of two times Ash has a personal stake in the grand scheme of things, revealing a small part of his childhood and connections from his past.

I can immediately praise Molly and Entei for being complex, non-villainous antagonists, and it is nice to see Delia and Professor Oak have a role in the movie after their pointless involvement in the second film. The film has beautiful animation, perhaps even better than Pokémon 2000’s. The battles between Molly, Misty and Brock are kickass and it is great to see Misty’s skills as a Water Pokémon trainer finally examined. And Charizard returning is the icing on the cake.

What I particularly like is how the film deals with the trauma Molly has been through, and her dreams manifestation symbolise her mood and life like a child-friendly version of Silent Hill. Ash also has a high stakes personal dilemma rather than just fighting against the opposing force because he is the good guy. Heck, this movie may be better than the second movie, judging by the effort put into the writing and animation. I’d say in terms of the whole package, the third movie is the best one.

A personal favourite, Pokémon 2000 is a fantastic and exciting film, and is a big improvement over the first, at least in terms of dubbing and story. An eccentric collector named Lawrence III follows an ancient prophecy to capture the legendary titan birds, Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, and Lugia. However, this in turns screws over the world’s climate balance which the titans keep in line, and a chosen one is required to collect three magic Dragon Balls to tame the “beast of the sea”. Cue our hero Ash Ketchum to fulfil said prophecy, and team up with Lugia and even Team Rocket to save the world from destruction. Everything about this film is bigger and more epic. The western film poster is awesome, although the film’s moral of “One person can change the world” is squandered since Ash never does anything by himself and is aided by all of his friends. The prophecy’s vagueness on who the Chosen One is stupid. There are a billion or so people likely named Ash in the world, so the characters just decide Ash is the chosen one because he is conveniently the only person present named Ash. There is also the presence of the world’s armada of Pokémon coming to gather at the Orange Islands, only to do nothing whatsoever, despite Lugia saying “They feel they must be here, in case they are needed.” They aren’t needed.

The positives are virtually unlimited. The story and narrative is brilliant, keeping a good pace, and offers plenty of fun and exciting scenes. All characters get to do something and the newcomers are welcome. I particularly like Melanie, and she has her own character arc, finding the customs of her island home dumb but eventually realises how important and valued they are. Lawrence is a bit of a weird badguy; he’s a really classy, nice guy and just wants to collect the titans as a hobby, he has a cool airship, and seems to be pretty content with dooming the world just so he can capture Lugia. The film severely teases Pokéshipping a lot too. My one complaint is that Professor Oak and Ash’s mum Delia are involved in the story but don’t actually do anything, only to pop up at the end to learn a moral with Ash. Team Rocket are just fantastic in the film, being really funny but show their moral basis, unwilling to let the world be destroyed despite being evil. Lugia has some messiah imagery too him, and is pretty magnificent on screen.

The greatest aspects of the film are its animation and music. The first film seemed to flip flop between the show’s budget and a few extra doses of quality, but this one has a much higher budget and lovely visuals. The whole film is a pleasure to watch from beginning to end, and the CGI looks pretty decent too, although I don’t really get how an underwater ocean current is the prophesized beast of the sea and can be tamed by music. Speaking of music, the soundtrack is fabulous. The film’s ocarina theme tune is pure bliss, and the end credits song, “The Power of One”, sung by the late Donna Summer, was sung by an American presidential candidate in 2012. That’s pretty awesome and hilarious. All in all, Pokémon 2000 is my favourite movie. Beautifully crafted, despite a couple of clunky plot points, it is one of the best.

Could easily be labelled the best film of the bunch for its story, characterization and animation. Triggers for the plot are mainly due to misunderstandings, Lucario feels completely lost in an unfamiliar world and understandably miffed at the apparent betrayal of his master Sir Aaron, Mew kidnaps Pikachu and Meowth by accident and plays with them as an apology, Ash wants to reunite with his best friend and clashes with Lucario over his abandonment issues, and Kidd Summers thankfully does not turn out to be evil and trying to exploit the powers of the Tree of Beginning, which is an interesting setting in itself. Has a very sad, powerful ending.

This high up for nostalgic purposes, Mewtwo Strikes Back is a movie with a lot of issues. There are a lot of stupid moments, one too many pointless supporting characters, and the whole fighting is wrong aesop is incredibly laughable considering what Pokemon is based around and how the film spends a whole two minutes cramming it down the audience's throat only to then erase the moral from the characters' memories. Another stupid moment is the deus ex machine used to resurrect Ash in the finale, and its even dumber explanation given by a random character in the first act.

On the positive side, Mewtwo is a very good character despite being a little lost between ruthless and sympathetic as a villain. His prologue is enough to justify his actions and his change of heart at the end is genuine. The film has good animation and use of music, and has some pretty emotional moments (i.e. Ash's death, Pikachu vs. Pikachu, Meowth's monologue). There are some exciting action sequences and a sense of drama throughout.

The film is fun and entertaining, with an interesting setting and a dramatic threat that is both dangerous and engaging – i.e. two Pokémon that are directly called deities tearing up a small town because one stepped on the other’s interdimensional lawn. And the human characters have nowhere to go because the town is trapped in overlapping dimensions by said deities with Darkrai trying to chase the two off despite not standing much of a chance. The supporting characters are quite likeable, and the method used to calm down the Pokémon is one of the better climaxes from the films. Darkrai isn’t a bad character, showing what he does through more actions than words and his introduction is awesome, particularly with the music accompanying it. Overall, an enjoyable film and the best entry of the Diamond and Pearl trilogy.

Pokemon Heroes is another mixed bag. Latias is one of my favourite Pokemon and definitely the highlight of the film, along with Latios. Has a unique setting and some cool action scenes, but dragged down a bit by the loss of logic in the third act when the badguys take control of the giant doomsday machine which was built for no reason when the film's backstory is taken into context and develops more impossible powers as the plot demands.

Mewtwo Returns is short but fits a tight and engaging story into its length nice and neatly. Mewtwo spends most of the film brooding and questioning himself, but it is part of his characterization, and Dan Green does a great job as the character. Giovanni steals the show, being like a James Bond villain at times but at some points his arrogance and being evil for the sake of being evil can be a bit silly. The supporting characters are likeable too. The film has a couple of stupid moments of logic like Team Rocket locking all of the Pokémon in one prison cell with everyone forgetting all of them to blast their way out and then they act surprised when the cell door opens. And didn’t the anime’s writers realise you can’t make baby Nidoqueen?

The film has a good pace and feels like an exciting summer blockbuster at times. Tori's fear of Pokemon is a fresh look at the relationships between humans and Pokemon, and serves as good character development for him. The setting is colourful and inventive. Deoxys makes an effective character, being silent and mysterious without being cast as a typical villain. Rayquaza's appearance seems pointless.

A rather cutesy but yet charming film at the same time. The loving relationship between May and Manaphy is just heartwarming but very sad too. There is a theme of responsibility throughout the film, something which May and Manaphy both have to learn. Manaphy is just adorable. Jack Walker and villain The Phantom liven up the film too. Minor negatives for some dodgy CGI in underwater scenes.

Pokemon 4Ever is a bit of a mixed bag. The relationship between Ash and Sam carries most of the film's heart, and while Celebi is cute, it is too cute to the point of annoyance. The film goes downhill by its midpoint, with the generic badguy capturing Celebi and turning it evil, then decides to just destroy the forest and plot to take over the world. Hello, you have enslaved a time travelling nature controlling pixie. Think of the potential!

An action packed film with a fun story, a good villain, and plenty of charming moments from Zorua and Celebi, who has a better role to play in the film than Pokemon 4Ever and the badguy has something personal at stake. Zoroark, voiced by Romi Park, steals the film without uttering a single line.

Another average film that has a lot of potential but doesn't do much with it. The female Mewtwo's sudden existence is very forced, but she is welcome. The film's theme of belonging works well with Mewtwo and the Genesect, both Pokemon having unique designs. However, when you have prehistoric monsters and a powerful psychic fighting and the best plot the writers can come up with is fighting for the Pokemon equvalent of Central Park is a waste of story.

Part 2 of the Diamond and Pearl trilogy. Has an entertaining story though it gets a little complicated halfway through, Shaymin actually has a multilayered personality beyond being a cute Pokemon, and has a love/hate relationship with Ash. Giratina and the mythos surrounding him are great fun and the Reverse World is a quirky location. Downsides, the badguy is boring, and the random appearance of Regigigas in the finale is pointless.

Jirachi Wishmaker is a film that doesn't really stand out all that much to me. Jirachi is cute, the villain Butler is entertaining, and the whole fake undead Groudon is cool, but apart from that, nothing really is noticeable in the movie.

A mediocre movie that is essentially a huge, lengthy chase sequence. Gets some points for Kyurem's character arc.

The third part to the Diamond and Pearl trilogy is extremely disappointing. It is bogged down by a number of problems - too many plotholes, a generic boring villain, the random presence of Heatran, one of the dumbest supporting protagonists ever who can somehow tame gods with psychic powers, and Arceus who is the creator of the universe, decides the whole world must be punished because of his stupid decisions.

Aside from Victini's backstory, most things in this overcomplicated film have already been seen in the other movies.

The first Pokemon XY film, the dubbed version of the film is ruined by its poor editing and removal of thirty minutes worth of content. Because of this, the film spends too much of its precious time floundering around before it gets to plot relevant stuff, and the titular Cocoon of Destruction which is Yveltal doesn't appear til the last ten minutes. Its only saving grace is Diancie, voiced by Caitlin Glass.