The Pokemon phenomenon continues in this feature and for all I can see adheres to the TV format, simply expanded for the better sound and some of the FX opportunities of the big screen. The plot is unobjectionable, the pokemon are in general undeniably cute, and the intensity level is relatively low. Therefore, it is just fine for that matinee showing when you have too many kids on your hands and too little for them to do. It kept the kids I brought quite entranced, which was entirely the point.
Nothing new in terms of Pokemon lore here, which was also well-received in the full auditorium. But, as an adult who has some appreciation of the possibilities of the medium, I have to sadly admit being a bit disappointed in it. Don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant way to spend something under two hours, but the film's animation was only a tiny improvement on the TV show and demonstrably worse than the Nintendo 64 games spun off from it. I contend that this is inescapable for the marketers involved. You see, the TV show is the true franchise, supporting the cards, so everything put out within the Pokemon universe must support the level of quality they can maintain on TV...which is quite low. I would say that the film is /intentionally/ lower quality, precisely so that the images the kids have of the characters, who have a patented form and mode of moving on TV, are not disrupted and turned off from watching the cartoons.
Since I didn't expect anything else, I wasn't actually disappointed in that sense, just that they didn't seem to take advantage of the opportunities they had to improve on the quality, such as in nature scenes, backgrounds, and such.
In sum, if you're under the age of about 12, give this a 10, it works. If you're like me, it's more along the lines of a 5. Here's wishing the distributors would put 'Princess Mononuke' into wider release.
Nothing new in terms of Pokemon lore here, which was also well-received in the full auditorium. But, as an adult who has some appreciation of the possibilities of the medium, I have to sadly admit being a bit disappointed in it. Don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant way to spend something under two hours, but the film's animation was only a tiny improvement on the TV show and demonstrably worse than the Nintendo 64 games spun off from it. I contend that this is inescapable for the marketers involved. You see, the TV show is the true franchise, supporting the cards, so everything put out within the Pokemon universe must support the level of quality they can maintain on TV...which is quite low. I would say that the film is /intentionally/ lower quality, precisely so that the images the kids have of the characters, who have a patented form and mode of moving on TV, are not disrupted and turned off from watching the cartoons.
Since I didn't expect anything else, I wasn't actually disappointed in that sense, just that they didn't seem to take advantage of the opportunities they had to improve on the quality, such as in nature scenes, backgrounds, and such.
In sum, if you're under the age of about 12, give this a 10, it works. If you're like me, it's more along the lines of a 5. Here's wishing the distributors would put 'Princess Mononuke' into wider release.