Volcanion & The Mechanical Marvel (19)

[nuzamaki90]

So part of Korrina and Alain's gym battle was shown in the World of Pokemon segment. And with the absence of Goodra I'd take a guess and say the placement of the movie must be before the League.

A lot of cool battles were shown in fact. Pikachu VS Luxray rematch, oh boy.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

How are they fan fiction, even as an insult that doesn't really make sense I'm this context ?

Making fantastic things up out of thin air. That's pretty much what a bad fan fiction is. I've seen my fair share of that in that turf (I don't mean this website).

If you don't believe this is the reason why there's such decay, please enlighten all of us present here. And before you say anything, bringing other movies targeted at larger audiences not entirely made up for children don't count.

 

[Pteranodonte]

I loved the movie. I was also happy because Talonflame used Razor Wind for the first time.

 

[Red and Blue]

How well would a Pokemon movie that didn't focus on legendaries do compared to the previous ones. Cause legendaries/mythicals have been the bread and butter of the movies since the first one

 

[NegaiFreak]

Regardless of box office stats and formula changes, I bet that this was a good movie.

Compared to the first two XY movies, I can definitely tell that it did a lot better based on just a few measly scenes.

First off, Jarvis. The dude is literally cold-hearted and cruel, "killing" Magearna and putting many other lives at risk. On top of that, he's a smart villain compared to others. Even if he and his crew had Ash and the others captive to get Magearna, he still tried to take them out so that no one else would stand in his way. One of the best movie villains I've seen.

Secondly, the Megas. Despite initial concern from me as there were a lot of Megas in this, they actually proved to be a great force for our heroes to overcome. It shows how much they've grown as trainers.

Lastly, I don't think that a Pokemon movie should be judged on performance in theaters. Regardless of the results, the movies will keep coming until the franchise is done. We should all judge based on how we see it as fans and critics of the series.

 

[Red and Blue]

Well no one is judging the movie's quality based on the box office. It could still be a good/decent film despite the numbers. But if they continue to make less money compared to past films then the company will have to eventually try something new

 

[diakyu]

For anyone wondering about Perfect Zygarde, Puni-chan jumps off the ship where Ash and friends are to stop the laser so none of them see it.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

For anyone wondering about Perfect Zygarde, Puni-chan jumps off the ship where Ash and friends are to stop the laser so none of them see it.

Ha ha. Figures. I'm guessing there were a lot of cells around to make it happen?

 

[diakyu]

Ha ha. Figures. I'm guessing there were a lot of cells around to make it happen?

Yeah both times it transforms you see cells flying out of the woods. But interestingly enough it seems when one core assumes it's complete form it can only use a small fraction of its power and it tires the core greatly. Puni-chan is shown only using one tentacle wing thing to fire dragon pulse then it collapses on the ground after reverting back.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Yeah both times it transforms you see cells flying out of the woods. But interestingly enough it seems when one core assumes it's complete form it can only use a small fraction of its power and it tires the core greatly. Puni-chan is shown only using one tentacle wing thing to fire dragon pulse then it collapses on the ground after reverting back.

...Wait, so how long does that last again? I mean, Perfect Zygarde should have been a big highlight in the movie. Does it last more than five minutes?

 

[diakyu]

...Wait, so how long does that last again? I mean, Perfect Zygarde should have been a big highlight in the movie. Does it last more than five minutes?

It's about a minute. Puni-chan is essentially treated like it's one of the gang's Pokemon though a bit better since it fights the megas like the other Pokemon do BUT it also gets a big hero moment when it saves the Pokemon on the plateau. Too be more specific it helps Pikachu fight off a Mega Banette and a Mega Aggron (there's a cool moment where 10% swings Pikachu on it's scarf and slams him into Aggron while Pikachu uses iron tail). Not seeing how it should be a big highlight when it was barely advertised and the clip of it in the sky from the trailer isn't even in the part with Perfect Zygarde stopping the laser.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

It's about a minute.

What.

Oh well. We're surely getting at best 40 minutes out of 2 episodes in the main storyline for it.

 

[diakyu]

Should also mention the opening is pretty good with Alain vs Korrina while the narrator explains mega evolution. During when the main song is playing Ash and Clemont are battling which was cool to see. Bunnelby did this weird thing where he grabbed Noivern with his ears and started spinning him but Noivern was having none of it.

 

[Soniman]

Making fantastic things up out of thin air. That's pretty much what a bad fan fiction is. I've seen my fair share of that in that turf (I don't mean this website).

Yeah I still dont get it? Each movie is self contained and the lore/powers of the legendary Pokemon established in the games is just the base that the movie is built off of, you can't really say it's "fanfiction" when they do crazy/over the top things with Pokemon with crazy over the top powers and abilities.

If you don't believe this is the reason why there's such decay, please enlighten all of us present here. And before you say anything, bringing other movies targeted at larger audiences not entirely made up for children don't count.

What im saying is your insult of it being "fanfiction" doesnt really make any sense, the closest movie you can find with that deisgnation is the Hoopa movie, because in concept it's something I can imagine a 12 year old comming up with (because it requires little actual thought), almost all the other movies, as boring and dull as a lot of them are at least try to tell a full story with the resident legendary having a role in it.

 

[PortugueseLynx]

Let's up some fun facts written up:
The pkmn movies, regardless the animation improvement and so, they always supported the very same formula over and over again, without ever attempting to change it. It was always Ash meets cutie mythic, be friends, protect it from villain and bye bye. Or something similar.
Thing is, the animators probably should realize just by featuring legendaries and mythicals aren't really working anymore. Even japaneses are getting tired to see that redundancy. No wonder, we are in an age of change when things must be creatively performed and keep it fresh.

Whiiiiiiiich the pkmn anime/movies weren't quite doing a good job about it.

Some real change needs to be done next year otherwise the same story will repeat itself.

To be honest I fail to care about the movies anymore exactly for that expired formula.....

 

[Holy157]

Hey look, another scene where we get to hear the XYZ remix that first appeared in Ep. 28. Why haven't we still gotten a full version yet? The movie version with vocals was neat, but this one is far better. Also, the entire scene was in my opinion quite creative, even with that lackluster Ash-Greninja transformation.

 

[Rapiido]

This movie just shows how well the show has upped the animation budget. It barely looked much better than the XY series' animation.. can't tell if that's a letdown or not.

 

[The Great Butler]

I think this movie might actually exceed my expectations... the dub is going to totally ruin it by butchering the music again though.

 

[Janovy]

It was a solid movie that I probably would have enjoyed a lot better if I understood the dialogue, it probably would have made me appreciate the movie much more.

Ash was a lot of fun in this movie. From the constant physical abuse to conflict/unlikely friendship between him and Volcanion, he really gets to shine in a way we don’t see Ash as often anymore.

Volcanion itself was a fun character, his dislike of humans was completely believable and the development it underwent was natural and well-developed. This is minor, but I liked how Volcanion didn’t have an unlimited supply of water and had to fill its tank once it was empty. It definitely showed that Volcanion is more of a Fire type that can merely absorb water and then heat it up or simply eject it through its cannons. Oh, I also liked Volcanion’s voice actor, it felt very fitting!

I felt like Magearna wasn’t all that important of a character. Despite being one of the movie co-stars, it felt like more like a backdrop element that was there to fuel the plot and Volcanion’s uneasiness towards humans. Maybe I would have felt sadder if the movie actually spent time developing Magearna as a character instead of feeding us flashbacks about its past. I don’t know, I feel like Magearna didn’t really get to do all that much and after it was kidnapped by Jarvis it was sidelined for the rest of the movie. I mean we only got to see Fleur Cannon once! It would have been nice to see Magearna kick some *** as well.

The group battle sequence at the climax of the movie was PERFECT. From the amazing BGM to the way everyone coordinated their attacks and helped each other was simply well-done. Squishy jumping into battle to protect Pikachu, Pikachu hiding behind Squishy as it unleashed its attack - I think that was definitely one of my favorite moments in the movie. At that moment Squishy truly felt like a part of the gang.

OH, I also liked the battle at the beginning of the movie. Thankfully Clemont wasn’t trashed by Ash and Luxray actually got to prove itself.

As for the rest of the characters…I felt like Bonnie and Serena didn’t do nearly as much as I expected them to. Sure, Serena battled, but overall what did Bonnie and Serena do? They played with Pokemon, cooked and dressed up Magearna so it looks even more like a stereotypical female Pokemon.

Thankfully Clemont contributed in some way, that’s something at least.

I can’t really comment on the rest of characters though they didn’t leave much of an impression on me. Jarvis seemed like a typical villain and the prince/princess seemed like the typical supporting movie characters. Again, knowing the dialogue would probably help me appreciate the movie more. Overall, one of the better movies, but far from being the best one. Maybe my thoughts will change once I see the subbed version, though it will probably be a while before that happens.

 

[NegaiFreak]

I think this movie might actually exceed my expectations... the dub is going to totally ruin it by butchering the music again though.

Which is unfortunate, especially after seeing the dubbed trailer. Can't the voice actors put at least a little more effort? I mean, it's a movie for crying out loud.

Ranting aside, I've finally seen every bit of the movie in full, low quality and all. Once I see the dubbed version, I'll have a better understanding of it, but for now I'd just like to say that this movie was great. Far better than the first two XY movies and definitely better than entire BW movie series. I especially enjoyed Volcanion as a character because he definitely fits the term 'human-hating' Pokémon, more so than others in the past. Compared to Magearna, he was definitely the highlight of the movie, and a fantastically strong Pokémon. Too bad I can't get one...

Now to wait for the dub in order to grasp a better understanding. *shudders*