As a child of the 90s, it’s difficult to think of an animated film that excited me more than Pokémon: The First Movie. The stellar followup Pokémon: The Movie 2000 soon became my personal favorite, and though subsequent entries were pretty enjoyable for what they were, those two earned and cemented their place in my heart nostalgia-wise and will likely never be replaced.
I tend to be a critic of nostalgia-bias when it comes to serious cinema critique, but let’s be honest – these films are designed to have this effect. It’s part of their charm! Each new Pokémon film is the equivalent of Pokémon: The First Movie for a young new generation of trainers, which is why I always try and give the films a watch or two if I get the chance. Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened will undoubtedly be no different.
Why did the 16th Pokémon film, of all entries, grab my attention? Well, it actually has something in common with the original film from all those years ago: Mewtwo. Though the title doesn’t specifically indicate this, one need not look further than the box art and “Legend” allusion in the movie’s title to figure out what’s going on. Not to be confused with the Mewtwo that trapped Ash and company on an isolated island in the first film (as confirmed by screenwriter Hideki Sonoda on Twitter), this Mewtwo is a different individual entirely. It’s not all that surprising given his clear ability to mega-evolve, but the presence of multiple Mewtwos is still pretty shocking. Now I have to see it.
As for Genesect, I’ll admit my mastery of his (her?) backstory is a bit less comprehensive, but the general gist is that it can hold various drives in order to change the type of damage its Techno Blast attack will dish out. Whether this info from the Pokémon videogames will actually carry over to the film is unclear, but we do know from the trailer that the massive insectoid will be spending time terrorizing a New York-inspired city environment. So that should be pretty fun by itself.
The new trailer is undeniably action-packed, so take a look below if you’re feeling tempted to give feature-length Pokémon another go. Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened will air on Cartoon Network on October 19th. Get ready!
