Review M18: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages

[KrspaceT]

I consider it Pokemon's equivalent to a Godzilla vs King Kong movie and that is all I will say on the subject

 

[UxieLover1994]

KojiroKing, it's alright to give negative reviews, but your comment was way over the top. All I can say is, if you hate the anime films post-M08 so much, you should avoid M19 when it comes out next year, instead of complaining about everything.

 

[KojiroKing]

KojiroKing, it's alright to give negative reviews, but your comment was way over the top. All I can say is, if you hate the anime films post-M08 so much, you should avoid M19 when it comes out next year, instead of complaining about everything.

It was my honest thoughts on the film, though, meant no offense but I thought it was one of the worst films yet by far.

I thought M09 was decent, though, and I thought M12 + M14-15 were alright, it's most of the films since M10 I don't like, not all of them.

So am I supposed to just act like there's nothing wrong with anything or...? Sorry, but I'm going to be honest about my thoughts on things- if you don't like them, I can respect that, but you have to realize some people don't like the recent films for reasons.

The dub comments, however, I was 100% dead serious on, I think it's just that abysmal now. I watch the Original Japanese Version nowadays primarily, I feel it's a LOT better, but even there I thought Movie 18 was terrible: in general, I felt it was lacking substance, lacking cohesiveness with its plot, and the legendaries like Lugia randomly popping up just...it felt scattered.

 

[UxieLover1994]

That's quite fair, but KojiroKing, since you are new here, you need to read the rules before you bash anything. These forums are not meant to be used to bash stuff up, especially if said "stuff" has a good fanbase.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

This movie is pretty decent. Lots of legendary pokemon, Hoopa befriends Ash and my favorite, Arceus shows up.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Just a quick in-thread warning here. Don't act like a mini-mod. If you think that someone's posts is problematic or violates the rules, please report them instead of confronting them about in there. Being a mini-mod isn't necessary when there are staff members who can look into the situation. Please keep this in mind and get back on topic. Thank you.

 

[KojiroKing]

That's quite fair, but KojiroKing, since you are new here, you need to read the rules before you bash anything. These forums are not meant to be used to bash stuff up, especially if said "stuff" has a good fanbase.

Understandable, just wanted to share my two cents on the film and the dub, but thanks for respecting me having a different opinion.

 

[Jolty94]

I enjoyed it, through and through, I haven't enjoyed a Pokémon movie this much since Lucario's movie. Everyone was on point imo, I'm not one to complain about dub changes ect, cause I appreciate the creativity aspect, especially in this movie. They made everything very clear, that Hoopa's shadow was "separate" ect, and explained everything nicely.

The only thing I THOUGHT would shake me; was Hoopa's english voice dub (I said I wouldn't complain about dubs and I'm not), it was actually okay, the trailer made it INTOLERABLE, that trailer does not do this movie justice at all.
The battle of the legends was so epic, it was SO good and WAY overdue to see Ash this bad ass in control, everything was on point for me, as an adult watching a Pokémon movie, I was heavily impressed. I don't even think the next movie will reach this potential.

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

Okay, this movie has taken the title of my second favorite movie(Sorry, nothing tops Lucario and the Mystery of Mew). It was just great, Hoopa has a loveable personality and I loved his pranks especially the one he pulled on Chespin. That was just hilarious.
And I loved seeing almost every legendary. It had a great plot and loveable movie characters. I even thought one of Hoopa's friends weren't going to make it out in time.
And Hoopa's names for Ash and Pikachu were awesome.
I hope they meet Hoopa again someday even though it's probably not likely. To think I hated the concept of Hoopa before watching this.
The next XYZ movie has a tough competitor to beat

 

[charizardmaster125]

After dragging myself out of bed at 9:00am, I watched the movie when it aired on CITV in the UK, last Saturday. The movie is now available to watch for 30 Days on the ITV Player though it may not be available on the Panasonic "Freetime" version of the ITV Player on their Smart TV range like my set as it currently only plays programmes from ITV's 1, 2, 3 and 4.


Despite the fact that CITV does not have a HD service, visuals were pretty good on my 42 inch Panasonic AS650 model and the animation in any Pokémon Movie is always impressive. The story was okay and I liked the battle between the legendary Pokémon which always tends to be a major highlight of the movies. There was a couple of frame rate issues however but this was only in one or two scenes when the pictures were moving extremely fast. This could be a slight issue with the copy of the movie that CITV had to air but it didn't detract from the overall quality.


As with Pokémon Movie 17, there were one or two things in the English adaptation, that didn't sit right with me. The revamped soundtrack by Ed Goldfarb and Akhil Gopal certainly didn't help. For the record, I think only four pieces and those were the two variants of the main Pokémon Game Theme (or the Pokémon March as I like to call it), Clemont's Invention Theme / Kalos Route 4 and the Team Rocket Motto. Correct me if I am wrong however.


That's pretty poor and I was rather annoyed that they didn't keep the call back tracks from past movies and the show, the most notable absence is "To Be Continued", listed in Pocket Monsters Anime Soundtrack Volume 2 or "Vacation in the Desert", listed in Pokémon Movie 18 Japanese Soundtrack. The funny thing is however, I did like the movies ending theme "Every Side of Me" by Dani Marcus. It makes for some very easy listening on the ears. Overall however, the dub's soundtrack is just as generic as what it is in the XY Series, in fact, many of the dub tracks in this movie are re-used from the TV series.

The dub's script was okay to me, the only exception being Team Rocket rhyming all the time. It got very stale in Diamond and Pearl and it hasn't got any better.


Voice acting was hit and miss for me in this movie. I had no problem with the main characters of the movie and I'm glad they kept the original sounds for the legendary Pokémon as they have quite recently been given the Pokemon that used to retain their Japanese voice a more distinct sounding voice. I'm looking at you Moltres and Dunsparce. I had a very hard time keeping a straight face at how ridiculous Hoopa Unbound sounded.


I feel that I'm one of few that never really had a problem with Hoopa's first voice from the early trailer of the movie, but for the final product however, it sounded fine despite when Hoopa started to groan in pain at a few points, it literally made me cringe. At least this movie didn't have any of the PAL Speed Up issues where everyone sounds like the Chipmunks. Again it's down to what sort of format the copy ends up as when CITV airs but I prefer that these imports run at the correct speed.


Overall, the movie is quite solid with lots of action and any die hard Pokémon fan should enjoy it. I recommend that you watch it but as a product on DVD / Blu Ray or Download, I feel that the dub most particularly is only worth renting or waiting until it becomes available on Netflix, it's not something I'd watch again and again, just once in a while.

 

[Legacy]

Just saw it. Was disappointed about there not being an opening theme battle sequence like they usually do. Those are usually my favorite parts of the movies.

Legendary battle was cool.

 

[technickal]

Saw it on CN.

OK, so the movie starts up with Hoopa Unbound attacking a town and delivering some cheesy one-liners before Traveler Guy seals him in a bottle. Then Baraz gets that bottle and gets hypnotized in the process.

Next we have the obligatory "World of Pokémon" segment for the kiddies and grown-ups who haven't been tuning in on TV, and then we get a beach party seen. And Bonnie's Ducklett swimsuit is adorable.

You know, it's weird seeing actual donuts in the anime remembering 4Kids and their rice ball shenanigans. Anyway, the butt of many a gag Chespin gets burnt by a Tamato Berry a mysterious Pokémon slipped him. And then Ash gets kidnapped by said Pokémon.

After an awkward introduction, the Pokémon, Hoopa, decides to throw a Pika-party and sends in dozens of those electric mice. Ash's Pikachu rounds them all up and sends them back after Hoopa's "Trainer" bribes him with a donut. I like how Ash picked out his Pikachu from the identical crowd, by the way. Really shows that bromance they have.

After some exposition, Evil!Baraz returns with the bottle and Hoopa transforms into Mr. Buff 'n' Cheesy again. Baraz suddenly becomes sane and sucks Hoopa back in again, confining him again. Hoopa plays dead until he and Ash chat a bit more. And man, Hoopa Confined is so cute in this. The English dub's recast voice for him definitely helps. He sounded really annoying and bratty in the original trailer, which is nothing like he is in the movie. He's nice, just a little playful.

Then Team Rocket, like the jerks they are, steal Hoopa's Prison Bottle and Meowth gets hypnotized and releases Hoopa Unbound, breaking the bottle in the process. This time Hoopa resists the transformation, but Hoopa Unbound appears anyways. It's a Hoopa paradox! They try to justify it by saying it's his "shadow" or something, and I just go with it.

Next we have the legendary battle. And I don't know why people are disappointed it's short; it's not. It's easily the longest part of the film. The only disappointments I had were some legendaries got the shaft. Lugia and Regigigas, specifically, disappear in the middle of the battle and don't even come back for the finale. And Ho-Oh is MIA again. Seriously, guys, if you're gonna reserve that guy for the main series, then why hasn't it appeared since the Battle Frontier?

Next we have a long and drawn-out ending where the Prison Bottle is repaired using the power of Fire, Water and Ground (why not Grass?) time and space get warped out of reality(!) and Arceus makes a small cameo appearance. Guess they just couldn't fit it into the legendary battle, huh? I mean, the trailer definitely implied it would have a bigger role. Oh well. Next Ash gets possessed by Hoopa Unbound and Hoopa reconciles with his "shadow". And then everyone says goodbye to the legendaries. And Hoopa wishes Ash luck to become a
"Pokémon mister". Everybody laughs. The end.

As for the dub, I have no problem with it. Ed Goldfarb's replacement music wasn't as bad as people say IMO and the voice actors were all great, especially the guest characters, and even Hoopa Unbound. I mean, he definitely sounds cheesy at times, but I couldn't think of a more fitting voice for him.

Anyway, I give this movie a 9/10.

 

[Isaac Gravity]

Saw it on CN. The acting was a bit on the narm at times during those dramatic moments and the means to rebuild the bottle was a bit too convenient esp. if we factor in the shadow's power but it was an overall enjoyable watch.

Also enjoyed Ray and the Eon siblings eat up most the screentime on the hero side. Lugia did a great job too.

 

[skyradiant]

This is the only movie I've seen besides the one with Kyurem and Keldeo, so I'm definitely an outsider here. I basically watched it just for the legendary battle royale, got what I wanted and enjoyed it well enough. I thought it was pretty fun, nothing great but still glad I saw it. My only criticism is that the trailers were misleading, with legendary battles during the day (never happened, they were all at night) and Reshiram, Zekrom and Regigigas barely even being in the movie despite being built up by a few of the ads.

 

[TheMonster6893]

Ok I'm not gonna lie this movie was actually pretty great. It's pacing could have used some work as I feel like Ash and company could have spent more time getting to know Hoopa, the girl, and the guy b4 the big battles started happening, but overall not bad. I really liked the idea of Hoopa having a power that it couldn't control and having to both physically and psychologically deal with it's limitations. The way Hoopa and the other characters interacted really made me feel like I cared what happened to them. The action scenes were intense and I really felt something when Hoopa itself was terrified of what it had become. Again the pacing could have been better in the beginning as the battles started soooo early on, but all in all it was a decent movie. It didn't feel nearly as empty emotionally as the Diancie movie. I'd definitely put this movie up there as far as Pokemon movies go. Is it the best one of them all? I'm not too sure about that, but it certainly did make me exited while watching and as I still haven't had time to get Hoopa in my game I'm excited to jump on that b4 it's gone!!!

 

[Ryu Taylor]

If only air was one of the ingredients to making a Prison Bottle, there could've been an easy Avatar joke to make there.

Oh well. It was still a neat film. Sure the legendary battle could've been more than beam-spamming, but it was good enough for what it was. And Ed Goldfarb got better at film rescoring with this one, even though I would've liked to hear some remixes of older legendary themes, and there also didn't need to be so much Mickey Mousing. Still, it's better than it's given credit for.

I will be getting this on DVD.

 

[uncutpokemon]

Wait did they change the music for this movie as well? In that case I'm gonna go find the fansub.

 

[Aggron989]

I was disappointed when I saw this movie. Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie did very little, the legendary battle felt rushed, and the whole thing with Ash being possessed by the Prison Bottle that was so built up prior to the movie's release amounted to... practically nothing. They made it sound like that was one of the main conflicts in the movie, when it was just shoehorned in at the end and contributed very little to anything. And Arceus's role was a lot less important than we were led to believe. Honestly, there were a bunch of epic and suspenseful scenes in the movie trailer that looked like they would actually make for a good show despite the ridiculous number of legendary Pokémon. The problem is, they never even ended up in the actual movie.

 

[Muur]

Idk if there's a dubbed thread... but I felt it was too rushed. Wasn't even Ash battling a guy. Was pretty fun tough. Was also surreal to see Ash commanding Legendaries, though it lead me to wonder how he knew what moves they knew...

 

[ii kanji]

I'm a little late to the party and tbh all I have to contribute is this little gem from Hoopa itself:
"Mezase porn star!"
TROLOLOLOLOLOL.
That's gotta have been intentional, right?


Honestly, I did go into this thinking "The plot can't be as silly as others have said" but it really was. One of the most contrived stories & solutions I can remember in this series. I never really understood what possessed Mary and Balza to unleash Hoopa, especially given that they were brought up with the knowledge of what it could do!

The legendary fight was absolute bullshit, no questions about it. I'm not usually one to pay attention to/notice/care about game mechanics but when Satoshi knew the moves that Latios, Latias and Rayquaza had the whole battle became lost on me. Also why did Zekrom/Reshiram/Kyurem freeze Groudon - weren't they on the same team?! The amount of indiscriminate damage to a city that was clearly populated really did not resonate well, given the kind of world we live in...

I did like the scenes with Lugia, especially the little riff we heard from its theme song and the very obvious throwbacks to M2. Shame the TRio had to behave in such a polar opposite way to how they did in that excellent film - stupid and utterly selfish. What happened to the TRio of yore who, yes, probably would have set crazy Hoopa free but then done their utmost to help save humanity? And why even bother including Satoshi's companions if they're going to do sweet FA? M17 didn't have half as much a problem in this regard as this film did.