So, I've got free time on my hands what with the corona virus and was weirdly curious about the decision to make a computer-animated remake of an individual Pokemon movie. I watched the two back-to-back and, yeah, this is ultimately the same as first one: not particularly bad or good.
This is basically Gus van Sant's Psycho. It's the same film, just with slightly different dialogue and the occasional slightly different moment. (Sometimes, the dialogue is exactly the same.) Heck, the original director Kunihiko Yuyama is a co-director on this. (Fun fact: he has directed the majority of the Pokemon films since the nineties.)
I've only seen the dubs. I mostly found the original one better written than this.
The original English version had part of Mewtwo's backstory, which made it sadder, cut. Nowadays American distributors are far more likely to distribute the original products untouched, however the Japanese creators decided to drop this part all together which is unfortunate and I feel let down that they didn't stick to their original guns if they were just doing the same story over again, anyway.
As for the story in general, it suffers from too much setup and dialogue from the main antagonist Mewtwo. However, there are a couple of surprisingly well done emotional moments in the final act and the villain is fleshed out in his motivations. The movie also manages to stand out among most of the many, many other Pokemon films by being darker and having a pseudo neo-gothic feel to it.
As for the computer animation, it all looks good and is well designed. The weather, aerial fights, and the ending credits particularly standout. On the other hand, there are a couple moments where the computer animation isn't able to tell the story as well as the original's 2D animation did.
I don't know if this movie justifies its existence, but it doesn't feel like a slap in the face to its predecessor either. Overall, if your kids like Pokemon, they'll like this. If you're nostalgic toward the first film then you might find this interesting. However, if you're not into Pokemon, this won't do anything for you.
This is basically Gus van Sant's Psycho. It's the same film, just with slightly different dialogue and the occasional slightly different moment. (Sometimes, the dialogue is exactly the same.) Heck, the original director Kunihiko Yuyama is a co-director on this. (Fun fact: he has directed the majority of the Pokemon films since the nineties.)
I've only seen the dubs. I mostly found the original one better written than this.
The original English version had part of Mewtwo's backstory, which made it sadder, cut. Nowadays American distributors are far more likely to distribute the original products untouched, however the Japanese creators decided to drop this part all together which is unfortunate and I feel let down that they didn't stick to their original guns if they were just doing the same story over again, anyway.
As for the story in general, it suffers from too much setup and dialogue from the main antagonist Mewtwo. However, there are a couple of surprisingly well done emotional moments in the final act and the villain is fleshed out in his motivations. The movie also manages to stand out among most of the many, many other Pokemon films by being darker and having a pseudo neo-gothic feel to it.
As for the computer animation, it all looks good and is well designed. The weather, aerial fights, and the ending credits particularly standout. On the other hand, there are a couple moments where the computer animation isn't able to tell the story as well as the original's 2D animation did.
I don't know if this movie justifies its existence, but it doesn't feel like a slap in the face to its predecessor either. Overall, if your kids like Pokemon, they'll like this. If you're nostalgic toward the first film then you might find this interesting. However, if you're not into Pokemon, this won't do anything for you.