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Pokémon is a franchise that continues to fascinate despite how repetitive the formulas have become for several films. Roughly after the first two trilogies, the writing was already starting to waiver on originality but it was the likable main characters, voice acting and music that kept it mostly tolerable. Now, with way over ten films the level of quality has remained at average. For the devoted casual viewer, it's serviceable. To a diehard and unfamiliar viewer, it is likely to not impress from either side. Reason for this are the narratives not doing anything different or taking risks. Each story execution had roughly the same setups and outcomes, almost to the exact moment with minor variations. The last generation of black and white was not impressive from a storytelling perspective and the recent XY generation wasn't improving much either. Surprisingly, this entry just managed to squeeze by.

Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and adapted in English by James Carter Cathcart, the story is about Ash and company being drawn into the Azoth Kingdom, a steam punk esque mechanical city, only by happen stance. A legendary Pokémon named Volcanion (Mike Pollock) is trying to save a mechanical Pokémon named Magearna being taken by Prince Raleigh (Laurie Hymes). Alongside the prince is Alva (Billy Bob Thompson) who feels he can help bring the Kingdom to its rightful glory. Meanwhile Princess Kimia (Riley Joseph) feels her brother is mistaken. Direction is once again headed by Kunihiko Yuyama and that can also be said for the execution of the story. Let's see, do we have a legendary Pokémon involved? Yes. Does the Pokémon speak English through telepathy? Yes. Are the antagonists attempting to do what past villains wanted to do with a special Pokémon? Yes. Why can't anything different be done with the setup?

For once at least the main characters are dragged into a conflict as opposed to just walking into one, but that's not a big change. Voice acting in general from the cast is fine. This is a standard that has been met consistently though for every entry, thankfully. The few additions like Laurie Hymes and Riley Joseph are both fine, despite Joseph having very few credits. Billy Bob Thompson as Alva works. He has what sounds like the right voice for the role. And for Mike Pollock who's been with the franchise before is by far the more intriguing actor in the film. Even though the use of Telepathic Pokémon is just obnoxious now, Pollock's role as Volcanion is not some cutesy eyed puff ball. Volcanion is like an old crotchety man who has no time for fun with a gruff deep voice. That's a much better attention grabber than the others before it.

It was even more eyebrow raising to see that Team Rocket's Jessie, James and Meowth were way more involved in this story, which hasn't happened in quite a long time too. And of course because this entry is in the XY generation, mega evolution is prevalent but so is this new form called a "mega wave". Also known as a mega evolving hack. Sure, all these minor changes are appreciated and it can keep the interest of the viewer. However, this is still not enough for this story to break the all too familiar rut it's dug itself into. The plotline is very much the same from previous film entries and the reason why the antagonist is doing their evil deeds is the same as other villains before them. Because Pokémon contain a power far greater if used a certain way that unleashes life altering changes to the norms currently held by everyday normal people and Pokémon alike.

Again, visually there are no issues. The animation continues to work in the films favor. For those who love steam punk related themes, viewers should get a kick out of all the mechanical parts and gears flying around the kingdom of Azoth. Cinematography by Aya Aoshima is an unexplained and undetermined credit to the picture but okay sure. As for music the film score was again composed by Shinji Miyazaki and Ed Goldfarb respectively per their country of origin even though only one score exists. So weird. The music to this entry was also unique and different this time with what sounded like incorporated Harpsicord or calliope giving the setting a more medieval feel surrounding the mechanical kingdom. Too bad all the pluses are not enough to make it far better than it could have been.

At this rate, an entry with even small updates seems to be a nice change. That still doesn't make it great though. While it continues to suffer from the same recycled storytelling and villains, the voice acting, animation and music make it okay to watch. Once.

POKÉMON THE MOVIE: VOLCANION AND THE MECHANICAL MARVEL (2016) is the 19th Pokémon movie and one of the more entertaining and action-packed in recent years. Certain plot elements are a little too similar to those found in POKÉMON THE MOVIE WHITE: VICTINI AND ZEKROM (2011), which itself was derivative of Hayao Miyazaki's LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY (1986), but the abundant action and large cast of characters, both new and old, as well as all sorts of imaginative new Pokémon, were enough to carry me along for the ride. It features Ash Ketchum and the other cast members from "Pokémon the Series: XYZ" and manages to give each of them a lot to do, especially Clemont and Serena. Team Rocket is along for the ride and they play major roles in the action also, a welcome change from most of the movies where they get shunted off to the side. The emotional depth of Meowth's performance will no doubt surprise longtime Pokémon fans.

The plot was a little complicated for my tastes and I had to see the film twice before I could get comfortable with it, so I won't recount too much of it, but the key ingredient is Volcanion, a large-size talking mechanical Pokémon which operates on steam power and has long, thick metallic arms that can shoot blasts of steam and heavy metal feet that can do significant damage on their own. Volcanion generally hates all humans, but nonetheless gets stuck with Ash and his friends as it struggles to protect another, more delicate mechanical Pokémon, Magearna, from the clutches of the villains who control the Kingdom of Azoth and covet Magearna's secret source of power. After the initial rescue of Magearna, there's a long, pleasant interlude set on the remote, lush Nebel Plateau that serves as a sanctuary for Pokémon whose negative experiences with humans have left them distrustful and fearful and led them to turn to Volcanion for protection. It's quite a delightful sequence and is filled with adorable new Pokémon who gradually learn to trust and enjoy the company of Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie and all of their Pokémon as they eat and play together. They even try to soften the hardened heart of Volcanion. This idyll is inevitably broken up by the invasion of the Azoth mercenaries and their Pokémon. It all culminates in a spectacular series of battles between Volcanion and his allies and the Azoth fighters and the Pokémon under their control who can "mega-evolve" instantly with the help of a new technique called "mega wave," all while the massive stone castle containing the Azoth rulers begins an awe-inspiring transformation.

Azoth is powered by an unusual style of retro technology based on something called "arcane science," developed by a pioneering inventor from 500 years ago named Nikola (no doubt a nod to Nikola Tesla) and revived as "neo-arcane science" by Cabinet Minister Alva, the sinister figure behind the pursuit and capture of Magearna. It was a bit reminiscent of the steampunk technology that informed Katsuhiro Otomo's STEAMBOY (2004), set in Victorian England, although with enough imaginative new touches to keep it fresh for me. There's a royal family that gets caught up in Alva's machinations, including young Prince Rali, who becomes a pawn of Alva, and the beautiful Princess Kimia, who pilots her own flying machine and offers help to Volcanion, Ash and their party.

As usual with these films, the animation and design are quite impressive and much more elaborate than we see on the TV series. The 2-D animation is supplemented by extensive CGI work, particularly in the detailed rendering of the ancient castle and its many moving parts and the baroque city that makes up the Kingdom of Azoth, all fueled by the aforementioned "arcane science." It's definitely one of the few settings in a Pokémon movie that does not appear to have been inspired by an actual location. The action animation is quite intricate and involves the deployment of large numbers of Pokémon in full battle mode. When it comes to animated adventures for children, I've always found the Pokémon movies much more visually engaging than the big-budget 3-D computer-animated extravaganzas that normally flood the U.S. marketplace and tend to all look alike.

Shinji Miyazaki has been doing the music for the Pokémon franchise since the beginning and the score for this movie is one of his most expressive and sophisticated. I hope there's a soundtrack CD. The English version has a lovely song at the end, "Soul Heart," written by Ed Goldfarb specifically for the movie and sung beautifully by Dani Marcus. While I normally prefer Japanese language tracks over English dubs, I thought the voice work here, supervised by Lisa Ortiz, was especially well done. I watched the film in its English-dubbed version when it was broadcast on the Disney XD cable channel.

It was a basic ass Pokémon movie but whatever lol.

I came into this one ready to hate it, considering that the "Pokémon" films from the X&Y saga hadn't been exactly stellar. "Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction" was mediocre and "Hoopa and the Clash of Ages" was the worst "Pokémon" film yet. However, this film really surprised me. Not only is it the best X&Y film, I would even say that it is the best "Pokémon" film in around a decade.

Volcanion was one of the better legendary Pokémon in a while. While I was a bit annoyed at him at first with how he had the typical "disdain for humanity" personality, he got to be a much more likeable and engaging character as the movie progressed. His relationship with Magearna surprisingly was quite interesting and felt very real.

Similar to the "Victini" movies, this film doesn't really break any new ground but somehow manages to make things feel fresh. It has interesting new variations on themes used before in the series that managed to keep my attention.

The action scenes are an absolute blast and probably some of the most exciting the "Pokémon" films have had in a while. The film is also complimented nicely by impressive animation and CGI and a great musical score.

There are just a few negatives. There were some pretty stupid scenes in the film here and there, though thankfully they are mostly confined to the first half. Also, the main villain wasn't really all that memorable.

Aside from "The Rise of Darkrai", "Victini and Zekrom/Reshiram", and "Genesect and the Legend Awakened", all the post-Hoenn entries in the series have been a chore for me. This film, however, proved that there is still some steam left in this franchise. A highly satisfying "Pokémon" film that is definitely worth checking out.

RATING: B+