Pokemon Movie 07: Rekkuu no Houmonsha Deoxys

Nostalgia can be a very powerful thing when consuming any form of media. Everyone more often than not loves to reminisce about when they were young and this is usually connected to an aspect of their childhood whether it be a game, movie, or tv program. Nostalgia more often than not implements A positive bias in us. This is definitely the case with this movie but I can't really give it a good score due to all of its problems. Destiny deoxys is a Pokemon movie that is connected to the advanced generation story which is basically gen 3. When looking at Pokemon moviesin general you have to consider that they have no real effect on the plot and just serve as side stories for Pokemon fans to enjoy. The only different the generations are is the people ash is actually traveling with as well as setting. However like always ash is the main character. The story of destiny deoxys had massive potential. I felt that it had a very fascinating concept and I really wanted to know more about deoxys and why it's here, and what it's doing here. The expansion of these concepts are really only half done unfortunately. The story does fall apart as the movie goes on and many dull plot devices are used in conjunction with bullshit Pokemon logic that really makes absolutely no sense. The timeskip present destroyed the story's momentum before it can even get on the correct track. The characters are probably the most dissapointing part of this movie. Despite the relationship between tori and ash being very good, the characters themeselves weren't strong enough to make me care. The pseudo romance between Sid and May was also appreciated but once again Sid is such an insignificant character that the relationship only supplies some hollow laughs when it could have been so much more dynamic and interesting. If the characters who only appeared for this movie had some meaningful characterization I would have enjoyed them much more. The voice work and music actually weren't bad in this movie. The animation was pretty well done despite some rather ugly CG. I've seen both the English dub and the Japanese and both versions are fine as the seiyuus portrayed their characters fairly well it didn't really come across as poor or low quality. And THAT SING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOVIE THOUGH. In the end this movie is something I enjoy out of pure nostalgia. It's not that this was a particularly bad movie but nostalgia alone cannot save it. The issues with the story and characters were unfortunately just too big to ignore.

I think this might actually be the best Pokémon film so far. Reading the reviews I'm surprised they're not more positive, it's definitely better than those before it. This film scared me as a kid, Deoxys was genuinely weird and terrifying. The fact that it's an alien with weird tentacles and a cold, unemotional face was scary. The damage it causes and how it put a city into evacuation and shut down all the electronics, creates dark chase scenes that terrified me. Obviously I'm older now, but taking a step back and re-evaluating the film I still think it is the best and rather harrowing whencompared to the previous films. The CGI is much better in this film, and while it is noticeable, it never distracts from the enjoyment or is bad like in the Jirachi movie. Obviously this is due to technological advancements, but it's still something to be appreciated. While the plot follows the formula set out by previous films (new city, new legendaries, new characters) it's a lot more believable than previous entries. This is because life and personality has been added into this futuristic city that sets apart from those before it. Things such as futuristic hot dog stands, bins, passports, and walkways add a charm to the city. The general architecture is rather nice and is a good contrast to the rather dull, boring areas we have explored previously. Pokémon live and breathe throughout this city, Plusle, Minun and Munchlax - while there to sell plushies - add much needed character that is lacking through Team Rocket. The trio of Pokémon are much more enjoyable to watch and makes much more sense than the producers trying to shoehorn in Team Rocket anyway they can. I'm surprised they haven't done something similar to this before. The thing that sets this film apart from the others is that Ash really isn't the main character. Yes he steps in and saves the day at the end, but this whole film is Tory's. A child suffering from PTSD after experiencing a near death experience of being crushed by Walrein's is an interesting concept. We hardly see people in the anime that have had bad experiences with Pokémon and Tory fills that gap. I like his development throughout this film, he understands the Walrein's didn't mean to scare him (and that they were only reacting that way due to Rayquaza and Deoxys fighting), but he can't look past his bad experiences in case something like that happens again. You can see how he wasn't always scared of them (as he finds a Spheal cute in the beginning), he was simply just in the wrong place at the wrong time at an impressionable age that has shaped his development. I also like how his "friend" was a Pokémon the whole time, he has been appreciative of Pokémon since his trauma, just in his own special way. If Pokémon were real, these things would cause fucking chaos, and we would have a lot of Tory's throughout our world. I'm glad we have a film were this is explored and his appreciation for Pokémon comes back after the events of the film. Obviously this film is much more enjoyable if you're a Pokémon fan (as Rayquaza is one of my favourites), but I'm convinced you could show this to a non-Pokémon fan and just maybe, they wouldn't think it was dogshit as I believe they would with the previous ones.

Continuing in the footsteps of the previous Pokemon Advance film, Destiny Deoxys is an ambitious work that falls flat in many ways. Still, compared to Jirachi, Deoxys achieves much more. Destiny Deoxys flaunts an interesting futuristic city, as expected for a film set in the Battle Frontier. The city is filled to brim with CGI elements and I'm happy to say that they don't seem out of place. Rather, they enhance the setting. The film is heavy focused on plot, thus it can't cash in on the atmosphere completely. Nice to the eyes, art style and animation remain the highlights of the film. There are afew unfortunate moments in which Rayquaza isn't to scale, though. It distracts from the action when a superstar looks two to three times smaller than he should be. Plotwise, the film is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the film is driven by the Deoxys hunting squad. But on the other, it's really about the character of Tory. While the two are combined in a satisfactory manner, neither of the two plots gets resolved in a completely satisfying way. On the upside, the character development of Tory was natural and believable. The film establishes his character twice. First time in the opening sequence and the second time after he meets Ash. The film uses visual language of Tory's white hair, eyes and clothes to signal viewers his personality - namely, he's a socialy inept introvert. The problem with the opening sequence is that his personality and design are based on what he becomes after the opening sequence due to its consequences. Honestly, the kid ruins the opening sequence by looking badly out of place. It's not a good first impression. Even though Tory's character development was done well, the film takes too much time to establish him and then wastes time thematically rethreading his conflict again and again in the most inapropraite situations. There are multiple scenes forcing the plot to a halt so characters can talk about the dangers of the situation just to force Tory in a room with Pokemon he fears to create more drama. Yet his character development happens in a few loosely related subtle scenes. As a result the movie often undermines the feeling of urgency and danger it tries hard to establish for little gain. Tory is not a very complex character and chemistry between the show's cast and film-only cast isn't very good. This often leads to boredom until the plot picks up. Some of the scenes are saved by fun Pokemon interactions. Munchlax is notable for having his own miniplot that is well interwoven into the film. Basic structure of the plot is fine and Deoxys is given lots of menacing things to do. The problem lies in the fact that the things Deoxys does are cool, but too removed from the film's focus. Often time you'll get a feeling that the scenes are happening out of time and space, since Deoxys is doing nothing and appears only after a character scene is wrapped up. Rayquaza and Deoxys have a servicable clash near the end of the film and while Rayquaza was misused during most of the film, he ends up being a fine addition to the cast at the end. We're also treated to one of the best action scenes involving humans in a Pokemon film - Ash practicing parkour over the city's haywire defence systems. My only complaint is that it took less than 3 minutes in total. Still, brevity is a virtue. Better leave us wanting more than ruining it. So, what's the verdict? A neat premise, great art, some interesting character moments and a memorable (albeit short) action scene. Film drags on, misses plot oportunities and is often unengaging and boring. It narrowly avoids falling flat and can be worth a watch if you like Pokemon films.

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