Review M15: Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice

[Enzap]

I think this movie was wayyy better than anything we've had in a long time. I do admit that the generic running from Cryogonal scenes got a bit redundant, but at least we got some fairly nice character interactions in the meantime.

And the best part? They actually put the advanced art style to good use and had some epic battle scenes, which seem to be missing from most of the recent movies. I also liked how Ash wasn't "The Chosen One" this time and the focus was actually on a Pokemon and their journey. Ash 'n company kind of took a backseat, which was a nice change in my opinion. But even though Ash wasn't as much of the focus as he usually is, Cilan and Iris were actually useful! :O

I think they handled Kyurem's role very well. It wasn't really a bad guy, so much as a test giver that helps Keldeo discover his true purpose. I greatly preferred that over a mindless, rampaging monster who is under the control of a generic villain that I honestly don't care about.

 

[Dogasu]

I'm pretty sure he's referring to Shoko-tan's general voicing of the character we've heard dozens of times in previews since I don't think many people have seen the movie in fully Japanese. His statement seemed more opinionated more than anything since from what I can of the anime forums, you all think Shoko-tan is terribad. So, I'm not surprised Vic M. would do a better job if that is the case.

So you guys are basing this opinion on...a couple of trailers? Vs. an entire 90 minute movie with Vic M.?

And yet when I do the same thing when the first English trailers came out, I get told that I needed to give Vic a chance and that it wasn't fair to base a person's performance on a few snippets in a couple of trailers?

Seems like a pretty shitty double standard to me.

 

[Frugrow]

Here are some comments I made during the Canadian airing.

Spoiler

• Cilan called himself a "Box Lunch Connoisseur."
• There was a little girl who looked like Misty, but had two pigtails instead of one.
• The Cryogonal just stood there and made pigeon noises as Kyurem and Keldeo fought. They didn't fight against Keldeo, they were just sort of there.
• Why didn't Ash recall Scraggy to its PokeBall when it missed the train?
• I think I saw the CN Tower!
• A lot of the city shots remind me of downtown Toronto.
• The art is simply fantastic. All the backgrounds are so well-done, I can hardly believe it.
• Iris should be called "The Girl who Understands the Hearts of Blimps."
• Cryogonal's just throwing up their face-sparkles.
• This is basically Erection Jokes: The Movie.
• Kyurem sounds surprisingly sophisticated. I expected him to sound more guttural.
• It's nice watching Ash beat on that ice with some of his Pokemon. Even if it wasn't the most effective action, it was very nice.
• Ash is basically like Keldeo's big brother throughout the movie.

I really liked this movie. Not only was the art stunning and the story fantastic, but the characters were great. Kyurem was mysterious and scary. I sort of wish he appeared more, but at least he was always menacing. And he didn't steal the scene, which allowed more Keldeo/Ash bonding. :3

You can tell just house close the Swords of Justice are with Keldeo; Keldeo's hero worship of them is adorable.

The movie got dull at times, but the cute dynamic between the characters and the art made up for those moments.

Was this movie's setting based on Toronto, Canada? If so, that's really cool! I know the Deoxys movie was based on Vancouver, Canada.

Anyway, just finished the movie and it's actually pretty good despite some flaws. First off, it's probably the "scariest" Pokemon movie to date since Kyurem is a pretty scary Pokemon and most of the movie took place at night. I can picture many younger fans being scared/covering their eyes at some scenes.

Loved the 3D effects they used through out the movie and was pleased it wasn't excessive. Kyurem was also really agile for such a bulky Pokemon.

Some crits/nitpicks:

- I didn't like how it wasn't explained how Kyurem was able to transform into White Kyurem and Black Kyurem besides it basically just can.
- After Keldeo confessed to Kyurem that it had lied to Kyurem about being a Sword of Justice, why did Kyurem still want to continue the battle? Was Kyurem waiting for Keldeo to accept defeat or battle with Keldeo until it's incapacitated or dead?
- I totally forgot that I had read the summary prior to watching the movie and that Keldeo got defeated at the end. Whomp whomp.

Can't wait to see what the Genesect movie has in stored for us!

 

[Rentorar]

Technically, Arceus is a Dragon-type.

..And Fire. And Water, Electric, Ghost, Bug, Psychic, Dark, Steel, Poison, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Ground, Rock, Flying, and, of course, Normal.

Lastly, what is up with the title change? I like the original title. "Kyurem VS. the sacred swordsmen Keldeo".

The Arceus movie had Arceus call "Judgment" "Justice". Seems they don't want to use religious terms...or whatever those are.

Ugh...That is something that really gets on my nerves..Why are they so afraid to insult people? It's fiction. So what if it offends some religious nuts who have nothing better to do than complain about a fictional kid's movie?

 

[TaiChiChasers]

I watched this in Canada. Scenes were obviously not cut, but this movie felt so short. It was only on from 5-6:45, including commercials. To me, this felt too much like Movie 11, with the trains and the Pokémon Center. Not to mention the way the Cryogonal was way too similar to the Magnemite/Magneton. I also felt this movie should of centered more around Iris since we saw her Village elder talking about Kyurem and it was Ice/Dragon, Iris' least and most favorite types! It would of been nice to see more development between Keldeo and the gang rather than all the Kyurem chasing scenes. Overall, the movie was good, but compared to others, was really lacking. Can't say I'd really want to go back and watch it again. I'd have to give the movie a 6/10.

And for everyone who watched it in Canada, how come we didn't get the full ending like we usually do? Has TPCi not actually completed it yet? We just got a instrumental version with white text over black background, like a regular TV episode.

 

[EncoreVauxhall]

According to what? The video games that these animated projects ignore all the freaking time?

I didn't ignored entire movie it's the movie could be having errors the games said Arceus is the strongest pokemon.

 

[Frugrow]

I believe this movie was shorter than all the others because of the Meloetta short that was shown before it in Japan.... I wonder if we'll ever get to see the Meloetta short in English. Maybe they'll have a special promotion where Meloetta is finally available for download and the short can be watched online somewhere?

 

[Rentorar]

I'm hoping that the Japanese DVD is going to be put up for purchase online soon. Occasionally I will but the Japanese DVDs, but not all the time because they cost about $40+. Currently I have Movie 8 and 13 in Japanese. I also have movie 1 (two copies..) and 5 in Japanese on VHS. I also have the 3rd mini movie, the 2nd mini movie, Pikachu's winter vacation, Pokemon Irukana/can you draw Pokemon? (I think that's the title..) (I'm such a nerd...)

 

[Ambipom666]

I know this is minor, but Terrakion using the old, orange version of Hyper Beam really irked me [that was Hyper Beam, right?]

I didn't like how Kyurem could transform with little explanation, but I did like how it wasn't a bad guy without being overly saccharine. It was kinda cold [pun completely intended] though.

Also, I guess we're supposed to accept that the gang stayed up all night trying to help Keldeo, given the sunlight near the end. But timing is a minor thing.

I did think White Kyurem was pretty cool, as well as the golden color of Keldeo's phallic symbol.

Nice movie, the soundtrack was great as usual, and the lack of world/town-threatening danger was a nice change of pace.

 

[Ampharos King]

There was one aspect of the movie that I never truly understood, even in the English dub. Why did Keldeo challenge Kyurem to a battle in the first place? Keldeo claimed that it would become a Sword of Justice if it challenged and defeated Kyurem in a battle, but then there was that dialogue from Iris which inferred that all of the Swords of Justice challenged Kyurem to a battle to gain their titles.

It never made sense that the Swords of Justice battled Kyurem in the first place. Kyurem was completely secluded from humans in an abandoned mine, and with the exception of the Cryogonal that it ruled over it hardly interacted with anybody prior to the Keldeo battle. Kyurem did not threaten the lives of any humans or Pokemon until Keldeo ran away from fear after their first battle, and even then Kyurem was only interested in finishing its battle with Keldeo. Kyurem practically ignored Ash and his friends' attempts to stop it from getting to Keldeo. I can understand why Kyurem chased after Keldeo throughout the movie, but what was the justification of their conflict to begin with?

Did Kyurem solely exist to test Keldeo's potential as a Sword of Justice? It felt that way to me, since Kyurem decided to leave after it saw Keldeo using its power to protect Ash and the others. Kyurem even helped to save the lives of Ash and his friends by freezing the collapsing structures in the mine. I wish there was more footage in the movie that helped to answer most of these questions.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Real talk I'm going to do a bunch of real talks.

Real talk insulting someone when they are choking and people seriously don't consider Iris mean SERIOUSLY!

Real talk if Iris is suppose to be the nature to Cilan's technology why does she know how to fly a blimp?

Real talk did Iris STEAL A BLIMP and combine that with the know how to fly a blimp and I think there is no refuting the jerk sue charge.

Real talk why did they keep using special moves on Crygonal

Real talk did Cilan pronounce Crygonal in a way other than Cry-go-nal

Real talk why didn't any other trainers attack the Crygonal

Real talk the Kyurem fights were actually pretty good

Real talk Terrakion surpassed Blastiose dad

Overall good movie especially compared to the rest of best wishes

 

[TaiChiChasers]

Was the movie not as long because of the short? If so, they better dub the special when it comes onto DVD!

 

[Eitarou]

Was the movie not as long because of the short? If so, they better dub the special when it comes onto DVD!

No. It was perfect movie length.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

This was actually an enjoyable movie. Such a simple plot, yet original for a Pokemon movie. Yeah, it suppose there were a few flaws I could name, and seemed rather short - and maybe or maybe not one of my favorites - but the fact that it was all about a Pokemon battle made it feel more like... a Pokemon movie.

Here's one small nitpick that I thought during a scene in the movie: When Ash found out that Scraggy wasn't on the train as it started to depart, why didn't he just use Scraggy's Pokeball to recall him? :/

 

[JustAnotherLeafeon]

I just watched it, and thought it was pretty decent. I really enjoyed the beginning, sort of a back-story and whatnot. The plot wasn't extremely complex either, so it was easy to follow. Although, throughout the movie, I kept thinking, "Oh, so that's how you say it..." Which, to be honest, happens in the majority of movies.

When Ash found out that Scraggy wasn't on the train as it started to depart, why didn't he just use Scraggy's Pokeball to recall him? :/

Because, if you haven't noticed, Ash makes stupid decisions. A prime example being that near the beginning of the movie, Ash used his Pikachu against a Druddigon. But, since he's the hero, he still beat it (or, at least it looked like it). And there are countless other examples similar to that. So yeah, not a good decision maker.

 

[Midnight Blue]

Really liked it. Don't know why but I liked the Best Wishes reference(if the girl that said best wishes was a reference). Speaking of the girl, I though she was going to have a bigger role in the movie.

 

[Blue_Drifblim]

Loved the movie. It definitely takes a spot as one of my favorites. I thought that Keldeo was fun, and I enjoyed watching his journey. I also liked that Cilan and Iris got to do some important stuff.

I have to say, the animation was gorgeous, both 2D and CGI. The Pokemon playing on the train, Ash+Pikachu flying on Keldeo, and Keldeo's fight with Kyurem at the climax, combined with the great settings and BG artwork made for some wonderful eye candy. Yeah. I seriously want this movie on Blu-ray. (My only problem was that the characters looked pretty.... erm, wonky, in some scenes.) As far as voice acting goes, I thought that pretty much everybody gave a good performance. (Virizion sounded a little emotionless at times, but... eh.)

And did anybody else love the music? Shinji Miyazaki did a great job.

Overall, a really enjoyable movie. Looking forward to next year's.

 

[Hellwarden]

I know it's probably a stupid thing to think about...

....but part of me wonders if Iris ever returned that potentially very valuable blimp to its rightful owners?

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

I know it's probably a stupid thing to think about...

....but part of me wonders if Iris ever returned that potentially very valuable blimp to its rightful owners?

It's not a stupid thing to think about at all she straight up stole a blimp

 

[Moe]

I really enjoyed this movie - certainly far more than the first BW movie - and it's up there among my favourites across the series. I particularly like the fact it's a Pokemon movie with a plot other than the impending destruction of the world with Ash needing to personally save it and as such it doesn't feel as repetitive as some of the other plots are.

It did feel a bit short, but I suppose that's better than being long and drawn out - there could have been a bit more time spent on why fighting Kyurem was as important as it was, and I'd have liked a little bit more of Iris - they did touch slightly on the whole Dragon/Ice type conundrum - but other than that the occasional complaints about the cold were about all - Iris probably should have been a bit more conflicted about what side she was on and had a bit more awe about the fact she'd just seen the most powerful dragon type. Basically, for a movie centring around a dragon type, it's odd that Iris' role was as small as it was.

Beyond that though, I did like how Cilan and Iris were put to decent use, even if Ash was the main character (I'd say 'as always', but the way he's been treated in the BW anime, I'm happy that he's getting the focus for once), they weren't totally useless like in some of the other movies. Ash was also smarter than usual, using Boldore as a sledge was great. At a stretch I wish that the ice finally breaking to free the trio was a Scraggy headbutt and that Ash didn't randomly ignore Boldore and Pignite to watch what was going on, but there's not much to complain about.

The longer version of the Rival Destinies song seemed a bit poor - they were really stretching for words at times and the music just sounds odd. Which is a shame as I quite liked the movie length version of Black and White. Otherwise, I thought everything was well dubbed and nothing stood out as annoying to me about it.

It's a bit disappointing that the Meloetta short wasn't shown, so hopefully it's both on the DVD (and hopefully Blu-Ray) and that they come out fairly soon.