G, 109m, 1999

With the Voice Talents of Veronica Taylor (Ash Ketchum and Delia Ketchum), Ikue Otani (Pikachu), Rachael Lillis (Misty, Jessie, Venonat and Goldeen), Ted Lewis (Tracey Sketchit), Satomi Kōrogi (Togepi), Eric Stuart (James, Weezing, Scyther, and Squirtle), Maddie Blaustein (Meowth), Roger Parsons (Narrator), Stuart Zagnit (Professor Oak), Kayzie Rogers (Professor Ivy, Mr. Mime and Marill), Eric Rath (Lugia), Amy Birnbaum (Melody), Nathan Price (Slowking), Neil Stewar (Lawrence III) and Tara Sands (Maren and Bulbasaur). Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Michael Haigney. Produced by Choji Yoshikawa, Yukako Matsusako and Takemoto Mori. Screenplay by Takeshi Shudo Michael Haigney and Norman J. Grossfeld. Music by Shinji Miyazaki. Based on the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri.

            After the immense success of Pokémon: The First Movie, was released barely a year following the release of the original (going by the original Japanese release). Pokémon 2000 promises to make everything bigger and better, and the film certainly delivers on that front. However, this does serve as a bit of a detriment to the film as nothing feels truly personal.

            The film opens with Lawrence III (Neil Stewar) reading a prophecy that foretells of global destruction if the balance between fire, ice and lightning is disturbed. Immediately after reading this Lawrence III upsets the balance of fire, ice and lightning by capturing Moltres. We then cut to Ash (Veronica Taylor), Misty (Rachael Lillis), Tracey (Ted Lewis) and Maren (Tara Sands) travelling to their next destination. Due to a storm, they are thrown off course and end up on Shamouti Island, where the locals are in the middle of a festival. The festival involves a chosen Pokémon trainer going out and collecting three orbs from the Fire, Ice and Lightning Islands and place them at the Shamouti Islands shrine, where a talking Slowking resides. Melody (Amy Birnbaum) will then play the festival’s song on a flute, which is actually Lugia’s (Eric Rath) song and the task is completed. Naturally Ash is chosen as the so called “Chosen One” and rushes off to find the orbs. He ventures off despite being warned of an incoming storm. Ash and his friends manage to reach Fire Island before getting interrupted by Team Rocket. Zapdos suddenly appears and we learn via Meowth (Maddie Blaustein) that since Moltres is gone, Zapdos is claiming the area has his own. Lawrence III picks this moment to capture Zapdos and in the ensuing capture, he accidentally captures Ash and company. For whatever reason Lawrence III tells the group his plan and neglects to take away their Pokémon. This allows for Ash and company to escape and free Zapdos and Moltres. This causes them to take down Lawrence III’s flying fortress and for Articuno to join the fray in a free for all battle. Lugia suddenly appears and informs Ash and company that the only way to stop this madness is for Ash to complete the Island’s traditional Chosen One’s task because Ash is the Chosen One. Now it’s up to Ash to complete the task before the world is destroyed by the ensuing chaos of Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres fighting.

            The film has a new addition to the trio in the form of Tracey and unless you’ve been keeping up with the anime, you’re going to be confused as to why Tracey replaced Brock. As the film doesn’t explain this change, I will. Brock stayed at Professor Ivy’s lab because he had a crush on her, however this did not end well as in later episodes he left Professor Ivy’s lab and for reasons that are never explained, Brock can’t stand hearing her name. This film also gives characters besides Ash and Pikachu to contribute to the plot, instead of standing around in open-mouth horror. Unlike their appearance in Pokémon The First Movie, Team Rocket actually contributes to the plot. Unfortunately, this would be one of the only times Team Rocket actually contributes to the plot of a Pokémon movie instead of existing purely for comedic relief or a gratuitous cameo. As a vilian Lawrence III pales in comparison to Mewtwo. Mewtwo had complexity and the audience could sympathize with him even if they didn’t agree with his methods. Lawrence III is just your run of the mill rich greedy one note vilian. I get that the film is trying to send a message that too much greed can lead to the destruction of the world, but it makes no sense for this vilian to even attempt his plans. He knows that pursuing his plans will probably lead to the destruction of the world, but he goes through with it anyway. If the vilian hadn’t known that his actions would have led to apoplectic circumstance, this would have been more understandable.

            The film’s plot is your generic “Chosen One” story, where a character is the only one that can perform a particular task. We’ve seen this plot in better movies with more compelling characters. This film would have been helped if the destruction was designated to one particular area, after spending a significant amount of time in the area and introducing some compelling characters that the audience could sympathize with and hope that they survive unscathed. The film’s message would have had much more impactful if the villain’s actions caused the death or serious injury of a character that the audience had gotten to know and care for, but no, all we get is a weak and generic plot that leaves no real impact on the audience.

            The film has a subplot involving a ship tease between Ash and Misty. This is completely pointless as their relationship never comes into play in later films and is never resolved in the anime. The film for whatever reason allows Lugia and Slowking to possess the power to communicate with humans. While it’s true Slowking is a psychic type, Slowking’s evolutionary family is notorious for being dimwitted, so it raises some questions as to why he can talk so eloquently, and he was appointed a guardian. I’d give Lugia a pass if, the anime hadn’t devoted an entire arch to a Lugia and its child and those Lugia were unable to communicate with humans. This film also has a hypocritical lesson. After they learn of Lawrence III’s ultimate goal, Misty berates him for collecting Pokémon. This is weird because this is one of the ultimate goals of the franchise is to capture every single species of Pokémon.

            One aspect of the film that I actually enjoyed was that Ash actually hesitates and has self- doubt when he finds out that the quest was real and if he fails then there will be consequences. This highly realistic as somebody like Ash would start off on the quest with a gung-ho attitude, and then hesitate when they discover that it’s all for real. He’s only able to go through with it after getting encouragement from Lugia, his friends and his Pokémon. This shows that it’s normal to doubt your abilities at times and sometimes the best remedy is to talk to people you trust about your insecurities. Granted I believe that Kiki’s Delivery Service handled this message better, but it’s an important lesson for kids to learn. Another aspect I enjoyed from the film was the score. “Lugia’s Theme” is extremely pleasant to listen to and it puts me in a relaxed mood. Another song I enjoyed was “The Power of One” by Donna Summers.

            While I did find this film to be a bit more entertaining than Pokémon the First Movie, Pokémon 2000 suffers from a weak and generic plot that we’ve seen many times as well as one of the weakest villains in any of the Pokémon films. As with Pokémon the First Movie, non-Pokémon fans probably won’t like this film, and I can only recommend this film to fans of the Orange Island arc and die-hard Pokémon fans.