Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution (2019) User Reviews

Nostalgia for Nostalgia's Sake

[GiantCodyPuffs · 6/10 · 2 March 2020]

Was this or the original a particularly good movie? Mediocre at best. But it is pure nostalgia.

The writing can be pretty awful at times and the pacing is so off. That being said, the animation in this, and even the original, is absolutely stunning and shows off what a Pokemon battle could and should look like. Being a remake, there is also that one particular moment that hits just as hard as an adult; if not harder. If you don't cry, I'm not sure you have a heart.

I remember renting this from my local video store, as a kid, for weeks on end and loving every second of the action but not fully understanding Mewtwo's anger. As an adult, I fully comprehend it but am left wondering if it could've been more fleshed out. Still, the actions scenes are stunning, the pocket monsters themselves are as lovable as ever, and it's pure nostalgia for nostalgia's sake.

A pointless remake.. but it's beautiful!

[daisukereds · 6/10 · 27 February 2020]

For a "Netflix Original", it sure lacks originality!!

I would have to re-watch the original, but this seems to be an exact copy in plot and content (some Giovanni scenes might differ, from what I remember).

Still, it is visually impressive!! The lightning, effects, camera work.. Even the CGI presentation of the Pokémon is very good! Specifically their textures. Their movement and expressions are also very good. This is the way the Detective Pikachu movie should have looked (instead of those hideous creatures some people actually like). I'm glad it exists for that reason alone. It's a good way to re-live nostalgia (specially when it's FREE on Netflix and not a cash grab in cinemas).

Not much to say.. If you like the original, you will definitely like this alternate movie with a fresh coat of paint.

An Absolutely Pointless Remake

[kjproulx · 5/10 · 2 March 2020]

Growing up watching the original seasons of Pokemon, now known as the Indigo League, and quite enjoying films like Pokemon: The First Movie and Pokemon The Movie 2000, even though not great in retrospect, I've always had a respect for this universe. While the films themselves do not age very well in comparison with the show itself, I always figured a cool new idea could be done for an original premise or live-action adaptation. When Detective Pikachu recently hit theatres, it wasn't even close to what I would've expected them to do for a first live-action feature, but it was enjoyable. This brings me to the newest feature film in the Pokemon world, but it's not all that new, at all really. Here's why the newest film, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution is not worth your time, even if you're a big fan.

The premise is simple. An organization clones Mew, the most powerful Pokemon on the planet, forming what they refer to as Mewtwo. Hellbent on destroying everything in its path, Mewtwo decides to clone every Pokemon he can find, making them even stronger. Ash Ketchum and his friends Misty and Brock, the central characters for years, track Mewtwo down and attempt to stop his plan. Does this sound familiar? That's because it's the identical premise of the first feature Pokemon film back in 1998. Nearly shot by shot, that film has been recreated, but the animated has been updated to 3D. Being the exact same run time and only making a few minor tweaks to improve on the original, I watched this film wondering what the point of it truly was.

If you're not very well-versed in the Pokemon world, I'm sure you've seen that this review probably isn't for you, but that's also the problem with this movie. It can't have been made for fans, because it's exactly the same thing they've already gotten in the past. It also can't really be for newcomers, because it's completely different than the new Pokemon series' that children have been watching nowadays. This was a very strange idea through and through. Maybe if they chose to make a live-action trilogy and started with a story that was similar to the 1998 version it could've worked, but this movie just had me scratching my head.

On a more positive note, I have to admit that in remaking this film, they did change a couple elements that would've made the original better. There are some very odd song choices that randomly pop up and overdo certain moments in the original movie and those are completely taken out here, replaced with a new, very subtle score. The song choices and scoring cues are what stood out to me here, which in turn felt pointless because it was for a movie that was the same as a film that was only average to begin with back in 1998. Still, it was some nice music and a fresh change, so I commend them for that.

In the end, I only found the original film to be okay and since this is exactly the same, with all the same shots and story beats, I'm finding it hard to give it any kind of praise. Yes, the animation is well-done and feels fresh for Pokemon, but again, it should've just been an original story. The voice talent has completely changed, but I will say that the new cast sounds very similar and does some great work. To reiterate, I'm honestly not sure who this film was made for or why it was even greenlit in the first place. For these reasons, I'm not really positive or negative about it. It is what it is and if you want to see the same film in a new light, then it's now streaming as a Netflix original.

Nostalgic and an animation masterpiece

[futureterp94 · 7/10 · 29 March 2020]

Yes, this is the exact same movie. Yes, the voice actors aren't as good and take away from what once was. There will NEVER be a movie as good as the original. But to say this movie is awful? Crazy. This is still an amazing visual update and you can see how hard they worked to capture the amazing details frame by frame. The rating is more out of respect to studio for making a sold remake. We all know the tale. Now let's see it in it's updated animated form!!

Beautiful, but Necessary?

[GavinT360 · 6/10 · 4 March 2020]

It's basically a word for word, and shot for shot remake of the 20 Year Old movie, but the difference is that the animation is very astounding.

While I think this movie was executed fairly well, that thought doesn't help me clear the cloud of nitpicks I had with this movie. For the majority of movie I was unable to focus on the story because of the bizarre choice to make every single shot linger for seconds too long. I felt like no editing was done between angle transitions, because it felt like so much of a buffer would happen before the next sentence was said. Otherwise, the animation was near flawless (except for the bizarre Onix at the beginning) and I enjoyed watching a great movie from my childhood remastered. I felt the same charm and emotion as I had watching the original film for the first time, and I'd still widely recommend this film to any Pokemon fans!

This was a very random movie to see pop up onto Netflix, but it gives me hope that other projects can be made with the partnership of Netflix and Pokemon.

Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution ironically clones the original to create an inferior remake.

[TheMovieDiorama · 4/10 · 1 March 2020]

"Where am I? What am I? Who am I?". Existential conundrums that plague Mewtwo's, the most powerful Pokémon in existence (at that time...), telepathic mind. Facing an identity crisis as he produces copies of beloved Pokémon in an attempt to create a superior race unbounded by the restraints of human training. No Pokéball prison. A cruel irony that was beset upon Yuyama, the director of the original and, on a personal note, beloved anime feature of the franchise. His return to this similar shot-for-shot CGI remake begs the fundamental question. Why?

The criticism that Favreau's last year's identical remake of 'The Lion King' received can instantly be applied here. Emotionless 3D character models unable to express visible emotive responses, relinquishing all personality that emanated from the hand-drawn animation. Ash, in particular, resembled an empty shell, resulting in the infamous final tear-jerking scene to be nothing more than vacuous void. Due to the personal attachment for the original, Yuyama and his team were constantly at battle with my nostalgia. Slight differences in the script and character actions consequently inserted a yearning to watch the original instead. Team Rocket's English dub? No! That is not James! Not my James. My ears were bleeding! The dialogue was surprisingly more basic, feeding every plot detail with excessive explanations that the visual commentary already provided. Having said that, the upgraded animation style levelled up the smaller details. Pokémon models looked exceptional, especially Vulpix, with appropriate scaling and textures. Effects such as weathering and raging waters were some of the best examples within animation.

Objectively speaking, it was beautiful. But why? The argument that this remake will introduce the original story to a new audience is futile, considering the anime style has rarely aged. If anything, it's manipulating nostalgia for some easy yen. Doesn't work for me. Mewtwo should've asked himself "why am I doing this again?"...press B to cancel!

Same movie as the original but wort animation

[revmatthewagilmore · 7/10 · 29 February 2020]

The original movie was great what make this movie great cuz its the same movie . they. Just have this weird animation. That's looks animated but not its. Just really off Putting. Ether make it look like its real or make look animated. Detective Pikachu did a good job at this yes we know its animated but the pokemon it looks real what makes it feel really. Weird blocking with the face. However mewtwo. And mew looked cool But He always has.

Nostalgic, but unnecessary.

[rickmagalhavilela · 4/10 · 28 February 2020]

Long story short, this is a CGI remake of the first Pokemon movie from late 90's (January 2000 here in Brazil). There is no improvement, in my opinion. The CGI does not impress.

Same old, same old. I'd rather stick to the fond memories the first movie brought me when I first saw it at the movies 20 years ago.

Ultimately neither better nor worse than the first one

[jwwalrath-227-85487 · 6/10 · 8 April 2020]

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.

Interesting to see in 3D, but pales to the original "Director's Cut" Japanese version

[alejandrokilei · 4/10 · 28 February 2020]

The first pokemon movie can be broken up into three different versions. The original japanese (known as "director's cut" in the U.S.), the 2D US version, and now this new 3D "Evolution" version. The original japanese version has the most developed story and mature moral. It includes a 10 minute prologue to develop Mewtwo's character and motivation. Through this Mewtwo's ending monologue about the 'circumstances of one's birth' has a much more profound meaning. The ported 2D U.S. version cut out the 10 minute prologue and tweaked the storyline to give it a paradoxical moral conclusion that 'fighting is bad'. Its one redeeming quality is that it added foreshadowing by including a legend of pokemon tears to make sense of the climactic finale. This latest 3D "Evolution" version plays off the 2D U.S. version and further degrades the story. The most jarring story change from the 2D U.S. version was the removal of the pokemon tears explanation. This version also adds 20 minutes to the runtime without adding any depth. The extra dialogue mainly comes from stating the obvious which the audience could already deduce and the other scenes added were just panning shots. It was interesting to see the movie in 3D, but it was also a bit odd as at times it felt like a claymation. The worst, though, was that a lot of the emotion and visual intensity that was put into the 2D version was lost in the 3D version. For example, when Ash was being hit by Mewtwo's pokeballs in defense of pikachu, I felt like I was watching rocks being thrown at a limp sandbag; dull and lifeless. In conclusion stick to the original japanese version or "director's cut". It has the most fulfilling story and feels the most heartfelt.

Reliving my childhood!

[faeriewitcher · 8/10 · 28 February 2020]

Was this a necessary remake? No. Was it enjoyable? Yes. Did I watch it with a smile on my face? Absolutely.

It stays true to the original Mewtwo Strikes Back from my early childhood, which I remember going to see in the cinema when I was about five. While not really deviating from the original story, there are extra bits that weave in beautifully and pad out the movie a little, giving it a fresh feel. The animation isn't amazing but it isn't bad either. It is what it is. Either way I'm reliving a childhood favourite of mine, and I'd recommend that any Pokemon fans at least give this one watch!

An Unneccesary Remake

[jeremycrimsonfox · 2/10 · 27 February 2020]

As a long time Pokémon fan who was a teenager when the franchise was released (and the first movie was released when I was in eighth grade), this remake was unnecessary and disappointing. While I am giving it two stars for the effort of keeping the movie close to the script, there is some problems. The character models are iffy, as the humans look like something taken from an Imagi movie (you know the company that did that Astro Boy movie). Also, whoever took over the roles for Misty and Brock are not doing a good job mimicking the roles (Brock sounds a little too gruff, and Misty sounds too light), and why did they have to change some of the lyrics to the classic Pokémon anime theme? I recommend avoiding this and watching the original Mewtwo Strikes Back instead.

Just shy of the original...

[callamgeorge-24966 · 7/10 · 2 March 2020]

The movie itself is fantastic. The graphics are as beautiful as they have become in the latest titles and the plot, even though there are the inconsistencies inherited from the original, still stands as one of the best tales in the Pokemon universe. What let's the film down is the soundtrack. Hearing that battle music in the original really hammered home the deplority of the scene, and the "Brother, my brother" song they chose to expand on the clone battles connects to me instantly as sad and heartwenching because of how masterfully it was used in the original. I found myself upset nonetheless, but lacked that true gutwenching feeling when it mattered.

Rated for nostalgia

[chdthompsn · 6/10 · 7 March 2020]

The story line itself is the same as the original but the animation is crap. The story brings back so many good memories.

Nostalgia hits high here...

[NeonWanders · 7/10 · 30 January 2022]

I still vividly remember seeing the US version of this story 'Pokemon: The First Movie' upon its cinema release in the UK - I would've been about 8 and I was early into my exploration of anime.

It's now 2022 and here we have POKEMON: MEWTWO STRIKES BACK - EVOLUTION (2019) a CG remake of that 1998 childhood favourite and nostalgia hits high.

Almost shot-for-shot in its execution, the animation style is bright and features great depth - I wouldn't say it brings new life to the original film, as that film didn't really need to be touched (except say, release ALL Pokemon films in their original language versions too) but I couldn't help but be charmed by it.

I would happily take a CG animated film from Japan any day over anything the US/Europe produces - this comes from my love of Japanese cinema, anime, manga and culture overall, along with the distinct feel you get from the animation style.

More CG Pokemon films please (plus traditional ones too, of course). Oh and please bring back Misty... 2D? 3D? I don't care. Just please bring her back.

Gotta remake em all

[Darkside-Reviewer · 1/10 · 1 March 2020]

Okay I know this movie was meant to be a remake of the first Pokemon movie (Pokemon the first movie) but this isn't a remake at best it's a remaster and at best is being generous as the animation style used lacks any unique style, originality or creativeness it's just bland plastic looking CGI that most cheap modern animated movies suffer from the original movie while very cheesy and having some laughably bad dialogue in it was very well animated and kept the style of the original Pokemon cartoon series which was instantly recognisable to fans of the series and captured the imagination of the world of Pokemon.

This movie is an exact shot for shot "remake" of the original Pokemon movie that's not being exaggerated it is exactly the same if you kept just the picture for this movie playing while you had just the sound playing from the original movie it would match perfectly scene for scene a good example would be like comparing the original Pokemon Red (1996) on the Gameboy Colour with the remastered version Pokemon Fire Red (2004) on Gameboy Advance they are almost the exact same just a few very minor changes like colour quality and updated Pokemon designs but that's about it.

If you were looking for an exact shot for shot remake of the first Pokemon movie then you will enjoy this movie it's so exact even fans can't say they didn't follow the original movies source material because it essentially is the source material.

This movie may be ok for a completely new generation of Pokemon fans but for anyone who has seen or owns the original movie don't waste your time unless you really really wanna own everything Pokemon related.

Not as bad as everyone says...

[amooorales · 9/10 · 29 February 2020]

I rarely write reviews on here, im only writing this to give my opinion. I grew watching the original, it was my childhood and i loved it. This remake isn't as bad as everyone says, at some parts I would get goosebumps on how closely it is to the original, scene for scene, word for word. Animations look beautiful and it's nostalgic. I'm glad they remade even though nobody asked for it. I felt like a kid again watching this movie. I would give it a chance if you really love Pokémon movies especially the older ones. My only complaints is that they didn't get the original voice actors for ash, misty, and team rocket. Mewtwos voice actor was convincing and smart. Really enjoyed this movie.

Disappointing, stopped half-way.

[groen_ruben · 2/10 · 28 February 2020]

The puffy characters, the inconsistencies with the original and most importantly. Leaving out the fantastic original soundtrack. Why? I stopped at the scene where ash turns to stone because this remake would ruin my good memories of the original movie. From this point, I started looking in the basement to see if I could find the original DVD.

A highly ambitious film that misses the mark set by its predecessor

[ampersandargument · 3/10 · 25 September 2019]

Even though the first Pokemon movie without a doubt has been one of my favorite movie, I will be the first to admit without nostalgia goggles on or my inherit Pokemon bias, the film is deeply flawed. Themes about the ethics of cloning and existentialism don't translate very well in a movie meant for kids. Couple that with the fact that the English dub of the first movie significantly rewrites Mewtwo from a tragic character influenced by Frankenstein's monster to a stereotypical villain, much of the complex philosophical messages original screenwriter Takeshi Shudo intended for fans to pick up on have gotten lost in translation.

Nevertheless, the first movie has heart. Its the kind of movie that has survived the test of time and continues to be rewatched for its tear-jerking moments, beautiful animation for its time and, despite its disjointedness, development of its lead character Mewtwo. For all its flaws, the first movie still set the bar high. Sadly this film fails to live up to the expectations set by its 2D predecessor. The CGI remake was introduced as a way to push the limits of the technological resources our time has to offer and you can see that in the way the movie is animated. This film has been rendered beautifully in 3D and you can tell every effort was made to make the movie as aesthetically pleasing to the eye as possible.

Unfortunately with all the effort to make the film look beautiful, not as much emphasis was placed on improving the narrative. There are no significant plot changes from the 2D film save from a few extended scenes such as lengthier fight scenes or longer pan-shots. However the extended scenes just pad out the time and cause the film to drag on. The original cut of the 2D movie is 75 minutes long but this movie somehow ends up with a runtime of 98 minutes of these padded out scenes.

Based on my research, lack of significant changes from the narrative may have to do with limitations set by Takeshi Shudo's estate since Shudo has tragically passed away almost 10 years ago. Nevertheless, that does not excuse the film from its worse offense which was omitting the 10 minute prologue included in the director's cut of the 2D film. The prologue, in my opinion, is very essential for understanding the movie better (and reading from other reviews online, especially from Japanese fans, it seems that a lot of other people who agree).

It doesn't make sense that you will pad out a movie with 22 minutes worth of extended scenes that lack any narrative substance to replace 10 minutes of footage that was intended to bring the story full-circle.

Although 3 out of 10 stars may seem harsh for a review, a lot of the negativity comes from the fact that this film just feels... so unnecessary especially when it pales in comparison to the original. I would not recommend this movie and suggest you watch the "Kanzenban" director's cut of the movie in order to get a version of the film that offers a complete narrative that does not pad out its runtime.

Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Devolution

[sullybolly · 3/10 · 27 February 2020]

Off the bat, it's almost a shot for shot remake of the original, with some slight aesthetic design changes and padding of scenes to make sequences longer. Nothing new or improved here story or writing wise. But the visual quality, and what follows, are a step backward.

The 2D character designs and animations just don't translate to 3D as they've seemed to try here. The world looks pretty good (it'd make a nice wallpaper or something), but the characters just don't interact with it naturally. Their movements and expressions are so stiff and stale. It looks very cheaply put together, and without much thought at all.

The poor character visuals then translate to poor character personalities and emotions. With less of a range than the original. That makes it hard to feel for anyone as they all look so unnatural, and you're unable to immerse yourself in the film. I mean it really looks like this was a test render, rather than a final product.

Simply put, the art style, animations, and emotions of the world and its characters just don't hold a candle to the original.

You'd think that after all this time, they'd build upon the original. Fix its flaws. But they only made it worse.

The fact that there's something here, and that the world's design looks good is why it gets a 3/10. Otherwise, it's basically a waste of time.

Watch the original instead.

A Nostalgic Trip for Pokémon Fans

[mkurland23 · 9/10 · 18 July 2019]

A CGI remake of the very first Pokémon movie, "Mewtwo Strikes Back," this film serves as both a Nostalgia trip and a fresh introduction for new fans by retelling the story of the ultimate showdown: Mew vs. Mewtwo. On November 17th, "Training Is Over!"

Why would you ever watch this over the original?!

[Darklordnoodlez · 1/10 · 20 March 2021]

I give it a 1 star not because it is THAT bad, but rather because it is 100 times worse than the original. If you want to watch the first Pokemon movie and don't have access to the original this is an ok replacement. But if you do have the original watch that.

very ,very bad

[robma-07320 · 1/10 · 29 February 2020]

The graphics are so ugly this isn't pokemon anymore .

Terrible Remake!

[mahdiahmed-81499 · 1/10 · 27 February 2020]

Terrible remake firstly, a lot of the dialogue has been changed, CGI could've been improved, music was completely changed and some areas no music at all! Watching the movie was bland, boring and ultimately disappointing! I think new movies are okay but this is one Pokemon movie I CANNOT recommend! Please give your HONEST review! Perhaps Gamefreak or the studio working on the movies will gives us something better! Also better for Pokemon to stick to 2D animation. E.G Pokemon movie 20 & Pokemon generation are very good art styles for Pokemon!

Save your nostalgia for the original...

[markypocock · 4/10 · 23 November 2020]

This is one of those films that for Pokemon fans is essentially genesis, we all remember the opening with the punchy new version of the theme and the experience of seeing our heroes on the big screen for a feature length adventure, it made for a pretty magical time, but that was the original and I watched it hoping for familiar feelings (even just a little) but it just wasn't there and I realised really quickly why.

So i have 4 main issues that led to my rating only being 4 the scriptwriting, editing, voice acting and the soundtrack.

-The script and editing- The film rides off the main beats of the original in that the plot start to finish is pretty much canon but with what I can only describe as a lot of fluff bolted on, the type you see in a lot of modern remakes that clearly doesn't understand what made the original great. The original scenes were punchy and exciting it all happened so fast that it kept engagement, this is something the remake did not do! Nearly every scene is made longer with often altered dialogue that is clumsy and lacks the humour of the original, its like someone had a word count they needed to achieve for the script and was falling short so used dumber words and made longer sentences to explain the same thing and drained it of all life. Sometimes though the scenes were just longer to show off the CG which was fine, I mean it was beautifully rendered which accounts for all 4 stars in my rating but sometimes the animation was a little wooden but I digress all in all the longer scenes for this didn't really add anything positive.

-The voice actors and soundtrack - Some good, some bad and some certainly annoying... Ash is passable at best as is Misty, Brock and many of the familiar faces except Team Rocket who I felt were just way off the mark, I just don't understand why they didn't reuse the original audio! That would have been awesome and surely more cost effective! They also dropped another crucial element of the original film and that was the soundtracks!!! Now this one really really hurt as I thought from the opening scene that we were going to hear new versions of the old songs and I was onboard with that but after that initial opening tune which was a pale imitation of the original it all went silent!?!

I can't quite understand it but most of the film has been re-scored with tunes that sound like they were bought from a royalty free store and it spends a lot of time in silence throughout the film including some crucial and memorable moments where the music was a pillar to the emotion of the scene.

Overall watching this hurt. The beautiful CG dangled a carrot of excitement only for some big wigs to take it away by trying to make it more than it needed to be and missing every single reason of why the original was fantastic.

I still hope that one day someone tries this again but corrects the mistakes made in this one, in the meantime if you haven't watched the original then you are in for a treat.