Ah, Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon, a franchise
that is still going strong, as popular as
ever, over 20 years since it was created.
This thing will never go away probably cause,
you know, Charizard is just the best and we’ll
always love this cute dragon.
Every year there’s a new animated Pokemon
movie, and this year it’s Pokemon the Movie:
The Power of Us (that’s the North American
name).
Last year the movie series had a sort of reboot
with I Choose You cause, after like 20 canonical
movies we all needed a fresh start.
And, well, I Choose You is just okay.
It got problems, but hey the animation is
stunning and Pikachu is still cute here, but
without Ryan Reynolds voicing him of course.
The Power of Us is essentially more of the
same but with even less stakes.
It doesn’t reinvent the wheel or do anything
new or interesting, which is a shame.
But hey, it’s still fun, it’s still Pokemon,
it’s still Ash trying to catch them all,
and it’s a good hold over for that real
stuff.
I’m talking about Detective Pikachu, now
how does that movie event exist?
How is this real?
Let’s break this down.
Okay so the Power of Us is held in Fura City
during the city’s annual wind festival.
Every year on the final day of this festival,
Lugia, this legendary Pokemon, shows up and
gives everyone blessings.
But there’s a worry Lugia might not show
up, and that’s when good old Ash and Pikachu,
the most dynamic duo this side of Rick and
Morty, show up to try to make things right.
However, the Power of Us does something different
here, as the focus isn’t actually on Ash
and Pika.
What?
Yeah, that’s right, Ash is kind of on the
sidelines here.
Instead we follow five new characters a lot
more closely.
There’s Risa, a Pokemon rookie and high
schooler, a researcher named Toren, this old
dude Harriet who hates Pokemon, a mysterious
little girl named Margo, and finally this
storyteller named Callahan.
And they all got their own issues and stories
in Fura City, and these five unique individuals
become connected via Ash and Pikachu, who
bring them all together as the mystery behind
Lugia’s absence needs to get resolved.
Now look, this story isn’t anything amazing
or wildly different from the hundreds of Pokemon
stories we’ve seen before.
The Power of Us is more like a longer version
of a TV episode.
It’s harmless in that way, with the themes
and focus being on the relationships people
have with their Pokemon.
But no, the little theory or joke that Pokemon
are essentially slaves in this world is never
actually addressed, but that would’ve been
very funny if the movie did deal with that.
I’m sure Detective Pikachu will address
that somehow cause, you know, that film looks
insane.
Anyways, Team Rocket also shows up in The
Power of Us but their inclusion isn’t anything
special at all and feels forced cause we always
need these three lovable idiots around.
It’s tradition at this point.
The biggest surprise or mystery here is the
new Mythical Pokemon Zerarora, I really hope
I'm pronouncing that right.
It’s an incredibly rare Pokemon with electrical
powers and its design is based on felines,
such as tigers.
Now it’s presence in the film, the reason
why it shows up, isn’t all that important
besides highlighting the themes of the movie,
people’s relationship between their Pokemon
and nature.
But it’s pretty cool nonetheless.
But it ain’t more cool than true GOAT, Mewtwo,
this dude was the coolest Pokemon ever growing
up, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise
cause just look at him.
You also don’t need know any lore, and you
don’t need to watch I Choose You, or any
other movie to follow along here, which is
the point of this reboot of movies after all.
Overall, Power of Us kinda feels like the
end of an era in a sense for animated Pokemon
movies, well to me at least.
I know I mentioned Detective Pikachu a lot
in this video, but in my honest opinion, it
just feels like a natural and exciting next
step for a franchise that has been around
since the 1990s.
Whether or not this particular live-action
take on Pokemon ends up being good or not,
cause at this point who the heck knows, it
might be both the greatest and worst thing
ever, it’s still a refreshing risk.
A lively insane new spin one of the most beloved
IPs around.
And The Power of Us is the complete opposite,
a harmless, breezy, cute Pokemon film that
you’ll forget you even watched quickly enough.
It’s time for a new era of Pokemon, and
Power of Us is decent start to that.
Now where’s Ryan Reynolds.
