Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 28, 2016

Note: This film is currently available as part of Pokémon: The Movies 1-3 Collection: Pokémon: The First Movie / Pokémon: The Movie 2000 / Pokémon 3: The Movie.

For anyone who either grew up in the late 1990s or early 2000s, or who had kids growing up in that era, there’s a certain nostalgia inherent in the very name Pokémon. This oddly sweet franchise began life in the mid-1990s as a Game Boy outing (remember those?), and quickly became a multimedia sensation, one of Nintendo’s all time sales champions across a variety of different formats. For those not acquainted with the franchise, the name Pokémon is an Anglicized portmanteau of sorts which refers to so-called “pocket monsters”, a gaggle of beasts which assorted Pokémon trainers use in various battles. While the video games may have been the first introduction to Pokémon for at least some folks, many will probably best remember the franchise due to the long running Pokèmon anime series, a series which actually was a quintet of series, though some who saw the show in its international iterations may not have been aware of the different soubriquets assigned to various seasons. Beginning in 1998, Pokémon feature films started appearing virtually annually every summer, and this new collection assembles the first three films, Pokémon: The First Movie, Pokémon: The Movie 2000, and Pokémon 3: The Movie. While few would probably accuse any individual Pokémon entry as being High Art, there’s an undeniable goofiness to each of these three films that will at least remind some folks of their own childhoods, and others of watching their own kids grow up entranced by the adventures of Ash, Misty, Brock and (to name just one of the more adorable Pokémon) Pikachu.

The plethora of Pokémon (meaning the actual creatures) in this franchise can be a daunting exercise in identification, at least for dimwitted parents like yours truly who sought to bond with their young children during the first onslaught of Pokémon mania in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Both of my sons were Pokémon fans for quite a while, including occasional forays into not just video games, the television series and the very films included in this three film set, but also various other accoutrements like action figures (for years their playroom had a huge Meowth in it that was actually a kind of cool storage device). The sheer number of Pokémon and the need to “catch them all” (in a consumer sense) once led me to joke that the franchise was an obvious attempt on the part of the Japanese to wreak economic havoc in America, perhaps as revenge for World War II (it was a joke, I hasten to repeat). That already huge number of Pokémon is only increased in Pokémon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One, the second feature film in the ever expanding franchise, and one which doesn’t just “rest on the laurels” of pre-existing Pokémon, instead introducing several new characters into the mix.

That whole “gotta catch them all” attitude plays into the plot of Pokémon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One and not necessarily just with regard to Ash. In fact a major driver of the story mechanics in this film has to do with a more nefarious collector who is known perhaps uncreatively as The Collector (though he does sport the name of Lawrence III). The Collector is out for world domination (what else is new?), but interestingly his menacing plans end up having an ecological effect that seems quaintly retro in a way, harkening back to older entries like Gatchaman: Complete Collection + OVAs. Rather similarly in a way to a sidebar in Pokémon: The First Movie, these nasty weather phenomena end up detouring Ash and his crew for at least a little while until they reach their destination of an island (again, just like in the first film).

One of the new Pokémon introduced in Pokémon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One, Lugia, a kind of half-bird half-dragon sort of beast, ends up playing a central role in what turns out to be a kind of war of elements that includes airborne Pokémon and those who are, like Lugia, more associated with water. Interestingly (at least for those involved in the more picayune elements of the Pokémon franchise), this film actually hints at an actual home life for Ash, a kid who is otherwise shown tooling around the world with little if any parental supervision, an element which may in fact have only added to the allure young tots felt for the franchise, wondering why their parents were always hovering nearby, trying to identify those darned Pokémon.

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pokémon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Viz Media and Warner Brothers with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is arguably the most consistently sharp and well detailed of the three films in the new Pokémon set, with better definition in terms of elements like line detail and the delineation between characters and backgrounds. Colors are enjoyably vivid, with excellent reproduction of the sometimes garishly bright primaries that infuse the film, though there are also some very nicely burnished deeper tones at play (check out the beautiful hues in the canal in screenshot 8). This outing has some nascent CGI which looks a bit softer than the bulk of the presentation (see screenshots 3 and 15 for two examples). Elements are in very good condition, and a natural looking grain field helps to give this presentation a nicely organic appearance.

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The two biggest issues Pokémon fans have been fuming about in our Forum are the lack of the shorts which originally accompanied the films and the lack of surround mixes that were previously available on at least some of the films in previous releases. Pokémon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One does feature only a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track (as do the other two in this set). This film has a glut of effects work courtesy of the expanded cast of Pokémon, and while not an immersive experience, things sound boisterous and at least occasionally nicely resonant. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly and is generally well prioritized. Fans who are pining for a surround mix will no doubt find fault with the 4.0 score here, but I'm scoring what's on the disc, not what should have been.

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately there are no supplements included on this disc. That means that the Pikachu's Rescue Adventure short is nowhere to be found on this release.

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pokémon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One is frankly a kind of middling film, but it is notable for introducing a few new creatures as well as perhaps even making some kids wonder what all the craze about collecting things is really about. Fans of the franchise, especially those who grew up with this film, will no doubt find enough charm and adventure here to delight, while (as with the first film) "outsiders" might want to introduce themselves to this wild and wooly universe with the third film. Video and audio are both excellent on this release.