Pokémon 4: The Movie

Surprising less moldy and trite than the last two.

Alternates between chunks of opaque exposition delivered by cardboard characters and eruptions of colorful and highly imaginative action.

A fairly straightforward, if preachy, tale about environmentalism.

Supposedly, Pokemon can't be killed, but Pokemon 4Ever practically assures that the pocket monster movie franchise is nearly ready to keel over.

It's animated cockfighting for children.

Why the Pokémon fad hasn't died off yet is one of the great mysteries of the universe, right up there with the Pyramids of Gaza and the white stuff in Twinkies.

At best this is a film for the under-7 crowd. But it would be better to wait for the video. And a very rainy day.

Why is everyone hating on this movie? This is an AWESOME movie, and no, hardcore Pokemon fans are NOT the only ones who like it! Anywho, this is an awesome movie, I recommend it!

This one has a more engaging story compared to the 2nd one, and for the series standards, that is actually saying something.

You can watch this movie in peace since Malone & Yûyama added a short summary of Sasha's adventures and about how the Pokemon's world works in overall. It's weird that characters presentations only appear in the fourth movie... Second thing that shocked me was the dubbing which was unusual (especially Sasha's voice). However I managed to accept it. I wasn't expecting much from this because I think Celebi is one of the most uncharismatic Pokemon of the whole series. Its design is so lame with its little leprechaun body and its huge head. I didn't really want to hear about this pokemon before and even less now. However Suicune is great and beautiful as always. Seeing him was a real pleasure. Hearing him wasn't. He has that kind of unexpected roaring... it makes your blood run cold. Good point is that they both are not talking as Entei or Lugia did in previous movies. We can applaud this movie for being the first in the series to use 3D special effects. Obviously these effetcs are ugly and really don't match with the rest of the animation which is good in overall. For the first time too since the first movie the bad guy actually looks and acts like one. We feel there is more danger and pressure on these kids. Pokemons' attacks look the same as in the games and that's great. We feel like we are more included in the movie. There are some deep scenaristic incoherence and inconsistency issues like when everybody is partying while the bad guy is ravaging the forest. Yet they already met. Team Rocket is useless and disappointing. Their jokes are recylced trash. But nothing could erase the unexpected ending and the huge plot twist (no spoil) at the very end about Prof. Oak. We finally learn a bit more about him and it is great to involve him more in this universe.

i love pokemon but i'll admit this movie ****. it's animation is a severe downgrade, it's plot holes are gaping , it's villain is even worse which is doubly bad considering Dan Green is doing the voice and i'm surprised that only Il Neige review is the only one to point out it's really ripping off Princess Mononoke a lot. i did like some of the characters and the plot twist at the end is good but i now know thanks that Suede and Linkara that it's only in the film the way it is because of pointless extra scenes added by 4kids so my intelligence feels insulted

I love Pokemon a lot, but I'm not very fond of it's movies (the first one was the best). The dub is pretty terrible, and there are one-liners abund. While this movie will mainly entertain younger audiences, the message is loud and clear: only watch this if you're a die-hard fan.