Pokemon 4 Ever - DVD Review

March 18, 2003

They ain't going anywhere. I hate to disappoint nay-sayers and negative bugs about the Pokemon Phenominum(tm) but it ain't running outta steam. The games continue to sell millions and the television series ratings still stay up, even after five years.

The legendary RPG/ADVENTURE series smashed TV and Gameboy screens in Fall 1998. Religious groups proclaimed it a work of the devil(okayyy........). Parents flung their arms into the air and couldn't just jump out of their middle-age life and recapture that childlike facination with something that was very creative and very new. Fan boys barked at the television series, calling it a one night stand at the sweaty geek lodge. To all the nay-sayers I properly flip you the bird. All that kinda changed in April 2000 when Pokemon: The First Movie opened in Italy to crazy box office numbers. The Pope had something to say about it. The loveable Pope praised Popemon(sorry, I had to do that....), Pokemon as "full of inventive imagination." Hell whoops... Heaven, he even mentioned that it features "ties of intense friendship" and that it has no "harmful moral side effects". Stick that in your pipe and smoke it! Today, Religious groups, parents and fan boys have smartened up and praised the game/television series for its ingenuity, creativity and moral teachings(like duh). And I am not making any of this stuff up and the truth is a heaven more exciting than fiction.

Finaly moving onto the DVD review. Released March 18th, 2003 side by side with the latest Pokemon games Ruby/Saphire, the series does not show any sign of slowing down. To date this has to be the most impressive Pokemon DVD release so far. We'll get to the extras later, first how is the movie?

The movies just get better. Moving away from "hey, Ash let's go catch that crazy ass Pichu!" and more into the action/adventure/saving the world storytelling. The film even sheds a little more incite into our beloved characters. Rounding out the tale is a very cool ending that had me crap my pants... Crapped them HARD! It is that cool. The story in a couple sentences - The delightful pokemon Celebi is kidnapped by an evil Pokemon hunter who uses these cool "Dark Ball" Pokeballs that change lovable critters into nasty beasts. Its up to our heroes Ash, Misty and Brock(plus a few new friends) to put a stop to this madman and his evil intents. Did I enjoy this flick as much as Pokemon 3. No, but it is much better than the first two flicks. Kids will love it and fans of the series won't be dissapointed

The extras are sure to make any DVD collector happy. Featuring a multi-angle animation progression for 4 key scenes to show aspiring animators or fans of the series a demonstration of the animation process from inception to the final render. impressive. Next we have the 20 minute short Pikachu's PikaBoo, a very cute and entertaining piece saddly missing from the limited-theatrical release. Included are trailers for the flick including Japanese and North American. A look at the Japanese trailer for the 5th Pokemon movie coming soon. A Trivia game to mess around with your DVD player. DVD-ROM owners will find a Pokemon Trading Card game interactive tutorial and exclusive hidden content at Pokemon.com.

Finaly, the best feature is a fantastic audio commentary featuring director Jim Malone, producer Michael Haigney alongside voice actors Veronica Taylor(Ash Ketchum/Ash's Mom), Rachael Lillis(Misty/Jesse) and the hilarious Addie Blaustein(Meowth). The fun this group is having doing the commentary is evident. They never gets borred with the subject matter and just give it. The gang go through the process of the translation, rewriting, voicing and re-editing the entire picture. Best to note Addie Blaustein who's voice is so damn close to his Meowth voice-work(he even mentions it in the audio commentary) that it just brings giggles to the viewer. There is a hell of alot fun to be had when Veronica jumps into an Ash voice outta nowhere or when Racheal bursts into a few lines of Misty, it just sends a shiver down your spine and smile to your face cause their voices are so distinct from the animated characters. It was a joy to listen to these people giving us a great commentary.

The film didn't burst a bubble on the box office radar. Only released in a limited fashion, if you were a fan and saw it on the big screen consider yourself lucky(I know, because I did). It's great to see it hit DVD in a feature packed disc. Miramax could have easily just released it on DVD/VHS without anything new and it would have still sold like hot cakes. However, they took the effort to make it a pleasing disc not only for fans but for collectors as well. Hell, my dad listened a bit to the commentary and had a blast. He about lost it when he heard Addie's voice. A great disc and well worth the purchase.

- Kelley