fave Pokemon movie

What is your favourite Pokemon movie and why?

The first movie will always be my favorite.

Radiating said:

The first movie will always be my favorite.

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Gotta agree with this one, considering the nostalgia associated with it. I remember the intensive hype surrounding its US dub theatrical release. Additionally, I remember going to see Toy Story 2 shortly after it was released to theaters (which was two weeks after Mewtwo Strikes Back), and thought the long lines at the cinema were for the Pokémon movie.

I have only seen the first 4 movies. The first movie stands out for me.

For me also the first movie.

I cannot recall any Pokémon movie that truly stands out from each other.
Though I hope the 20th movie is going to. It looks promising so far.

Hmmm...for me it's a toss-up between the first and tenth, I think.

The first is pure nostalgia for me - I went to the cinema to see it, I got all of the promo cards from it eventually, and Pokemon was a huge craze at the time, so it was all very exciting. The plot wasn't too bad either, all things considered. I quite liked the follow-up to it, too.

But I loved the 10th movie. It came off the back of two absolutely awful movies and totally revived my interest in watching them again...the anime was really good when the 10th was released, and the 11th and 12th were fantastic follow-ups; I loved how they actually connected with one another to feel like a proper trilogy. After the second movie, the battles with the legendaries were generally lacking throughout...until Dialga and Palkia starting beating the crap out of one another.

...small shoutout to the sixth too because Butler

My favourites were probably the first and the second.
The thing is, all I really wanted from the movies was to see the legendary Pokemon having an intense all out battle against each other, and if the plot was decent then that's good enough. The first two movies are the only ones where we see awesome fights like that.

The anime does this stupid "No Pokémon are bad" thing, which just seriously limits what they can do. Like seriously, Giratina, the Pokémon equivalent of Satan, is somehow a good guy and only wants to help??

Meyneth said:

But I loved the 10th movie. It came off the back of two absolutely awful movies and totally revived my interest in watching them again...the anime was really good when the 10th was released, and the 11th and 12th were fantastic follow-ups; I loved how they actually connected with one another to feel like a proper trilogy. After the second movie, the battles with the legendaries were generally lacking throughout...until Dialga and Palkia starting beating the crap out of one another.
...small shoutout to the sixth too because Butler

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I agree with this. The 10th, 11th, and 12th movies were the only time in the anime's history where they attempted to do something cool and interesting with the movies. Having that Sinnoh trilogy was a very good idea, the movies actually felt like they built up to something. Even though I was disappointed by the 12th movie. The Pokémon God itself, as well as the gods of time, space, and antimatter, and still there was only about 9 minutes of action and screen-time for them all?? Literally all I want from the movies is to see the legendary Pokemon having awesome, world threatening battles like the first two movies.

Of course I like the first movie but I think my favorite is Arceus and the jewel of life. I also liked the most recent movie about Volcanion and Magearna.

Pokelitfam said:

I agree with this. The 10th, 11th, and 12th movies were the only time in the anime's history where they attempted to do something cool and interesting with the movies. Having that Sinnoh trilogy was a very good idea, the movies actually felt like they built up to something. Even though I was disappointed by the 12th movie. The Pokémon God itself, as well as the gods of time, space, and antimatter, and still there was only about 9 minutes of action and screen-time for them all?? Literally all I want from the movies is to see the legendary Pokemon having awesome, world threatening battles like the first two movies.

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Yeah, if they'd actually gone somewhere with Arceus, rather than giving us a needlessly drawn out time-travel plot that had that predictably confusing ending that a lot of time-travel based plots have, the 12th movie would have absolutely been my favourite. The 11th movie built on the 10th really well, and initially the 12th looked set to give us a pretty fantastic conclusion...and then Arceus happened. It barely fought, it took damage from Pikachu with the thinly-veiled excuse of it lacking the plate necessary to null its attack (what even?) and...well, personally I found it a very disappointing portrayal of the God of all Pokemon. Where are the thees and thous?!


One thing I quite liked about 4Ever, thinking about it, was how Celebi was brainwashed and actually died. Sure, it was revived through some convoluted time-travel nonsense, but for the primary antagonist to succeed in his goals (at least before he went power mad) and then KILL the Legendary involved is pretty grim for the anime. Sure, it's not the first or only death in a Pokemon film, but it's the only outright one. Turned to stone, transformed into an orb, becoming one with the Force/tree/whatever, etc, isn't technically death persay, and neither Entei nor Groudon were actually living things. Celebi was outright murdered on-screen and you actually got to see it wither and die!

...well, I suppose Marcus in the 12th movie kinda counts, but that was an off-screen, implied death.

For the Pokemon movies I have watched, this is my order of them from my most favorite to my least favorite:

Pokemon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back
Pokemon The Movie 2000: The Power of One
Pokemon 4Ever
Jirachi Wish Maker
The Rise of Darkrai
Giratina and the Sky Warrior
Arceus and the Jewel of Life
Zoroark Master of Illusions
White: Victini and Zekrom
Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice
Genesect and the Legend Awakened
Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction
Hoopa and the Clash of Ages
Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel
Black Victini and Reshiram
Pokemon 3: The Movie

I feel that the second movie was the best. It was the one that had the best storyline and the parts with Ash flying with Lugia, the Slowking scenes, and Team Rocket helping Ash were really interesting. There were some really tense scenes and some great lines too, especially when Team Rocket were basically willing to sacrifice themselves in order to save the world. The third movie is a close second, followed by the 4th and 1st for me.

My favourite is the Hoopa movie

Meyneth said:

Yeah, if they'd actually gone somewhere with Arceus, rather than giving us a needlessly drawn out time-travel plot that had that predictably confusing ending that a lot of time-travel based plots have, the 12th movie would have absolutely been my favourite. The 11th movie built on the 10th really well, and initially the 12th looked set to give us a pretty fantastic conclusion...and then Arceus happened. It barely fought, it took damage from Pikachu with the thinly-veiled excuse of it lacking the plate necessary to null its attack (what even?) and...well, personally I found it a very disappointing portrayal of the God of all Pokemon. Where are the thees and thous?!

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The "God" of all Pokémon, was essentially just portrayed as a slightly more powerful than usual Pokémon. I kind of expected the God of all Pokémon to be a bit more powerful, and knowledgeable. Aren't gods supposed to be "all seeing", or "all knowing"? Cause Arceus certainly did not see that obvious trap coming in the movie.

Anyways, I lost interest in the movies after the 12th one. I will probably watch the upcoming movie, just to see how it turns out.
But the movies for me tend to have a lack of action and drama, apart from a few.
The first two were brilliant. The 3rd and 4th were good as well. But my god did they drop the ball after that. To this day, I have no idea how anyone can say that they honestly enjoyed the 6th and 7th movies. But hey, to each their own.

colours said:

I stopped taking the 12th movie that seriously at that particular point. When Pikachu is shown to be more useful than Dialga, Palkia and Giratina... that's just taking things a bit too far, imo. :x

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Truth fam. To be fair, half of the movies don't even take themselves seriously, let alone the people watching.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: In the games, Groudon and Kyogre are these fearsome beasts that would literally tear apart the world just to get a hit on the other one. But in the anime, they're just peaceful friends, who only want the best for society. The anime doesn't even take itself seriously lmao.

In my opinion, the most well-written Pokémon movies were Movie 8 (Lucario) and Movie 9 (Manaphy), and these two personally felt like the apex of all Pokémon movies for me.

The Manaphy movie is my all-time favorite because of how the writers handled the theme of impermanence, as well as the vast extent they explored May's bond with Manaphy. May truly loved Manaphy as if it were her own child, but Manaphy's destiny ultimately lay elsewhere. I really appreciate the scene where May accidentally overheard Jackie asking Ash to separate the two of them, mentioning that the closer they get, the more Manaphy's departure would hurt them both. Upon hearing this, May realized the inevitability of parting with Manaphy... to the point where she almost broke down emotionally on the inside, but was determined to stay strong until the very end, for Manaphy's sake.

That part did a brilliant job at highlighting the beauty of impermanence. Of course May knew that it would be less painful if she distanced herself from Manaphy, but on the other hand, she would never have another chance to meet Manaphy again. Her time with Manaphy was limited, and nothing would change that. So rather than thinking about the pain of parting ways, she instead chooses to cherish each moment together with Manaphy as much as possible. Her time with Manaphy was a once-in-a-lifetime godsend, and May knew that this was not something to take for granted. It was because of this impermanence that May's bond with Manaphy was able to truly shine. It hit me really hard at the end of the movie when May managed to put a smile on her face one last time for Manaphy, despite telling Max afterward that she still wasn't feeling OK yet. I don't why, but I just found that scene to be very relatable.

On a side note, Jack Walker was both a badass and a legitimately hilarious character at the same time. xD And then we have the part where Ash flipped his hat backwards while saving the temple... That was just amazing.




Now as for the Lucario movie, I'd say it was my... third favorite? (Probably after the Victini movie.) But despite that, I can acknowledge that it was arguably more well-written than the Manaphy movie, despite the latter being my favorite. Lucario felt like one of the most in-depth characters the entire Pokémon anime has ever seen, and his character development throughout the plot was incredibly well-done.

To shed some light on his backstory, Lucario is first introduced as a noble servant of Sir Aaron, several centuries before the present day. However, a war was taking place in their homeland. Sir Aaron planned to sacrifice his own life to stop the war, and he knew Lucario would want to do the same if he was aware of Aaron's plan. Thus, Aaron decided to seal away Lucario, while telling him that he chose to abandon the castle. When Lucario reawakens several centuries later in the very same castle, it was only natural that he became consumed by feelings of confusion, sadness, and most of all, betrayal. Furthermore, he woke up to the news that Sir Aaron was the hero of the castle, despite the last thing he remembered was Aaron being a traitor. Refusing to accept this news, in addition to succumbing to his earlier feelings of despair, Lucario grew bitter and distrustful of humans.

Lucario's character development is gradually carried out through phases of denial, forgiveness, and acceptance, and he would often reminisce about Aaron throughout these phases. When Lucario hears the story of how Ash and Pikachu became best friends (remember the Spearow incident?), he denies the sincerity of Ash's feelings, claiming that Ash might still abandon PIkachu if he needed to save his own life. After all, Aaron had felt like Lucario's best friend, yet he was still seemingly "betrayed" by Aaron. Of course, this causes a huge conflict between Ash and Lucario. This isn't just any generic conflict; it's a very personal and emotional one. Ash even goes far enough to call Lucario's story a fraud, which he deeply regrets later. When Ash and the group later witnessed Lucario's memories through a time flower, Ash literally breaks down crying in front of Lucario, feeling awful about the things he said earlier. It was at this moment that Lucario finally forgave Ash, and wanted Ash to promise he would never abandon PIkachu.

Once Ash and Lucario manage to reach the core of the Tree of Beginning (after facing some near-death experiences along the way), Lucario finally discovers the truth about Aaron's sacrifice, and at last, Lucario comes to terms with the truth. But due to the crisis at hand, Lucario also ends up sacrificing his own life the same way Aaron did. Lucario is able to accept death, and in his final moments, he witnesses a memory showing Aaron's final words when Aaron gave up his life. Cleared of all regrets, Lucario cries in happiness, and he finally passes on to the afterlife.

It was extremely sad, but the writers definitely resolved Lucario's character arc in a very satisfying manner. This, combined with all of the suspense and unpredictable action, made the Lucario movie a very solid installment to me.

Pokelitfam said:

But my god did they drop the ball after that. To this day, I have no idea how anyone can say that they honestly enjoyed the 6th and 7th movies. But hey, to each their own.

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I actually did enjoy those movies... a lot. They might have been lighthearted, less action-oriented, or even simplistic as opposed to some of the other movies, but that doesn't make them outright bad. I found that these two movies still had a lot of heart and spirit to them. And taking into account what they were trying to convey, they were executed quite nicely (in my eyes, at least).

To be honest, I'd say they didn't really drop the ball until the Keldeo movie, which in turn horribly impacted the Genesect and Diancie movies that came directly next in line. I think this had something to do with major budget cuts, but regardless, it was painfully clear that they weren't putting even a fraction of the effort into the movies that they used to. (Kinda disappointing, since I actually adore the Best Wishes series, haha.) Luckily, the Hoopa movie was a huuuuge improvement over the three consecutive movies that came before it, and the Volcanion movie also managed to hold its own, as well.

Song of Time said:

(Kinda disappointing, since I actually adore the Best Wishes series, haha.)

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If you'd started your post with this then I wouldn't of even had to read the rest to know we disagree a bit.

Anyways, I admit the 8th and 9th were good at what they were trying to achieve, the themes they conveyed, the plots were pretty good. But like, those plot gimmicks are used so frequently in the anime, that they're a bit underwhelming, e.g. misty with togepi evolving, James with almost all of his pokemon when they leave, Ash when his pokemon leave, Ash throwing himself in danger, etc.
The only thing that really stood out to me was when lucario sacrificed himself, I really enjoyed that scene.

I'll be honest, I'm starting to wonder if maybe the Pokémon anime just isn't my thing. I feel like it limits itself so much its unbearable.

Pokelitfam said:

If you'd started your post with this then I wouldn't of even had to read the rest to know we disagree a bit.

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Haha, that might be true. But rest assured — while I do adore Best Wishes, I don't exactly think it's a particularly great series or anything. The reason I like it so much is quite hard to explain. =p

Pokelitfam said:

Anyways, I admit the 8th and 9th were good at what they were trying to achieve, the themes they conveyed, the plots were pretty good. But like, those plot gimmicks are used so frequently in the anime, that they're a bit underwhelming, e.g. misty with togepi evolving, James with almost all of his pokemon when they leave, Ash when his pokemon leave, Ash throwing himself in danger, etc.
The only thing that really stood out to me was when lucario sacrificed himself, I really enjoyed that scene.

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Fair enough, and I actually agree that some of those plot ideas are frequently used in the anime. Heck, even the Jirachi movie presented the same theme of impermanence before the Manaphy movie did, and in an even more explicit way. xD Max knew from the very beginning that he only had seven days to spend time with Jirachi, and Ash mentions that everyone's lives would have long ended before the next time Jirachi reawakens. Haha. But even though the theme had been used by the Jirachi movie first, I felt that the Manaphy movie did a better job with it, which is why I enjoyed the latter more.

I guess thinking of each movie as its own self-contained story helps me enjoy them better individually. With this approach, it's still noticeable that ideas/archetypes are being recycled, but at least it feels a lot less like the same thing is blatantly happening multiple times within the very same story, such as the filler episodes in the anime.

Though it's definitely understandable that you would feel underwhelmed, especially if we view everything in the entire anime franchise (movies included) as one whole gigantic story. And I won't blame anyone for approaching the anime from that angle, as it is indeed a fair (and logical) way of looking at things.

Pokelitfam said:

I'll be honest, I'm starting to wonder if maybe the Pokémon anime just isn't my thing. I feel like it limits itself so much its unbearable.

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I see what you mean. I'll admit that one of the reasons I still enjoy the Pokémon anime is because I hold it to a lower standard compared to other anime franchises. If it exceeds my expectations (which aren't that high, admittedly), then I'd feel satisfied enough to enjoy it. If it doesn't meet my expectations, then I still wouldn't be annoyed, simply because I wasn't expecting much to begin with... if that makes any sense, eheh.

But yeah, if the show became less self-restrictive and/or less formulaic, then I would absolutely LOVE to see how things turn out!

Song of Time said:

I guess thinking of each movie as its own self-contained story helps me enjoy them better individually. With this approach, it's still noticeable that ideas/archetypes are being recycled, but at least it feels a lot less like the same thing is blatantly happening multiple times within the very same story, such as the filler episodes in the anime.

Though it's definitely understandable that you would feel underwhelmed, especially if we view everything in the entire anime franchise (movies included) as one whole gigantic story. And I won't blame anyone for approaching the anime from that angle, as it is indeed a fair (and logical) way of looking at things.

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When I was watching the anime a lot (in order to catch up to the current episodes), which was about a month ago, I was essentially forced to watch each series and movie as a whole collection, rather than individual efforts. I watched the movies according to where I was up to in the anime, so I would be watching one like every 2-3 weeks. The movies just completely wore me down. When I started watching the anime again for the first time since I was a kid, I was looking forward to the movies more than the show itself. The first two were amazing. But after that, they just kept losing me. I'll admit I hold a different opinion to a lot of people, (a lot of people say they loved Pokémon Heroes, but I thought it sucked). The first two movies were extremely well executed. They were a bit cliché, but they were done so well that it didn't matter. And besides some decent efforts, the writing just felt a bit lazy after that.

I also understand and agree with what you said about enjoying the show by holding it to a lower standard. That was how I watched the show and tried to enjoy it for so long. But the thing is, that mentality was how the show and the movies wore me down. For once I just wanted more than what I expected but it never happened and I got tired. I stopped watching the movies after the 12th, and despite catching up to the current eps of the anime, I'm just not as interested. There are better shows out there that do exceed my expectations, that are enjoyable, and that I don't have to hold to a lower standard to enjoy.

Edit: Just adding to what I said earlier, there is one plot gimmick that has been used so frequently that its just hard to watch at this point.
I'm talking about the one where either Ash, or some Pokémon risks its life and puts itself on the line to protect someone or everyone. It has been done in ALMOST EVERY MOVIE AND SEASON OF THE ANIME. Examples:
* The entire plot of "Rise of Darkrai"
* the climax of "manaphy and the sea temple"
* the climax of the 8th movie
* The second episode of XY
* Latios in the 5th movie
And there are many more that I cant be bothered to put up.

Celebi and Darkari have always been my favorites. Though seeing the new trailer for the 20th movie, that very well might take the top spot.

Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, really enjoyed that movie and I love the sounds of those Reggie's.