so, I was in a movie...

Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), also referred to as simply Pokémon: The First Movie, is—as implied—the first movie released by the Pokémon™ franchise. It is an anime fantasy adventure film, directed by the one and only Kunihiko Yuyama, who has also directed most of the Pokémon shows and movies. It was originally released in Japan on July 18, 1998, with the extended version airing on Japanese television nearly a year later on July 8, 1999. Later that year, the English-adaption of the film was released for North American audiences by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 10. Not only was this the first Pokémon™ franchise film, it was also my first movie, or mewvie if you will. This was my big break as an actor! I was not exactly acting though. It was more so a documentary that revealed the schemes of Team Rocket to create a living weapon using my DNA. Personally, I am flattered that they think so highly of me, enough that they wanted to clone me.

Also, you may be wondering, Mew, are you bilingual? Why yes, I am! 私は日本語と英語の両方を流暢に話します。That means I am fluent in both Japanese and English in Japanese. I am also fluent in Yapanese. However, I do not have many speaking roles in much of the media from the Pokémon™ franchise, because they think I am dangerously hilarious and I will end the careers of every comedian to ever exist. So, when the cameras are rolling, I and all the other Pokémon keep quiet and stick to just saying our names.

movie synopsis

The events in this film occurred over a quarter of a century ago, so I will try my best to accurately recall them. Pokémon: The First Movie involves both Mew and Mewtwo. The movie depicts the origins of Mewtwo, who was genetically made from my DNA. He is a copycat—quite literally—and wants to be me so bad! Giovanni, the leader of the mischievous of the crime syndicate Team Rocket, hired Dr. Fuji to create a living weapon using one of my eyelashes. Giovanni specifically sought out Dr. Fuji for this because he gained expertise in cloning after his daughter Amber died and he dedicated himself to trying to bring her back. In his laboratory, Dr. Fuji created clones of other Pokémon and his daughter. All of Fuji's clones follow the naming convention of [original name]-two, (i.e. Mewtwo, Ambertwo, Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo). Mewtwo befriended these other clones, and was then immediately traumatized when they died. Obviously, this caused Mewtwo to have a very emotional response, as one would when all their friends die. And after all, Mewtwo is my clone, and I am sensitive soul.

However, Dr. Fuji did not take kindly to Mewtwo's very normal emotional response to death of everyone around him in the lab. So, Fuji tranquilized Mewtwo with an emotion-suppressing serum, to stabilize him, causing him to fall asleep and lose memories of his friends. How cruel! Mewtwo continued to grow and mature in the serum-induced sleep state. He is actually much larger than me and also purple instead of pink. Fortunately, before reawakening, Mewtwo remembers the last words Ambertwo said to him: Life is wonderful. The memory of Ambertwo invigorated Mewtwo. He was also infuriated when he found out he was a clone of me. He hated that Dr. Fuji and his colleagues at the lab viewed his being as merely an experiment, and not a fully autonomous being! In fact, Mewtwo was so filled with emotional that he unleashed his rampage on everyone inside the lab (including Dr. Fuji) on New Island to requite the injustices done there. He utilized his psychic powers—which he got from me—to telekinetically destroy the lab.

The conniving Giovanni witnessed the carnage from afar, and then heads to the scene of the crime to convince Mewtwo to work with him to further enhance his powers. Eventually, Mewtwo discovered Giovanni's ulterior motive to use him as a weapon for evil. At this point, Mewtwo is beyond fed up! He then fled back New Island and started plotting revenge against both humans and Pokémon.

Mewtwo rebuilt the laboratory, and sent out hologram messages inviting several trainers to battle the world's greatest Pokémon trainer at New Island. Of course, Ash, Misty, and Brock accepted this invitation, but they run into issues when traveling to New Island. At the port city, Old Shore Wharf, Mewtwo caused a storm causing the ports to close for safety. Then, Ash and his friends get picked up by Team Rocket pretending to be Vikings on a boat. The storm sunk their vessel in the middle of the ocean, but then Ash, Misty, and Brock used their Pokémon to reach their destination.

After finally arriving at New Island, a woman who appeared on a hologram escorted Ash and the other trainers to the island palace to meet Mewtwo. Mewtwo released the woman from mind control, revealing that she was no other than the beloved Nurse Joy. He then challenges all of the trainers with cloned Pokémon coincidentally—and rather morbidly—modeled after his deceased childhood friends. Meanwhile, Team Rocket also arrived at New Island, and they began exploring its inner sanctum as I innocuously followed them. Mewtwo's new clones effortlessly destroyed the other trainers' Pokémon. Mewtwo then kidnapped the losing Pokémon to expand his clone army. (He must really like Star Wars...) Because Ash loves Pikachu very dearly, he chased after him down to the cloning lab, where Meowth, of Team Rocket, was being cloned. Luckily, Ash destroyed the cloning machines, freeing the captured Pokémon, and he rallied them up to confront Mewtwo and his clones. Pokémon Clone Wars!!! Then, it is my time shine... I revealed myself and challenge Mewtwo in hopes to stop him from further spreading destruction.

All of the Pokémon originals battled their clones, expect for the Pikachus and the surprising rational Meowthes, who made peace and realized that fighting each other was kind of ridiculous and silly. The original Pikachu was much more sensitive than its clone at first and didn't want fight. The clone Pikachu kept slapping the original Pikachu, until the clone started crying, and they both eventually gave up.

Then, Ash was like hmm, Pikachu is kinda onto something. More of them have gotta stop wanting to fight each other. In a foolish attempt to de-escalate my battle with Mewtwo, Ash intercepted a psychic blast, causing his body to petrify. Pikachu then tried to revive Ash with electricity, which did not work. (As if a defibrillator would save someone from a literal psychic blast.) All of the Pokémon, both originals and clones, started sobbing and mourning Ash's tragic death. But, Pikachu's sparkly tears brought Ash back to life! Mewtwo is so moved by Ash's major sacrifice and risk that an epiphany dawned upon him. Mewtwo realized that he and others should not have to be judged by their origins, but rather by the choices they make in life. After departing from me and the other clones, Mewtwo used his magic mind powers to turn back time to just before the trainers wer about to the leave Old Shore Wharf. By turning back time, he erased the second series of traumatic events that had occurred on New Island from the minds of the trainers and original Pokémon.

Back on Old Shore Wharf, Nurse Joy was back to her normal self and reopens the Pokémon Center to shelter the stranded trainers. As the storming was clearing up, Ash spotted me flying through the clouds and gets excited to tell his friends how he saw another legendary Pokémon the day he left Pallet Town, his hometown. Still on New Island, Team Rocket is stranded and confused, but nonetheless they found a way to have fun.

THE END!!!

Up until the ending, you might have been thinking, woah, Mewtwo is so mean and evil! Some people have speculated that the serum Dr. Fuji used to sedate Mewtwo caused him to have a seemingly-twisted personality. But I think he is cold, aggressive, and anti-social due to the harsh conditions he was raised in. I consider myself more sympathetic to Mewtwo than most are. He is my kin, but I'm not sure if Mewtwo would considered my twin or offspring. Nonetheless, it is such a shame that he did not inherent my high intellect, generosity, and whimsy. Just kidding, lol! That not be very nice. Mewtwo might be my clone, but we are also very genetically different. We are separate, unique autonomous beings, and if you say otherwise we will both psychic blast you like Ash, accept intentionally!

where to watch

• YouTube Movies—Rent $3.99 HD, Buy $14.99 HD or $12.99 SD
• Prime Video—Rent $3.99, Buy $14.99 HD or $9.99 SD

addressing the haters

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score from over 50,000 users on average rated Pokémon: The First Movie at 73%. Many of these reviews consist of nostalgic adults that recently rewatched a movie from their childhood. The Tomatometer® rating represents the opinions of professional critics. In general the ratings of the Tomatometer rating is deemed more demonstrative of a film's cinematic quality, while the audience rating is a reflection how enjoyable a movie (for the target audience typically). According to Premium Beat, audience scores may have lost some of their merit. If that is the case, then unfortunately, my movie would only be considered 16% decent, as rated by the Tomatometer. Most of the 91 critics that reviewed my movie, were not pleased, and might even be haters. Here are just a few of them:

In all honesty, these reviews were hard to read for me... As I mentioned, I am a sensitive soul, and these critics are certainly critical! These criticisms are, however, coming from a Western audience who most likely watch the dubbed English version of the movie. As fans of foreign media may know, the dubbed versions of media tend to lack the same compelling emotional aspects as the originally voiced audio. In my own experience, I tried to watch the dubbed version of Ip Man (2008), and I had to switch to the subbed (subtitle) version because it was so horrific. By watching the subtitle version instead, I learned that shifu (Traditional Chinese 師傅, Simplified Chinese 师傅) means master. I connected the dots and realized that the naming of Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda was a pun that literally translated to Master Master. My point in saying this, is that watching a film in its original form fully encapsulates the message as the directors and film makers had intended it to be. Even the subtitles may not fully convey language-specific semantic nuances. All this is to say that, the critics seem to have forgotten that Pokémon: The First Movie is children's movie that was originally in Japanese. Additionally, there were scenes concerning the ethical topics in the Japanese version that were removed for the North American release. I would like to urge these critics to kindly consider rewatching the film in its original format, as the film makers intended.

my rebuttal: MEW strikes back!!!

Despite these criticisms online, the movie is not horrible as the Tomatometer® make it out to be. In fact, out of the 78 Pokémon movies listed on Rotten Tomatoes (most of which have no Tomatometer score), Pokémon: The First Movie isn't even the lowest ranked one. Tied with a Tomatometer score of 16% is Pokémon 4Ever (2002), which critics say is only for die hard fans. The audience score is lower for Pokémon 4Ever at only 54%, which obviously means that my movie is better. Coming in last place with a whopping 0% rating from film critics is Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (2000). However, there are only five Tomatometer reviews for this one as compared to 91 and 38 for Pokémon: The First Movie and Pokémon 4Ever respectively. Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns has a higher audience score at 60% as compared to Pokémon 4Ever, which both have a similar number of reviews. Also, to reiterate, Pokémon: The First Movie easily clears both of these movies in terms of audience preference.

Now, that we've established that Pokémon: The First Movie is NOT the worst Pokémon movie, we can bring to explore what makes it such an excellent film. Princess Weekes, writing for The Mary Sue, drew a comparison between Pokémon: The First Movie and one of the most popular and loved films of all time: Jurassic Park. The classic film, Jurassic Park, in contrast has a 91% audience score and a 92% Tomatometer score according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Also, I cannot forget to mention the absolutely fire soundtrack!!! 🔥