"I'm only okay because of my friends."
Score: 6.5/10
After an opening that describes what pokemon are that, if you don't already know, would explain absolutely nothing, so if you were like a parent who was dragged to this movie and you were depending on this opening to explain what the hell is going on, you were just so screwed. I find this particularly weird, because an adequate explanation is really easy. "A pokemon is a monster that you can store in a little ball, and some people, including our protagonist Ash and his friends, are trainers, who train said monsters to compete against each other." Bam. Adequate explanation in 34 words, you're done.
We begin the movie proper with the narrator implying that there are other planets full of pokemon out there, and we cut to space. Where in space? You know. Space. It's not that big, you the place I'm talking about. We see a MYSTERIoooUUUSSSssssSS meteor heading somewhere equally mysterious... but almost certainly Earth, because they're unlikely to make a movie about Deoxys and Zorblonian pokemon trainers on the planet Garflex.
Cut back to Earth's North Pole, where a group of scientists are studying hundreds of Spheals, Sealeos, and Walreins. They're led by Professor Lund and Yuko, his improbably attractive assistant (I sometimes wonder if writers and directors know what actual scientists look like). Lund's child, Tory, is also there, playing with the Spheal. Because every scientist takes his small child to the North Pole and allows him to interact with the subject of study, thereby poisoning all research gained.
An aurora brightens up the sky, and the meteor from earlier passes through it. Rayquaza watches it go through the atmosphere and follows it. Like real meteors, it doesn't mostly burn up as it passes through the atmosphere but instead just hits the Earth head on and at its original size.
The impact scares the Spheal, which causes a stampede that Tory is caught in. Lund rescues him, but he's nearly killed before his father gets there. They watch Deoxys crawl out of the meteorite and pick up a glowing green crystal. Before more can happen, Rayquaza appears out of the sky and attacks Deoxys. I like how Yuko seems mildly intrigued by Rayquaza's appearance. Sorry, but previous episodes and movies established legendaries as legendary, as in, there was a very real chance of them not being real. Rayquaza just showing up like this should be like King Arthur just showing up at a Subway and ordering a six inch meatball sub, but here Rayquaza is treated as if its existence was an absolute fact, and only its appearance is worthy of note.
In any case, during the fight we learn that Deoxys sees through electrical patterns, and even trivial amounts of electricity blind it. Rayquaza defeats Deoxys and leaves, which causes it to turn into a blue crystal and fall into the ocean. It drops the green crystal near the scientists, who take it and leave.
Professor Lund thinks that Rayquaza attacked Deoxys because it was another pokemon in its territory. Oh really. Oh. Freaking. Really. I'm sorry, but no. Rayquaza's territory is "the atmosphere," and granted, Deoxys did pass through it, but it was there for like four seconds before reaching Earth, that can't possibly bother it. Unless Rayquaza's territory is "Earth," I have a real problem here with your explanation, and your explanation is the only one we're going to get in this movie.
--
Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005