Mewtwo Strikes Back, also known as Pocket Monsters: The Movie and currently dubbed as Pokemon: The First Movie is perhaps the strangest film adaptation of an animated TV series.
Mewtwo is a special type of Pokemon, created in a laboratory as a simulation of Mew, the rarest Pokemon. Mewtwo is supposedly a feline Pokemon, yet looks suspiciously like a rabid wallaby. Mewtwo is also extremely intelligent, and engages in existential wondering when not busy trashing everything around him. The amount of violence in the opening minutes of the Japanese version of this film is astounding, and at odds with the gentle nature of the Pokemon TV series. It’s as if Mewtwo was created to catch the interest of older children who enjoy more adult anime than Pokemon.
As part of Mewtwo’s revenge on the world, a special Pokemon tournament is organized, and it is at this point in the film that the TV series’ main characters show up. Ash is understandably interested in the tournament as are his constant companions Misty and Brock. Team Rocket also shows up in an extended cameo appearance. Much of the rest of the film tales place in a creepy secluded castle where Pokemon run amuck.
Mewtwo Strikes Back comes across as a hybrid of Mad Monster Party (without the comedy) and any number of anime based on fighting games like Tekken. The "monster" aspect of the Pocket Monsters is stressed (Mewtwo’s predicament isn’t that different from the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein novel). The constant swings between the cute, almost Yellow Submarine styling of the smaller Pokemon and the bizarrely mutated larger Pokemon are likely to confuse parents, although children seem not to mind the juxtaposition.
Despite the lead character’s motivation, this is a very difficult film to follow. True, its oddness lends it a surrealistic flavor it otherwise wouldn’t have. Still, it lacks the clarity of any given episode of Pokemon in which every course of action is clearly defined. Children expecting a wide-screen version of their favorite TV show will be disappointed. On the positive side, at least this wasn’t simply a typical episode padded out to 70 minutes (as too many of the Dragonball movies are). This doesn’t feel like a Pokemon movie, and I’m unsure if this is a good or bad thing.
It’s difficult to divorce any Pokemon film from the insidious advertising campaign launched by Nintendo and their American partner Hasbro. Mewtwo Strikes Back is an interesting, if somewhat odd, anime film that will unfortunately be maligned in the anti-Pokemon backlash that is coming our way soon. I can’t (and won’t) defend Nintendo’s actions. However, a few years from now, Mewtwo Strikes Back may acquire the cult reputation of Transformers-The Movie or even the recent TV revival of Felix the Cat. In other words, it’s an oddity that isn’t as mainstream as it looks, and is probably worth your time.
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