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Volcanion & The Mechanical Marvel (19)

G4Pokefan

THE AURA IS WITH ME
Finally was able to see the movie. I was surprised. It was actually enjoyable. Definitely the behavior of the XY movies. Even the last one which shall remain nameless along with the Mewtwo Y one. Both which should have never been made.

- Volcanion is definitely going down as one of my favorite Telephaty speaking pokes in the anime! Loved his attitude. And the quips between him and Ash were entertaining.

- Team Rocket didn't even annoy me this time around and It was actually good that they got a good amount of screen time involvement in this movie. Even Meowth was in his feelings about Magerna (sp)

-Like how the rest of the Mega Evos was able to get in a appearance b4 the series ended even though they were incredibly brief like Pidgeot and Swampert. Unless I miss my guess, the only Mega that hasn't made one was Mega Mewtwo X. The battle scenes were great!

- I too was irked by the way the gang didn't react to squishy's transforming into its 10% and its perfect forms like it was no big deal and I know they haven't seen them b4 in the anime. Another WTF moment by the creators I guess. And speaking of which, how was it able to transform without Z2? According to the anime, I thought they needed both?

-overall, it was decent. Won't miss the xyz series at all but nice way to end it on a high note.
 

Mr.Munchlax

Great Ball Rank Trainer
This was definitely one of the best pokémon movies I've seen a while. The plot was well-written, Volcanion and the human characters were actually pretty decent, and I liked how they had Squishy turn ino its complete form when no one was around so that it could still fit with the anime's canon.

However, my biggest problem with this movie is that I feel like the whole "the main pokémon hating humans and thinking they're all evil" cliché is starting to get old. I was fine with it in the Mewtwo movie, and Gen V put a neat spin on it with N and Team Plasma, but I've seen this in the anime & the movies so many times I'm starting to get so sick of it. Aside from that, this was a great movie that I definitely recommend checking out!
 
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Pikachu52

Well-Known Member
Finally got around to watching this movie.

I'd been looking forward to seeing what they were going to do with Volcanion and Magernia since the two Pokémon were first released and I have to say it didn't disappoint. It's easily one of the better Pokémon Movies.

The plot line is excellent, switching from generous but not taxing action scenes and battles to more gentle and dialogue heavy scenes that allow for character building. It uses a great range of elements such as Volcanion's quasi-love story with Magernia, the friendship building between Ash and Volcanion, Ash and Volcanion being bound together, the Mega wave and Alva's flying castle. It's much more dense than the last Movie - not difficult given it was essentially one long battle scene.

Volcanion had a good voice actor and a well developed personality. Although as others have highlighted, his central trope of being distrustful of humans and learning to trust them is a little cliched by this point in the anime's life. Friendship between people and Pokémon will always be central to the Pokémon universe, but they're going to need to come up with better ways of exploring theme. Still it made for a reasonable clash of values with Ash, and even at one point Pikachu - electric pipsqueak. That ones new.

The film involved the Pokémon cast quite well. Everyone had some screen time. Greninja became Ash-Greninja for a brief moment and Squishy even got to save the day with his complete form. Pikachu took down several Mega Evolutions with one thunderbolt.

Team Rocket however were, as is typical for the Pokémon movies, rather forgettable. You could have eliminated them from the film altogether and it would have been the same. They don't provide any of their usual comic relief or advance the plot in any meaningful way. That being said they do have more of a role this film than they previously have had in movies past teaming up briefly with Alva then trying to stop him. And what's with Meowth's little pity party when Alva takes Magernia's soul heart. He, Jessie and James routinely do the same thing to steal Pikachu and many other Pokémon. TRio once again displaying their selective sense of empathy and compassion.

Some parts didn't make sense - like how Ash managed to get different sets of clothes (including that bulky suit Clemont built) off and on under the Magnetic band that he couldn't get off for half the film.
Overall - It's really enjoyable. Arguably the best out of the three XY saga movies and one of the most noteworthy of the feature length films. A nice conclusion to XYZ.

9/10
 

Aleh

«Last Hope»
Kinda late to the party but here are my 2 cents
I can't believe there are some people who liked it lol. These movies have been so bad since late gen 4 onward.
It felt like a whole bunch of nothing for more than half its duration (like the other XY movies), and then when the action started it was still boring as hell. The plot doesn't accomplish anything a single anime episode or two couldn't do, and it's so shallow and pointless after all. Meh.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
I just saw it today and I thought it was okay. A bit dull at timeless and it felt more like a forced way to show off Mega Evolution than anything. Magearna should have had a more active role and Zygarde should have stayed in its Complete Forme longer and fend off more attacks. And they could have explained how the Soul Heart was created as that is some rather impressive technology to not only make a completely mechanical Pokémon to life but also to give it genuine emotions.
 

zdbz_sn

Well-Known Member
If I went all out of order in watching these flicks, at least I wrapped up with the last one to date.

Well, I suppose that’s one way to get Ash involved in the plot - literally bind him to the titular Pokemon. It’s only slightly more contrived than what some of the other movies have tried, and we get some nice comedy out of it…in the beginning. The gag gets old after a while. And it all comes down to the same thing: Ash is roped into a story he has no real connection to, tags along while making little to mild impact on the plot, only to ultimately save the day in a contrived turn of events. I never thought that would be such an ongoing issue with these movies, but in nineteen films, Ash only had a meaningful story arc in three of them. Victini and Jirachi gave him nice roles as well, but it’s been extremely frustrating to go through these films and be constantly disappointed by the way the series lead is written.

I didn’t expect padding to be a recurring problem as well. None of these movies pass the two hour mark, and a good number of them aren’t even an hour-and-a-half. I find it very strange that so many of them seem to struggle to fill that time, padding the story out with TRio antics, “come on out of your balls” Pokemon parties, other stock scenes, and a tendency to drag out travel. Volcanion further pads things out through repetition. I’ve already mentioned the ongoing gag with Ash’s bind, but Volcanion’s grumblings about humans get tired after a while too, and the message they’re attached to is rather ham-fisted in delivery.

This bit of padding wasn’t especially egregious in terms of time wasted, but it bugs me: I don’t know who thought “Serena and Bonnie make shopping trips and makeovers” was a worthwhile running gag throughout the Kalos flicks, but…no. Just…just no. The girls have good taste in clothes for Ash, but that outfit makes no difference to the plot, is quickly replaced, and doesn’t do much more than kill thirty seconds. And how can Ash keep changing his clothes without taking the bind off?

Speaking of travelling companions…Clemont was useful to the plot, this film really liked showcasing Serena’s healing, washing and shopping skills, and they end up serving as a distraction in the final fight. It’s not the worst role ever given to Ash’s friends, but it’s nothing remarkable either, and that’s one more thing I didn’t expect to be such a common flaw.

Team Rocket mattered to the plot again! That makes, what…five out of nineteen movies where they had any reason to be here? That’s a better track record than Brock, I suppose, but this just reinforces my feeling that the TRio should’ve been the ones to leave the show after Johto. And I know they have a soft spot, but does anyone else find it OOC just how teary-eyed Meowth gets?

That the human CotDs often become the de facto protagonists of the story, or at least the center of any meaningful human drama, is nothing new in these flicks. The real human story here is the one involving the brother and sister. But they command very little screen time. We spend all our time with Ash and Volcanion - who is the protagonist - that there’s basically no chance to get invested in the siblings. Hence, another set of forgettable CotDs, and another unexpected and frustrating chronic story flaw.

Another recurring plot point (not a flaw this time): What is it with Pokemon villains and steampunk airships?

And another contrived way out of having a character die. I realize this review’s become a bit of a summary of all my ongoing frustrations with these movies, but really - I don’t know what else to write about. Volcanion has all the common flaws, a few common virtues, and very little either way that’s unique to itself that grabbed me. I may not be ll that excited for the 20th movie, and I may think that initial reporting indicates that they made serious mistakes in its production, but I'll at least give them credit for trying to avoid the stale repetitiveness of Volcanion. Though I will concede that the ending was cute.

Side note - I’ve been picking up my re-watch of the OS, so I’ve been spending a lot of time with the 4Kids dub. It made me forget just how much the TCPi dub irks me. And again, it’s not so much an issue of quality performances as casting (coughClemontcough). Though I must to say - Serena suffers from miscasting and an awkward performance in the dub. It’s like the voice was deliberately chosen to emphasize the more…let’s call them frustrating aspects of her personality. IMO, of course.

And I think I have a least favorite English opening now.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
This movie was the least hyped Pokemon movie that I've seen, as far as fan anticipation goes. And having seen it now, I can understand why. Volcanion was the only character in this feature that I felt had a great personality, and Magearna being kidnapped by Jarvis and becoming a damsel in distress was a predictable subplot that left much to be desired.
 

Denko Sekka

Well-Known Member
I downloaded Magearna a few days ago and watched this movie for the sake of consistency. I liked Volcanion just fine since he was kind of cool not like the other two Kalos Mythicals, but Magearna was obviously just a way of hyping up Gen 7. Oh and it breaks my heart how this was Gen 6's last movie and Clemont & Serena still hardly mattered.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
Denko Sekka said:
Oh and it breaks my heart how this was Gen 6's last movie and Clemont & Serena still hardly mattered.

It wasn't exactly surprising however given how Satoshi has had the main role in the movies for more than a decade straight at this point.
 

BTS_fan

Immortal Queen
This movie had a good premise that seemed promising at first since Volcanion is the coolest Gen 6 mythical to me, but aside from some funny banter with Ash, its role fell short of my expectations. I also didn't like Magearna that much since she almost seemed like Diancie 2.0 and she was clearly a marketing prop for Sun and Moon. I really would have liked to see Serena and TRio do more here than just be sideline characters.
 

KyogreThunder

Call of Fate
An average movie. I'm not that much of a fan of clock-punk settings, and Volcanion is one of my least favourite Mythicals, but I liked seeing a Sharpedo battling without being in the water, and Amaura was surprising, since earlier, it was shown that it can't survive in warmer climate. I wish Magearna had battled a fair bit more, and the slapstick humour involving Ash wasn't funny. It was sad to see Magearna suffer , and I was glad to see it regain its memory and personality in the end.
6/10
 

vondecayle

Well-Known Member
Magearna is a great pokemon. Love it’s concept and history!
 
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