Since its introduction to the world, Pokemon is one of the most recognizable and popular animes to ever exist. With TV show seasons far longer than many others, the adventures of Ash Ketchum and co. has captured the imaginations of people of all ages. All this based on the catch phrase "Gotta catch 'em all!". On top of that, with augmented reality becoming more and more prominent in today's culture, smart phone app Pokemon GO further cemented its craze among fans. However before this, Pokemon boomed with success even with its first theatrical film. In retrospect, it might have been bigger than today's excitement. When it started, Pokemon was all about catching the total 150 types throughout its world. But when the trailer made it clear that Ash would be coming in contact with the last Pokemon of the official list, it drove people nuts. Nobody knew what to expect and people were psyched to see what happened. Revisiting it again was definitely a nice little trip down memory lane but it does have a few things that should be recognize that needed fixing.Picking up close after the first TV season, the film starts with an introduction to Mewtwo (Jay Goede), the 151rst-pokemon waking up from his initial cloning. Confused and frustrated with his placement, he learns that he is a clone of mythical pokemon Mew but more powerful. After being informed his usefulness will only be for his extensive strength, Mewtwo becomes angry and declares world domination over humans and the pokemon who follow them. It is with that viewers are switched over to Ash (Veronica Taylor), Misty (Rachael Lillis) and Brock (Eric Stuart) doing what they do in every episode. That is until they are invited to New Island to meet the best pokemon master (Mewtwo); but they don't know this. Tagging along is the infamous Team Rocket still looking to capture Ash's Pikachu (Ikue Ôtani). Originally written by Takeshi Shudo and adapted by Michael Haigney, Norman J. Grossfeld and John Touhey, the script is okay but does have its problems. Like many foreign movies, scripts get lost in translation and that's what happened here.Shudo's screenplay had painted Mewtwo in a much more innocent depiction. Instead of being hell-bent on conquering the world because of mistreatment, Mewtwo was a pokemon who sought to prove itself to others. As to how that would've gotten worked into the western version of the script is up for debate but apparently the idea of making Mew's clone a tyrant was easier. Hard to say. Yet this is one of the film's major flaws. The overall moral to the story ends up being stated that "fighting/violence is wrong". Yet this is a complete contradiction to the whole essence of pokemon because majority of the way fans play the games is by having their partners fight in battle. So the point was what again? Another odd tidbit was various circumstances various characters had to endure. Sometimes there were times where things weren't as plausible as portrayed. The other problem to this film is for people who are not familiar with pokemon. This did not initiate pokemon so in order to understand the movie one had to watch the show.So if a viewer has never watched the show, they won't be as engrossed as other fans because they never met Ash and company or anyone else. For fans however, seeing this was a big deal and looking back on it now can be a nostalgic journey. Surprisingly there are a number of scenes that involve dialog that probably viewers of younger ages wouldn't understand, but now is more clever or funny sounding. It's inside humor that is realized over time that can make the movie all the more enjoyable to revisit in later years. All voice actors involved with this production perform well and do what is required to make it sound more connected to the TV show. As always Veronica Taylor, Rachael Lillis and Eric Stuart as the main protagonist and antagonists are the best choices for these roles. Jay Goede as Mewtwo although short-lived in his role definitely made the character sound unique enough. Mewtwo would later receive a short explaining more on his backstory with Goede reprising the role. Too bad he didn't do much else other than this.One thing that doesn't make sense in this film is that cinematography was credited to Hisao Shirai. Not exactly sure why it was listed because there wasn't a scene of live-action unless accounting for one scene with realistic looking clouds. Other than that, the animation looks great. Much of it looks more polished than that of the TV series, which would obviously have a smaller budget. Especially towards the finale it is at its best quality in detail. The music is thankfully another plus. The soundtrack has several nostalgic tunes from the late 1990s with artists like M2M and Blessid Union of Souls. Very catchy pop songs. Even composers John Loeffler and Ralph Schuckett's film score is another great element. The sound of it does incorporate orchestra but also an equal amount of synths. Although that may sound not so good, the mixture of these instruments sounds natural and really works in a number of scenes because of how much they pull on the viewers heart strings. It is also one of the few pokemon scores to ever be released. The ending message is a contradiction of pokemon in general, and for those who aren't fans will have trouble paying attention. But for those who do enjoy it, will love taking a stroll back to the late 1990s and remember when there were only 151 pokemon with the original crew. The animation looks great, the characters are likable and the music is effectively memorable.

This movie represents weight of copy's life. Myu2 is copy Pokemon. Myu2 is generated by human and Myu's copy. Myu2 attempts to " counterattack " against humanity from hatred to the man who has created only in order to take advantage of the rebound and his own to the system governing the Pokemon because he betrayed the organization that made him. In this story, I know struggling of Myu2 to copy life. Finally real real Pokemon and copy Pokemon fight. The main character, Ash stopped the fight Ting himself. Due to this painful situation we can feel both of real and copy living is important. This movie teaches preciousness of life.

I remember as a little girl I was a huge fan of Pokemon. Everyday I would watch all the Pokemon cartoons and enjoy them whenever they were on TV.I even collected all the Pokemon cards too and would swap them with my former best friend who was also a fan of Pokemon too. Then in 1998 it got turned into a movie and I was super excited about it my mom brought me to see it and it was the first film I ever seen in the cinemas. This film Pokemon The First Movie: Mewtwo strikes back is about a cloned version of Mew who escapes from a laboratory who created Mewtwo by using Mew's DNA, and creates more cloned Pokemon's using a special machine that creates them. So its up to Ash and his friends who travel to a mysterious island by mysterious vikings(really James and Jesse from Team Rocket in disguise) and they come across a secret hiding place where they meet a brainwashed nurse(who is working for Mewtwo who she calls My Master).But can Ash and his gang save the day and stop Mewtwo making more cloned Pokemon's. One scene I remember in this film was the part where Ash turns to stone and Picahiu cries and all the other Pokemon's cried too and he is magically brought back to life again(yeah Tangled anyone where Rapunzel's tear brought back Eugene back to life again?).Overall I found this film forgettable as I haven't seen this film since 2000 as I used to have it on VHS but sadly my cousin destroyed the VHS tape by accident and I was devastated when it got broke. And I remember Christina Aguilrea sung a song called We're A Miracle in the ending credits. As a kid I loved this movie,now I just find it well terrible. I guess I just moved on from being a hardcore Pokemon fan and moved to other films that I am a huge fan of. But this film does hold a special place in my heart as it was the first film I seen. The acting is meh,the story is kinda complicated as its like watching a Sci-Fi flick about cloning. I guess if you are new to Pokemon then you might like it but like I said im gone past my Pokemon days now.3/10

Pokemon doesn't get enough credit for being an animated experience of my generation. I am a 23 year old man who is not ashamed to say how much I loved Pokemon growing up. Farewelling Butterfree was my first encounter with saying hard goodbyes, and many of Ash's successes and failures taught me about life. Its kid-friendly, but in beneficial way.It is therefore a shame that this film cannot appeal to critics without prior experience with Pokemon. Sour adults will listen to one "Pika-Pika" and tune out for the next 90 minutes. And that is sad because Pokemon is actually a very moving and insightful film. Ash and co aren't deep characters, but they don't need to be. The only characters who matter are Mewtwo and Mew, and those are done well. Mewtwo seeks purpose, and strikes back at those who try to restrain him. Mew, whilst a kind an innocent being, completely lacks empathy, as seen in the Pokemon tears scene. Insightful audiences will be able to deduce how Mewtwo's traits therefore originated with Mew. Maybe they aren't as unalike as once thought.There's plenty of Pokemon-level action and humour, as completely expected from what is pretty much an extended episode of the anime. The real thing that sets the First Movie apart from the typical anime episodes is the beautifully done emotional climax of the film. The film's soundtrack, including one of my all time favourite songs "Brother, My Brother", do wonders for this moment. The moment lasts just long enough to devastate the audience before resolving it, something that Frozen completely missed a few years ago.I thought an opportunity was missed to show all 151 Pokemon in the movie (even in the background, it would've been a cool tidbit). Pokemon isn't an animated classic like Toy Story or The Lion King, but its certainly better than the criticism it unjustifiably gets. It exceeds its potential, and for me that is enough.