Mewtwo Returns Reviewed by: Philip "Pocket Squirrel" Wesley Presented by: Kids WB.. (Grrr...) Released: 2001 Format: DVD Rating: Unrated (Mild violence, thematic events.) Genre: Action Quick Opinion: Buy. (If you like Pokémon. You damn well better own this.) **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: I rented this one at Hastings, because they did not have any buyable copies in. This is the sequel to Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back. It was available as an OAV in Japan from what I know and I was quite indifferent to it before I saw the case. I noticed the words "Uncut" and "Unrated" on the back and my feeling toward this went up a few notches. The extras got me intrigued as it stated that it had the "uncut" origin of Mewtwo. I own the radio drama and original Japanese score for the first movie and I know the plot thanks to an internet translation of the radio drama. I was wondering if the "Uncut" origin was going to include that. I think it would be nice if it did. But I wasn't getting my hopes up. I sat down and put the DVD in the DVD player to see... **************************************************************************** *CONTENT PRESENTATION* PLOT: What I am now looking at on the cover of the box is a sequel to the first movie, but before you sit down and watch it, go to the Special Features menu. If you do not see "The Uncut Story of Mewtwo's Origin" before you watch the main movie, you won't get parts of it. In order to better enjoy the plot, you need to see what was cut from the movie. The cut sequence also enchances the original movie, and explains the ending sequences in the first movie. The "Uncut story" is about 15 minutes or so.. well.. it's long and it encompasses part of the radio drama and well.. I was VERY happy with this. The original movie is a soul-searching study on life and where a created clone belongs in the grand scheme of things. This is presented by the cut footage shown here. It comes complete with one of the best lines in the Japanese radio drama. "Live, because I'm sure living is wonderful." It gets abbreviated by the American voice actor (This is all dubbed) to be "I'm sure life is wonderful." The effect remains the same though. I won't reveal what happens here, as it is a spoiler. If you watch the cut footage before you watch the first movie.. well.. you will definately appreciate the first movie just a bit more. The main feature adds closure to the film and takes place while Ash and his friends are traveling through Johto. Brock is in this one, so we can all breathe easily knowing that Tracey isn't lecherously eyeing Pikachu. At the end of the first movie, Mewtwo erased Keichi's memories. Oops. Wrong anime. Mewtwo erased the memories of all the people who took part in the "tournament" he held. So, quicker than you can say "Negotiator", Mewtwo fled with a large group of cloned Pokémon to a lake on top of a mountain called Purity Lake. (That's a nice chaste name, isn't it?) Purity Lake has well.. water that is never been despoiled. In other words, it has "virgin" water. Why has it not been despoiled? Because it's in an area that humans normally couldn't live in. So, Mewtwo lives there in perfect harmony with his cloned Pokémon. Giovanni still remembers Mewtwo and has been searching for Mewtwo for a long time. He discovers that Mewtwo is alive and living on an island in the middle of Purity Lake. So, he plans to attack and reclaim Mewtwo. Our heroes show up and have to get around Purity Lake, but they miss the "go around the mountain" bus. Team Rocket shows up, kidnaps Pikachu, gets caught in a storm, and ends up crashed on top of the mountain. They crash onto the island in the middle of Lake Purity. Ash, Misty, and Brock set out to climb the mountain, rescue Pikachu, and see with eyes unclouded. What happens becomes an inner battle for Mewtwo, and an outer battle to prevent the destruction of his fores... umm.. island and the enslavement of his people. If the Mankind VS Nature subtext doesn't sound familiar to you, I may need to prescribe for you to see other animation as well. The plot is well told, well paced, and certainly interesting to watch. It is a crying shame that the first two movies were not as well paced. If you loved the third movie, you will more than enjoy this movie. This one is heads and tails above what we usually see in Kids WB's handling of Pokémon. ORIGINALITY: The plot has many little subplots and each of them borrows bits of pieces from other animation. Mewtwo spends most of his time brooding like a white, flying kitty version of Spawn. He is also looking for a home for Seconds. (His cloned Pokémon, or II for short.) The main characters are looking for Pikachu who was kidnapped (Big surprise!), and the other new supporting characters are looking for the secret of pure water. (Sorry, I could not resist that. Oh, my my!) Is the story original? No, not at all. Is the story fun? YES. ACTING/SUBBING: While no Japanese track is provided, the US dub is actually quite sufficent and gets the story across clearly. It avoids cheesy over dramatic acting and has some amusing vocal quips. I was rather pleased with how Ambers voice was in the "Uncut" Mewtwo Strikes Back and Mewtwo's voice is excellent. Misty, Brock, and Team Rocket get some rather amusing lines in this movie and Team Rocket fans won't be disappointed. The actors don't fail to sound good and the spoken dialogue moves the story along well. MUSIC/SOUND: *waits for crappy popular musician to start playing* Hmmm.... *waits a little more* Well, so far so good. *finishes watching movie* THERE IS A GOD AND GOD LIKES ME!!!!!!! Not a trace of N*Sync or Backstreet Boys anywhere! Just appropriate score, and small bursts of techno remixes of that aforementioned appropriate score. The sound effects are nicely done, and the movie sounds great! VISUALS: The animation is clean and sharp. The battles are nicely done and everything seems to check out okay. I noticed some interesting things about the visuals. The sweeping pans in Amber's mind in the "Uncut Origin of Mewtwo" remind me of Haruna's town in Tenchi Muyo in Love 2: Tenchi Forever, and the part where Mewtwo resists Giovanni's will, brought up a very interesting religious symbolism. There's lots of Pokémon to appease the younger fans, and just enough visual flair to hold in an older viewer. Especially one who is used to Production I.G. animation. Liked: The addition of the Uncut deleted sequences from the first movie, the satisfying closure that this animation brought to the first movie. The humour, animation, lack of pop music, and overall feel of the animation. I can only hope that, in the future, Pokémon starts getting treated with the skill shown in the production of this DVD. The menus were easy to navigate and the extras were very good for the low $14 price of this DVD. Hated: No Japanese language track. No mention in the uncut origin of the fact that Jesse's mom died when chasing after Mew. But I guess that must have been Radio Drama only. I prefered Amber's Japanese name Ai to it's English counterpart.. although I can see how the scientists dark cloning experiments would begin with Amber; as the certainly didn't begin with love. (If you cringed at the previous pun.. congratulate yourself!) **************************************************************************** *PERSONAL OPINION* POSITIVE: The over all production of this movie was above average. It looked like someone took a good look at Pokémon, remembered it was an "anime" and treated it as thus. While there is still a ways to go before we get full on Japanese tracks and Uncut Pokémon; this is a step in the right direction. This makes me wonder how the fourth movie is going to be done. It also makes me hopeful that that one will be done RIGHT. NEGATIVE: The fact that the scenes shown in this DVD's uncut Origin of Mewtwo were cut is tragic. The entire subtext of the first movie was inside the sad footage cut from the movie. I don't see anything wrong with making the kids cry at the beginning of the movie. It also brings up questions on cloning research ethics. However, I can see why it was cut. American children are viewed at as more "sensitive" than their foriegn counterparts. I attest this to a complete misunderstanding of our current culture. The sequence that was cut belongs at the front of Mewtwo Strikes Back and while it does delve into death, it needs to be seen. I know that US viewers would handle it okay. After all, I heard people cried.. but as far as I know, no one commited suicide when Optimus Prime died. I doubt that the portrayal of death in this movie would be any more heart-breaking. That shouldn't have been cut. On the movie included here? What didn't I like? Well, near the end, Ash carries a pokémon that he shouldn't be able to.. as that pokémon should weigh like a ton of cement.... a little inconsistant there.. but.. hey! No one questions how Saiwa crashes through the subway on top of a taxi cab after falling out of a 25 or so story building and doesn't break her arm after the cab explodes and hurls her into a parking garage. **************************************************************************** Improve: There's a market for uncut Pokémon with a Japanese language option. That is what needs to be done to improve this series. RIYL: Pokémon! **************************************************************************** Final Words: One more note.. these cardboard cases that WB uses.. they suck and the person who said they were a good idea should be beaten without mercy by hard plastic DVD cases. **************************************************************************** Score CONTENT PRESENTATION PLOT: 15 of 15 ORIGINALITY: 7 of 10 ACTING/SUBBING: 13 of 15 MUSIC/SOUND: 5 of 5 VISUALS: 5 of 5 Total for CONTENT PRESENTATION: 45 of 50 PERSONAL OPINION: 43 of 50 Total for both: 88 of 100 Final Score: 88% **************************************************************************** SECRETS: None that I know of. :) Oh,it also contains trailers for the new Johto show and the previous three movies.