Kids will enjoy Pokemon The Movie 2000, but for adults it’s about as much fun a Pokemon in the eye with a sharp stick. Pokemon The Movie 2000 is actually two short Pokemon films. The first, Pickachu’s Rescue Adventure, concentrates on Pickachu and his fellow Pokemon as they try, without assistance from their human friends, to rescue a young Pokemon lost in the jungle. The second feature deals with Pokemon trainer Ash, his friends and their Pokemon as they try to stop a Pokemon collector from collecting a very rare Pokemon whose capture will result in the destruction of Earth.
Since the humans appear only minimally in Pickachu’s Rescue Adventure all the dialogue comes from the Pokemon. Since Pokemon can’t talk, other then to say their names in various tones and inflections, this consists of hearing “Pickachu”, “Bulbasaur”, “Squirtle”, etc. over and over which could get annoying to adults very, very quickly. However, less dialogue and more visuals did seem to have the benefit putting this segment on a level that even very young children can understand and there was a strong moral message about teamwork that was nice to see.
The main feature is better, but not by much. The animation is not very good for the most part though the CGI effects, mostly of the villain’s flying ship, were very nicely done. There is some humor that even adults can enjoy, but the laughs are generally few and far between. The voice dubbing and translation from the film’s original Japanese to English was not as good as it should have been either since it was often a stretch to match up what the characters were saying to their facial expressions. One nice touch however was having the traditional Pokemon villains, Team Rocket, reform in the face of world destruction, turn good guys and actually go so far as to offer their own lives up to save the world. It was a nice moral lesson for the kids, that anyone is capable of changing for the better, but of course, come the next movie I suspect Team Rocket will be back to their nefarious ways.
So, again, for adults, Pokemon The Movie 2000 is worth a pig in a Pokemon, but the little Squirtles will enjoy it.
Grade: B-
