Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back!

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: November 10, 1999

7.6	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 202 Ratings

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ZegilgameshDec 31, 2012

Pokemon is a delight for fans and young kids, but it features choppy animation, a weak script, hypocritical morals, and forgettable characters, and is easily outclassed by other animations like Princess Monoke.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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Luigithemetal64Sep 4, 2015

Critics hate this movie because of the dubbing. That's always the problem, especially when 4Kids are dubbing shows like Sonic X. The acting is off, the dialog is flat, and bland, scenes are cut, signs blanked out even in already completeCritics hate this movie because of the dubbing. That's always the problem, especially when 4Kids are dubbing shows like Sonic X. The acting is off, the dialog is flat, and bland, scenes are cut, signs blanked out even in already complete english, and the dubs are just not direct translations. The Japanese version is what's great about them, the tone is a way to make animation taken seriously, and maybe aimed towards older audiences.

You may like the movie as a kid, but when you're older, you're thinking if you want to get back to it. Even the Pikachu short in Japanese is still annoying because those shorts don't even feature subtitles of what the Pokemon are saying. The soundtrack in the US version is well done, while the Japanese version is mood fitting. For me, I do recommend the Japanese version for it's darker plot like Mewtwo wishes to wipe out humanity because he wasn't created by god, but recent Japanese video formats used CGI done by 4Kids. That's right--Special Edition Pokemon, just like the Special Edition Star Wars. You can only get the Japanese theatrical version as well as hand drawn clouds on the first VHS releases, and the best one is on the Laserdisc.

Overall, I consider the US version as possibly my lowest rated Pokemon movie in the theatrical trilogy, but if you want a better version, always go for the Japanese. US dub: 3/10, JP: 6:10… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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XxWolfxXAug 16, 2016

This movie is a donkey **** The whole plot is made irrelevant and that Ash being brought back to life with tears is one of the worst plot devices in cinematic history. Aside from 2 memorable quotes...This movie is garbage.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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aaronpaul121Oct 3, 2012

Absolutely terrible....though it is a little bit better than its next films.............

3 of 20 users found this helpful317

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EC101Apr 20, 2020

Not good, didn't finish watching this. The plot was poor, ok as a tv series, does not work as a movie

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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GDsReviewsJun 6, 2022

Seeing the really bad 4Kids English dub of this movie back in day in the theater makes me only want to see it again in Japanese with subtitles when I heard it is significantly better and gives more depth to Mewtwo then the English dub.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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