AgedVeteranofShow
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Since we had a thread on the reverse, curious what everyone's favorite films are?
My 5 Favorite Are:
1. M08 aka "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew"
I think out of all the AG films, this one stands out as being the best of the bunch. It has a genuinely good plot, with Sir Aaron of Camaron Palace saving it, as an Aura Knight. From that day forward the people honored his deeds with an annual festival, and the whole Lucario feels he was betrayed by him but by the end finding out he was trying to save him instead-- the whole thing is just so fascinating, it feels like they put a lot more thought + creativity into this film than most in the franchise. It's also a solid swan song for the 4Kids Era of the dub, I thought, and generally every character feels like they contribute something towards the story here (TR get to keep Ash's Pokemon company for a solid bit of it, then when they die being engulfed by the blobs it's pretty sad, May keeps Ash's temper under control, Brock provides the comedy with Kidd Summers, while Max gets to help the gang out). It's fairly Ash focused, but it's also very interesting at the same time. I kind of tear up at the end when Lucario & Aaron speak to each other, too.
2. M03 aka "Spell of the Unown"
Out of the Takeshi Shudo Era films- beautiful swan song for his work as well before he left the Series pre-EP244, IMO, and generally the OS ones, I think this is the best of the entire set. I actually really like the plot here, Molly just missing her father and being willing to do anything to get him back. It also helps this is the first dub film 4Kids decided to mostly translate well, and even some of the Team Rocket dialogue that gets changed is generally fairly funny (e.g. "I haven't seen this many strange letters since the last time I placed that personal ad," & "It's like a storybook land invented by a 5 year old!"). Misty & Brock weren't sidelined, actually having to face off against Molly themselves (Brock's line is pretty funny in the dub in the, "I made you laugh, my first victory today"), while Ash goes to rescue his mother from Entei, etc. etc.
3. M05 aka "Pokemon Heroes"
I actually really liked the plot of this one, the Alto Mare backstory and super cheesy in the best of ways. I think it holds up fairly well, once you get past the weird interspecies pseudoromance. Any criticisms I have are mostly minor (pertaining to the dub Annie/Oakley and the former, but they don't bring it down too much, still pretty enjoyable with the main cast of characters as well as Latias/Latios), and anime Venice is pretty cool.
4. M06 aka "Jirachi Wish Maker"
The first Movie in the AG Series, Max is the focus here and he's surprisingly well fleshed out and made a much more interesting character than he ever was in the Anime Series tbh. The bond he and Jirachi have in it, also Flygon keeping its Japanese voice in the dub, and Butler/Diane are some of the more interesting villains to come from this franchise IMO.
5. M21 aka "The Power of Us"
Breath of fresh air compared to the remakes it is sandwiched in between, easily my favorite of the AU films. It's generally got a fairly decent plot, a pretty solid story, and I actually kind of like Ash's outfit in this one. It stands out like a sore thumb to me because it isn't just a rehash of what we saw before, it's not repetitive, and it's the one AU film to have a generally unique not stale plot to it by this point to me.
Honorable mentions: M01 (Japanese Only, though I will say the English dub has genuinely nice voice acting compared to M22's IMO, but everything else oof...)
My 5 Favorite Are:
1. M08 aka "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew"
I think out of all the AG films, this one stands out as being the best of the bunch. It has a genuinely good plot, with Sir Aaron of Camaron Palace saving it, as an Aura Knight. From that day forward the people honored his deeds with an annual festival, and the whole Lucario feels he was betrayed by him but by the end finding out he was trying to save him instead-- the whole thing is just so fascinating, it feels like they put a lot more thought + creativity into this film than most in the franchise. It's also a solid swan song for the 4Kids Era of the dub, I thought, and generally every character feels like they contribute something towards the story here (TR get to keep Ash's Pokemon company for a solid bit of it, then when they die being engulfed by the blobs it's pretty sad, May keeps Ash's temper under control, Brock provides the comedy with Kidd Summers, while Max gets to help the gang out). It's fairly Ash focused, but it's also very interesting at the same time. I kind of tear up at the end when Lucario & Aaron speak to each other, too.
2. M03 aka "Spell of the Unown"
Out of the Takeshi Shudo Era films- beautiful swan song for his work as well before he left the Series pre-EP244, IMO, and generally the OS ones, I think this is the best of the entire set. I actually really like the plot here, Molly just missing her father and being willing to do anything to get him back. It also helps this is the first dub film 4Kids decided to mostly translate well, and even some of the Team Rocket dialogue that gets changed is generally fairly funny (e.g. "I haven't seen this many strange letters since the last time I placed that personal ad," & "It's like a storybook land invented by a 5 year old!"). Misty & Brock weren't sidelined, actually having to face off against Molly themselves (Brock's line is pretty funny in the dub in the, "I made you laugh, my first victory today"), while Ash goes to rescue his mother from Entei, etc. etc.
3. M05 aka "Pokemon Heroes"
I actually really liked the plot of this one, the Alto Mare backstory and super cheesy in the best of ways. I think it holds up fairly well, once you get past the weird interspecies pseudoromance. Any criticisms I have are mostly minor (pertaining to the dub Annie/Oakley and the former, but they don't bring it down too much, still pretty enjoyable with the main cast of characters as well as Latias/Latios), and anime Venice is pretty cool.
4. M06 aka "Jirachi Wish Maker"
The first Movie in the AG Series, Max is the focus here and he's surprisingly well fleshed out and made a much more interesting character than he ever was in the Anime Series tbh. The bond he and Jirachi have in it, also Flygon keeping its Japanese voice in the dub, and Butler/Diane are some of the more interesting villains to come from this franchise IMO.
5. M21 aka "The Power of Us"
Breath of fresh air compared to the remakes it is sandwiched in between, easily my favorite of the AU films. It's generally got a fairly decent plot, a pretty solid story, and I actually kind of like Ash's outfit in this one. It stands out like a sore thumb to me because it isn't just a rehash of what we saw before, it's not repetitive, and it's the one AU film to have a generally unique not stale plot to it by this point to me.
Honorable mentions: M01 (Japanese Only, though I will say the English dub has genuinely nice voice acting compared to M22's IMO, but everything else oof...)
