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Pokemon Movie Challenge -Pokemon The First Movie: MewTwo Strikes Back

When I started this process, I figured that this would be the easiest movie because I had seen it a thousand times as a kid and knew it backwards and forwards. Well, it turns out I didn't know the first Pokemon movie as much as I thought I did. Turns out, there is much more to the opening than what American audiences were originally given. In the original beginning, various clones that scientists are developing Pokemon clones for Team Rocket. While that does seem to still be the case, what wasn't included was that with these clones and with MewTwo, was a human clone. More specifically, a scientist looking to bring back the consciousness of his dead daughter. This cut sequence is interesting for a few reasons:

1. MewTwo is shown to be introduced to humanity in a positive way through the consciousness of the clone, Amber (Ai in Japanese - this sequence was dubbed, but removed). However, the other clones begin to die and MewTwo begins to mourn his friends (spotted Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle) which also come back in their fully evolved forms later somehow revived!), causing him to cry within his psychic vision.

2. As she dies, Amber sets up the ending of the movie, with Pikachu healing Ash with his tears, by explaining that Pokemon have healing tears, which I guess also explains why MewTwo himself doesn't die. (Although, the harbor manager stresses the Pokemon tears later.) This eventually erupts to where MewTwo becomes off balance, to the point where the scientists desperately try to calm him down with drugs, which wipe his memories.

3. MewTwo, though subdued, still feels a loss, but because of his lost memories, cannot place the source of his feeling. He is already on edge when he is awakened. And, although he can't remembered, he has experienced kinship, and can recognize the uncaring reality of his position, which exacerbates his sense of loss and turns it into anger. (It's also worth noting that although induced memory loss is one of the sources of his problems, he does this on everyone later.)

4. MewTwo might have been easily duped by Giovanni into a supposed "partnership" because he was trying to unconsciously recreate the kinship he felt with Amber, another human. (Makes "Humans and Pokemon can never be friends" all the more poignant, huh?)

5. It is possible that, again, subconsciously, he believes that this is because Giovanni was not a clone. And to relive kinship, he needs to create it by creating clones.

Also, isn't it fascinating that MewTwo uses Nurse Joy as a puppet to reflect how he felt he was used by the scientists and Giovanni?

I think it's kind of a shame that they removed the original opening considering that it added layers to MewTwo's character. I read online that this was due to the themes of human cloning and death, which is ridiculous to me, since Ash's few moments of being dead in the dub and the resulting tears from Pikachu was one of the saddest scenes I'd ever seen in a movie when I was a kid. Though at the same time, I loved it because to me, it exemplified the friendship between Pikachu and Ash and more largely, between Pokemon and trainers, which is the true soul of the series. The cutout scene, with MewTwo's sad friendship with Amber, does more of the same.

But now that've gushed, let's get to nitpicking.

1. That Dragonite. Who did it belong to? Was it Nurse Joy's? It didn't seem to be under any psychic influence.

2. Harbor manager stressed the danger of the sea, shuts down the ferry, and then calmly stands and watches as kids, presumably some as young as 10, go into the storm.

3. Let's talk about the dub. That Minnesota joke, while cute, kind of takes you out of the Pokemon World. There are some inconsistencies in the dub like calling Pokemon the wrong names and saying a guy has only water Pokemon, when he has a Poison-type later. MewTwo not reacting when Ash and The Originals (band name pending) is also awkward. But not as awkward as the "fighting is wrong" moral. As an adult, it comes off really weird considering the context of the series.

4. So…okay. When the clones and originals are fighting, shouldn't there be an extra Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard? The spotted clones were already there, but presumably, the non-spotted originals got cloned. Where are their clones? On a similar note, why is Pikachu's clone the only clone that looks different?

5. Apparently there's not an Ash clone in the original which, while it would complicate things, still seems like a missed opportunity to me, considering he freakin' leapt into the cloning machine.

6. Lessons that were supposed to be learned are left kinda void with the memory loss. Also the gang's "How did we get here? Who cares?" has me conflicted. It seems a little too easy, but at the same time, a lot of Pokemon traveling seems to be kind of random.

Conclusion:

I'll admit, the nostalgia is strong with this one. Years later, I still love it even though it make no attempt to initiate the uninitiated. It's not deep in terms of character, the dub seems confused on theme, and a really cool opening was totally scrapped. Yet, despite it's flaws there's just something so well-intentioned about it. It feels less like a cheap grab for money and more like a genuine project meant for the kids that love the series. I can't yet say if it's the best of the lot, but it certainly still feels like a classic.

For more write ups checkout the list of the ones I've currently completed!

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