the pokemon movie theater
As a franchise, Pokémon has always been multifaceted. As soon as video games began to become a phenomenon in the mid and late 1990s, both Nintendo and The Pokémon Company understood that they had a product on their hands with enormous potential to be a success beyond gaming. In this way, an iconic anime was created that only further enhanced the series and that, obviously, would end up leading to feature films that even conquered movie theaters. Although we could say that at present, a new Pikachu and company movie is not a big deal, the reality is that there is still great interest within the community. During our visit to the Pokémon World Championships 2022 held in the city of London, we had the opportunity to be at a special screening in which we could see Pokémon: The Arceus Chroniclesa film that will be released on September 23 in Netflix. Is it worth your time or is it better to see something else?
Judge products like Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles It can be more complex than it seems, due to different factors such as the type of audience it is aimed at, both in terms of age, and how familiar you are with what has been done recently in this universe. At least in my case, the last encounter I had with the series, if we’re talking about movies, was with Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back, which, as you surely know, is basically a remake of that first film that many of us as children remember with special affection. Yes, I saw it out of pure nostalgia and the truth is that I was not so happy. Despite the above, the idea of having something like this based on the fantastic, Pokémon Legends: ArceusIt certainly caught my attention. What a surprise I got when I found a tape that, in reality, are pasted chapters of the current anime and that, in reality, strongly fails in more than one of its sections.
Is it really a movie?
It seems to me that before going on to tell you a little about what Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles is about and of course, to give you my opinion of the story that is being told to us, it is important to clarify what type of product it is, because more than a traditional film, in Actually we are facing a series of four special chapters that were made for Pokémon Journeys: The Series released in January of this year in Japan with the main mission of promoting Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a game that you will surely remember, was being launched at that time . Yes, despite the fact that it is being sold as a new feature film for Netflix in our region, the truth is that it is just more of the aforementioned anime, this for the better, but above all for the worse.
That said, I’ll tell you that Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles starts when on one of their trips, Ash, Goh and Dawn arrive in the Sinnoh region where they meet Cynthia, who in a special event, gives them a tour of what what was the past of this whole world and even how was the origin of things like the pokeball. Suddenly and without much explanation, our heroes receive a cryptic message from the Legendary Pokémon, Arceus, instructing them to investigate a strange occurrence on Mount Coronet. There, in addition to meeting the always beloved Broke, they learn that Team Galactic is determined to find their leader by opening portals to other dimensions and of course, putting the whole world at risk.
Does the story have any real meaning or basis? The truth is that no, much less if you have never seen the aforementioned anime. By this I mean not so much the issue of whether you have to have seen the series before, but rather the simple fact that things happen without further explanation and that the characters accept them without question. In addition to the above, at least in my case, the movie trailers sold me something else. I had the idea that Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles was a kind of isekai in which Ash and company would travel to the past as it happens in the game, which would give us the opportunity to know more about the origin of the lore of all Pokémon while We visited these very Japanese villages from the Edo period. But no, this is not the case, because instead, we are facing a film in which most of the time we see the characters floating in unknown dimensions that use background colors without much meaning.
The truth is that I don’t have to go into things like character development, narrative depth or story evolution. Pokemon: The Arceus Chronicles has none of that. The characters are exactly the same flat beings without personality that we see at the beginning, as the ones we have at the end. In addition to the fact that, in my opinion, it contributes little to the general lore of anime. I mean, even if you’re a fan of the series, you could skip this product entirely and nothing would really happen. Yes, I know that someone is going to come out with the argument that “it’s for anime fans”, but I think that seems to me to be a somewhat weak justification for something that is being sold as a film and, above all, for a project that is feels totally lacking in heart and personality. fan service? Yes, it has several of those moments, none so worthy of being highlighted.
And is there something good or is everything negative? The truth is that although, most of the time I was just waiting for the tape to miraculously rise up and surprise me in some way or another, there are a couple of very funny action and humor scenes. Ash is still this insufferable optimist who just makes fun of Pikachu. Pikachu continues and will continue to be the best and most outstanding of this duo. In my opinion, neither Goh nor Dawn is even close to Broke and Misty’s heels. Not to mention the villains. Team Galactic isn’t nearly all the charisma that Team Rocket reflected thanks to our ever-adored ones, Jessie, Jamesmememes, and Meowth.
Production that was owed
Modern anime production is always something to talk about. Especially the best-known and most beloved series are put under the magnifying glass to see what kind of progress has been made in this section, especially if we talk about feature films or specials. On this side, we have to remember that at the end of the day, Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles is not a film as such, but only an extension of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, however, I think that we would also be being too condescending if we did not punctuate what loose that are many of its visual and auditory values.
In general, you can expect something quite standard from the presentation of Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles, that is, if you have already seen the anime that it represents, you have a very clear idea of what to expect, if not, I tell you that we are facing an animation mostly stuffy and lifeless outside of the action. Undoubtedly, the effort is seen just as Pikachu and company go into battle. Here we have scenes that are quite lively and even exciting at times, but don’t expect something so outstanding or that makes you vibrate. There is one scene above all that really impressed me because of its low quality. This occurs when a helicopter approaches the protagonists moving as if it were just a PNG image on a background in which the proportions do not match in any way. I don’t understand how nobody from the production said anything about it.
In the same way, the music seemed to me something without charm and far, but very far from what, for example, Junichi Masuda has given us over the years within the main series. You can expect the same from the sound effects.
Is it too much to ask? Yes, it may be that it is being more severe than it should be with the type of product that is Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles, however, as I already told you, the promotion that is being given is that it is a tape made and right of the series, even among those attending the special screening in which we saw it, there was some confusion due to the low production values that we could see on the screen when the function ended.
Nothing worth your attention
By this point in the review, I’m sure you already know more or less where the conclusion is going. If you’ve been enjoying Pokémon Journeys: The Series for the past few months, chances are you’ll find some value in Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles, but you’d better keep your expectations fairly conservative. If, on the other hand, you are one of those who has been away from the anime of this franchise for a long time and you were only interested in this film because of the setting it supposedly has, I would tell you that you better invest that time in seeing something else within the streaming platform.
A weak story without much to contribute, key characters without any kind of evolution, and a production that is far from the current standards of this type of product and what one would expect from a franchise like Pokémon, are just some of the elements that make Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles a difficult film to recommend even for fans of Pikachu and everything that surrounds it.
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