After I give this list I'm going to talk a bit more about my thoughts on the Pokémon films in general.
This list is of specifically the theatrically released films (in Japan each annual film was theatrically released). I should mention that there are three that exist now I haven't seen as of writing this. The most recent movie from the Summer of 2018 which isn't available in the West yet. But also the first two Black and White generation films, which are actually often counted as different versions of the same film.
There is only one theatrical Pokémon movie I consider bad, and I sometimes think even that I might be kinder to if I saw it again more recently. So don't think a film failing to make this list is some horrible indictment.
I will avoid spoilers and that's part of why these won't exactly be the most informative mini-reviews.
5. Destiny Deoxys.
This movie I to some extent wouldn't describe much differently then most films that didn't make the list. You can say it makes the list by being a near perfect execution of the standard Pokémon film formula. It has a fun interesting setting, lots of material some critics would call "filler" or "padding" but that I love since it's just having fun with the Pokémon which is the real point of these cartoons to begin with. A story that is solid but by no means ground breaking. And an exciting climax.
4. Pokémon: I Choose You.
I only just recently saw this movie, and I'm as shocked as anyone else to see such a recent film make the list. It broke with the usual pattern of these films, but not at the expense of giving me what I came for. There are some flaws but those mostly just hold it back from breaking the top 2.
It's an alternate continuity of the Anime that re-imagines Ash's early journey. Many people who are nostalgic for the original Indigo League Anime are not gonna like making Ash competent from the start, but after the pilot of Pokémon Origins I like finally seeing an Anime version of Red who doesn't start his adventure seemingly brain dead.
Also I like Verity. I would kind of preferred this role being given to someone with Leaf's character design and a Squirtle, or heck just Dawn if they insisted on a Piplup and Sinnoh references. But as one of the few first generation Pokémon fans who hasn't forgotten that Misty was a horribly unlikable character I love seeing her retconned out.
I see that some people are saying "these new companions are serving the same function as Brock and Misty anyway so what was the point?" I find that stupid, Verity has nothing in common with Misty besides being female and seemingly a preference for water types. But she is not a Tsundere and has a dynamic with Ash that is much more comparable to May and Dawn, however her backstory is distinct from any of them. Sorrel is like Brock in being the more knowledgeable veteran, but that's it.
Apparently the 2018 film is a sequel still in this new continuity. So I'll see when the time comes if it shakes up this list.
3. Pokémon Ranger and The Temple of The Sea.
I love this movie, it gives a spotlight to May who I really like, something Dawn never got in her generation's films.
I like how it's clearly influenced by Pirates of the Caribbean, coming out in Japan the same year as the second POTC film and in America the same year as the third. Jack Walker is basically a more unambiguously heroic version of Jack Sparrow, and the villain is basically Barbossa. And it's premise is like that of a POTC film, which is in turn basically an Indiana Jones premise but on the high seas. But to me it's more re-watchable then an actual POTC film because I like Pokémon more then I do Johnny Depp.
2. Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias.
I have a lot of personal nostalgia for this one, I never got to see it in theaters but I recall renting it frequently from Family Video back in the day.
The Master Quest theme is my second favorite Pokémon theme song topped only by the original. I can't help but wonder how much that's because of it being in this film where it was used wonderfully to a Water Pokémon race through the canals of Poke Venice.
Speaking of which, I love this setting, it's beautifully designed and brilliantly utilized.
I also love Annie and Oakley. Pokémon films I think are generally at their best when they have no villain, or are just fun villains like these (a slightly more competent version of Jesse and James). Pure evil villains don't suit this franchise well, (not the Anime version anyway), and the complex character studies are better done by the show where they can draw it out more, not that the show usually does that well either.
In a way this film as the fifth of them sets the standard formula of most that follow it. But still makes one move that Pokémon movies rarely make.
1. Pokémon The 3rd Movie: Spell of The Unown.
This movie being number one was an easy decision and probably not a surprise to anyone. It's not just great compared to other Pokémon movies, it truly is my second favorite Anime Film period topped only by Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind, and no that's not the only Miyazaki film I've seen. In fact it's better then any Western Animated film I've seen as well. I'm convinced this helped inspire Frozen which I consider my favorite western animated film.
The Pokémon battle during the theme song is the best of them I think, introducing the character of Lisa who in-spite of having such a small role managed to become one of my personal favorite characters in the entire Pokémon franchise.
This is also one of my go to examples for how you can have a great Fantasy/Adventure story with no villain.
I really don't wanna say much more cause I don't wanna spoil it. Maybe I'll write something more in-depth about it in the future. The gist is if you want to show a Pokémon movie to someone who's not already into Pokémon as a concept, choose this one.
On Pokémon Movies in general.
As I said above, most Pokémon movies are good, they satisfy the main thing I look for in them and rarely do anything to piss me off. The only theatrically released one I've ever called bad is Jirachi The Wish Maker, and even that I might have been too hard on, I've still only seen it once.
I qualified "theatrically released" above a few times. There are three Pokémon TV Specials long enough to maybe count as a movie. Legend of Thunder is I feel on par with the average Pokémon film, and if you want to enjoy a Pokémon project with no Ash I'd recommend it. The worst animated Pokémon project I've ever seen is by far Mastermind of The Mirage Pokémon, it was so uninspired and dumb I simply don't know what they were thinking.
However Mewtwo Returns is a personal favorite of mine. Would it break my top 5 if I didn't specify theatrical? Probably not, well it would have before I saw I Choose You. The reviews of it on YouTube are all pretty negative, (there is much more variety in opinions on the theatrical films with even the 3rd having detractors in Digi & May). I don't care about those criticisms however. It delivered what I wanted, Giovanni finally being front and center, and in addition gave me another of my absolute favorite characters in Domino aka The Black Tulip, another perfect example of what Pokémon villains should be like. I also think it used Jessie, James and Mewoth better then any theatrical films (though I do love their Greek Chorus style contributions to the 3rd film). As a stand alone film it's not gonna hold up as well as Mewtwo Strikes Back, but for me personally it's much more fun and re-watchable.
That my preferences tend towards the first two generations shows a bit of a Nostalgia bias. And yet the only movies I actually saw in Theaters were the first two and they didn't make the list. They are both good films, and perhaps by traditional critical standards hold up better then any but the 3rd. But I found the first movie a little underwhelming and felt 2000 was trying too hard to be epic. However they do have major Nostalgia value for me, and Mewtwo Returns shouldn't be watched without the context of the first film.
For the series I kind of have just as much Nostalgia for Diamond and Pearl as I do the Advanced Generation, so how come none of their movies made the list? Well I did thoroughly enjoy the entire Trilogy, while the last one was forgettable but inoffensive. It largely comes down to Dawn, my personal favorite of all the PokeGirls, never getting the spotlight the way May did.
I've looked at the opinions on the films given by people who haven't followed the Anime since before Misty left but gone through all the movies. And they seem to observe that the Advance Generation films demonstrate May's character better, they seem to get her character from them and as one who's seen enough of the series their perception is pretty accurate, while they don't feel like they know Dawn's character at all. And yet at the same time the Diamond and Pearl movies actually treated Ash and Dawn as equals in a way no other generation's films have. And this is a factor is why Dawn has kind of always been the only one I ever really shipped with Ash. Though Verity has maybe changed that a bit. I think most people who call Dawn the most boring of the PokeGirls are judging her off only the movies.
The Kalos generation only got three movies, all of them I saw basically just as recently as I Choose You. I found them all pretty average for Pokémon films. I suspect that Serena fans feel just as shortchanged as Dawn's fans. The most interesting observation I have about them is how in the last of them the 5th Gen Mythical Pokémon added was Megearna which happens to be the most logical choice since her Lore with the blatant Nikola Tesla analogue allowed Clemont's gimmick to fit into a movie's themes for once. (It's kinda funny though that in the Games the Volcano is the one associated with Poke France while the Metropolis homage is the one associated with Poke Hawaii.) I also think that one was among the better ones at utilizing Team Rocket. A number of people seem to hate the Hoopa movie the most, yes it's kind of the most ridiculously overblown of them, but it was Fan Service that I enjoyed.
So in summary, most Pokémon movies are good, but some are better enough to be worth noting.
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