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Pokemon 3: The Movie Movie Review

Pokemon 3: The Movie is a 2000 family fantasy anime film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. It’s a surprisingly solid entry that is one of the best in the series.

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“I haven’t seen this many strange letters since the last time I placed a personal ad“

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In the town of Greenfield, a young, lonely girl’s dreams and wishes are brought into reality by a collective of reality-warping Pokémon. This third movie in the series marked the creation of the first animated trilogy of all time interestingly enough. It was a big hit for audiences, but critics once again complained about its quality, which was unwarranted in this instance as it was a marked improvement upon its predecessors.

First off, the visuals are still quite poor. Yes, the animation on these first movies was so subpar and so television-like that it was a miracle that they managed to get a theatrical release for them. I liked the use of CGI in some scenes, but that’s pretty much it here. The soundtrack is also solid, but nowhere near as memorable as the songs in its predecessors. The voice acting is just as clunky as ever.

This movie worked because it was a departure to the formula in a way. There are actually no Legendary Pokemon present here. Yes, Entei is a major character, but he is an illusion instead of an actual entity. The Unown aren’t Legendary, but they sure are memorable as these psychic Pokemon who are the most mysterious and intriguing part of this film’s storyline.

Pokemon 3: The Movie is at its best when it’s focusing on the adventurous elements and the overall mystery. Molly’s story is deeper than the stories we got before. The ending was overly happy, but for the most part this arc was well developed and surprisingly moving. The imagery of the Unown and their world was so cool.

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I did like the second half, but the first one was forgettable. They gave us the first full Pokemon battle in a film for this one, but it was sadly not particularly entertaining. Brock and Misty were also sidelined here, though Team Rocket got a couple of very funny moments for themselves, featuring expectedly goofy dialogue.