DT: Pokemon Black - Victini and Reshiram ~ 2011

Jul 25, 201343 min read

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Duckyworth

Published: Jul 25, 2013

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Hello my friends, and welcome to my next Duckyworth's Thoughts review!

This is the fourteenth review in the POKÉMON SUMMER!

'Gotta catch 'em all!

Gotta catch 'em all!
Po-ké-mon!'

The next film is probably a very strange case indeed as far as Pokémon films go..... It was released in TWO versions.... I get that this is to accommodate for the two games Pokémon Black and White... But, I still find it extremely weird.... I would never want to watch BOTH versions, and I doubt many Pokémon fans will be THAT bothered with which one they see, so, what was the point? To cash in?

Anyway, this review will be for the version of this film that I saw....

This is Pokémon Black – Victini and Reshiram!

I know that some of you may have seen the White version, Victini and Zekrom, but from what I can gather about the two films, there's not too much difference between the stories of these two films – sure, the settings, some of the Pokémon and of course, the Legendary Ash and Damon, the film's villain, each encounter are different, but nonetheless, the story is pretty much identical in each version....

This is also an odd example of a film – one I KNOW I enjoyed when I saw it, but I remember surprisingly little from it.... Shame that, even GREAT films may be difficult to remember, especially after seeing so many films after it.... It just sometimes happens with some films I like – for example, I KNOW I liked The Blair Witch Project, I just don't remember too much about it.... It's just an unfortunate thing that happens at times. But still, let's take a look at this film.

The story in this film starts off with a man named Damon, a descendant of a clan called the People of the Vale, asking members of an icy village (with NO Deoxys or Rayquaza in sight... thank ARCEUS for that... ) if his proposition to revive the Kingdom of the Vale can be granted, but he is repeatedly refused. Saving some villagers from danger, with the assistance of the Legendary Pokémon he's befriended, Zekrom, he says that now the time has come for the People of the Vale to regain their relationship with the land...

Meanwhile, we see our heroes, Ash, Cilan and Iris ( Grrr.... HATE...) arrive at Eindoak Town in time for the Harvest Festival. Ash tries to save two Deerling from falling down a cliff ( Kind of a cute moment ), and is touched on the foot by a hidden Legendary Pokémon named Victini, allowing him to jump across the chasm Mario style... Ash and Pikachu head through the chasm, guided by Victini, and they come across a crystal chasm.... So, they've either come across King Sombra's Crystal Empire, the Nome Kingdom from Return to Oz... Molly Hale's imaginary world from Spell of the Unown, or....

GASP! Oh no! They're in the stupidly confusing TREE OF BEGINNING FROM LUCARIO AND THE MYSTERY OF MEW! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES, EVERYONE!! FLEE!!

No, they've actually made it into a chasm where they come across a fiery orb which lights up the chasm for them, and they then make it out into a cellar in Eindoak Town, in a castle called The Sword of the Vale... There, they meet back up with Iris and Cilan, where I remember JUST why I hate IRIS so much....

Yep... they couldn't leave her horrible quote out of this film, COULD they? They had to put in 'What a kid' in here.... Yep.... next to Shaymin and Kidd Summers, Iris is one of my absolute LEAST favourite human characters of ALL TIME.... How is Ash waving to Cilan and Iris acting childish?! That's PERFECTLY REASONABLE!! If anything, IRIS is the only one who's being childish here – she doesn't even DO anything in this one – she's terrible in that battle she's in later on, because her Pokémon are so badly trained, Axew doesn't do anything of importance, and she does nothing but make me wish that MISTY was the main female character in this one – at least Misty didn't have any annoying catchphrases...

Iris says her catchphrase AGAIN while they walk through the castle... , and our heroes get lost in the castle, before they come across Damon in the cellar, and walk out to the town... Which reminds me quite a bit of the towns from Pokémon Heroes, Rise of Darkrai ( ) and Zoroark Master of Illusions... But still, I do like the setting of Eindoak Town.

After our heroes see a cute little stand of Victini merchandise, a woman named Juanita tells our heroes about Victini. We learn that Victini is rarely seen by people, and is said to give people and Pokémon power, and was said to have protected the Sword of the Vale when it originally moved to the town.

The Mayor of Eindoak Town, Mannes (yes, that IS his real name... ) announces the beginning of the Festival, and his Klink, Klang and Klinklang start up Mannes musical machine in a cute way.

We see a pretty cool opening fight scene, with Ash's Pikachu fighting a cool Serperior and winning, Iris getting the loss that she deserves when her stupid slutty Emolga uses Volt Switch – violating the no substitution rule the tournament has.... Yeah, I hate her Emolga too – she's just as selfish as Iris and Shaymin are, she manipulates other Pokémon to get whatever she wants in the same way BELLA SWANN from Twilight and HOLLI WOULD from Cool World do, and of course, like Iris, she never seems to learn any lessons or change in any way... I hated Iris and her Emolga in the anime, and I hate them here.... When Iris glares at Emolga (one of the ONLY understandable moves Iris does in the whole series ), Emolga just tries to charm her way out by using Charm... Sorry, Emolga... like your stupid trainer, you're not winning anyone's love...

Cilan's Pansage gets beaten by an awesome Hydreigon owned by a trainer named Carlita, resulting in Iris distracting Pansage and technically causing Pansage to lose... Ash's Oshawott beats up the Emboar Iris 'lost' to....

And Ash uses a Tepig against a......... Samurott... And then we get a pretty dumb, unbelievable moment – we see Tepig's Ember barely leave a scratch on the Samurott, and then Victini gives Tepig some power, and this results in Tepig's Ember beating up Samurott.....

Er, yeah... I'm calling bull-s*** on this one... Even with Victini's help, I find it VERY difficult to believe that a TEPIG can defeat a big tough Samurott... It's like Ash's Pikachu taking out a Golem with THUNDERBOLT... It just can't work...

And as for Victini helping Tepig out, I believe there's a term for this..... It's called....

CHEATING.

Carlita is up against Ash next, so Ash's Scraggy (who has been cutely watching the moves of his friends) is up against Carlita's Hydreigon.... Victini helps to cheat AGAIN, and uses his power to power up Scraggy, in a pretty funny close up shot of Scraggy jumping up into the air, and using a single Headbutt to defeat Hydreigon...

Yeah, I call bull-s*** on this one too... A Scraggy beating up a Hydreigon, almost as believable as the Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga'Hoole version of Soren being able to kill Metalbeak...

Ash and friends befriend Victini, and after Victini imitates Celebi from Pokémon 4Ever for a moment... GET THIS ... Ash suddenly GRABS Victini and... while thanking Victini for helping his Pokémon, spins him around, making Victini cry... Yeah... smooth moves, Ash... REALLY smooth... Why is it that when Ash holds Victini, I expect him to shout – 'Stop being afraid of clowns! Stop it you ninny? Stop it okay?! STOP BEING AFRAID OF CLOWNS!' Maybe it's the way Ash is swinging Victini around....

But Victini forgives Ash after Pikachu shows him - the power of MACAROONS!

We them learn that Victini cannot pass the Pillars of Protection, which creates a barrier to keep the city safe. We learn that Carlita and Damon are siblings, and then we see a very cute scene with the local Pokémon playing in a garden area which is protected by Victini.... Oh, after Ash falls headfirst into a pool.

We then learn a little bit more about the People of the Vale, which is a pretty awesome pop-up book. The Kingdom of the Vale was ruled by a mighty king, whose Pokémon was Victini, and the kingdom drew it's energy from the Dragon Force – a power that flows throughout the land – and used the power to allow people and Pokémon alike to live together and one with nature...

The King had two sons, one was the hero of ideals, who had Zekrom as his Pokémon, and one was the hero of truth, who owned Reshiram. Yay! After 30 minutes, we get to see Reshiram and Zekrom together! Sigh... even this film has it delayed with allowing us to see the titular legendaries again.... At least we kept focus on Victini for a while, and to be fair, he wasn't THAT bad a Pokémon to watch after we got to know him.

Each of the Pokémon saw the princes as people who they judged worthy of the power and wisdom they had to offer. However, the princes became enemies, and this led to a great war, which ravaged the land, and Zekrom and Reshiram fought.... Until they passed away and were transformed into two stones... Because of the war, the Dragon Force became chaotic, and the King begged Victini for his power, to create a barrier around the castle, using the Pillars of Protection... We see a pretty cute assortment of Solosis, Duosions and Reuniclus, who helped to move the Sword of the Vale, with all the People of the Vale onboard, and the castle was carried to the place where it now stands... Unfortunately, the King (who, like Brock, never opens his eyes... ) died in the process.... I feel pretty sad for Victini when he sees his trainer die...

The princes were filled with remorse, and moved the orbs to a secret location, and the Dragon Force subsided. However, the People of the Vale lost their bond with the land, and they are now scattered, leaving Victini trapped inside the barriers...

We also learn that Damon's goal is to bring the Kingdom of the Vale back to life, and we see that in Damon's youth, his mother said that was her dream too, and Damon says he can finally fulfil his mother's dream.... Peacefully, right?

Right?

Anyway, we see a pretty cute scene of Victini acting all Celebi-ish again, and offering berries to all the local Pokémon - and I have to admit, the Drilburs are pretty cute, and I find the Purloin surprisingly sassy , and we learn that even though Victini is trapped within the barriers, he still has great friends. You're never truly alone, Victini – even though I do wish this film could have a few more cute scenes thrown in, I do enjoy this scene – maybe because it reminds me of the scene with Celebi offering Pokémon berries in Zoroark Master of Illusions, but still.

We also learn more about Damon meeting up with Mannes three years ago, and we see Damon's true beliefs – nothing is impossible. And even if people constantly say it's impossible to reunite the People of the Vale, he still tries desperately to get people to listen to him – but he's rather rudely turned away at every turn... I feel sorry for the poor guy, actually..... All he wants is for things to be better for his people, but they constantly say his hopes are futile... Give the poor guy a chance! Damon has his dreams crushed almost as much as BALTO had his dreams of helping out Rosie being constantly ruined by everyone's stupid prejudiced hate. But then, he heard the voice of Zekrom, who said that if he truly believes his ideals are so pointless, he should abandon them... But then, he and Mannes come across the crystal caves from earlier, and Damon finds that the path chooses the one it allows to pass – in this case, Damon. Damon came across the Dark Stone which contained Zekrom, and helps him to save the lives of another village – this time in the desert. And due to Zekrom choosing Damon as the Hero of Ideals, as Damon is so desperate to make his, and his mother's own dreams, a reality, his ideals a pure.

One thing I like about this film is that the villain in this film, Damon, is NOT wholly evil – in fact, I wouldn't even call him evil, just misunderstood. He simply wants to rejuvenate the land of his people, and it's even shown that he wanted to fulfil the dreams of his mother, and to be fair, he didn't plan to KILL Victini, so he isn't as cruel as villains like Grings Kodai, the Iron Masked Marauder, Annie and Oakley or Zero... Damon actually does have a heart, and I do find myself feeling sorry for Damon – I mean, sure he ended up harming Victini, but he didn't know that it would HARM Victini, and he just wanted to do what was best for his people. In fact, I think Damon is simply known as the villain because of a misunderstanding – true, he sends out his Gothitelle to keep everyone at bay, and he asks Zekrom to attack Ash and friends, but Zekrom has simply chosen Damon as the new Hero of Ideals, and he's just so desperate to try and restore the land of his people. Like Butler, he actually starts panicking when he realises that he's made a terrible mistake, and helps the heroes set things right, and like Molly Hale from Spell of the Unown, I actually end up feeling pity for Damon when his plans go wrong – when he says 'Fulfilling my mother's dreams... Was that truly so wrong?' I actually feel pretty sorry for him....

Unfortunately, it turns out that using Victini's power is harming Victini, and it's hinted that Victini may even DIE because of what Damon is doing, but it turns out that the Dragon Force was previously contained by the Sword of the Vale, and the King told Victini that the sword could never be moved, or the corrupt Dragon Force would be released and ravage the land......

And, Damon didn't know this by reading the legends of the Kingdom of the Vale.... BECAUSE? Another thing that seems a bit odd is that, after Ash finds Reshiram, and proves himself as the Hero of Truth (of course, Ash gets the Poke-Messiah-like power AGAIN ), and Zekrom and Reshiram, after fighting and witnessing the Dragon Force raging out of control, tell Damon that the Sword of the Vale can contain the Dragon Force again, Zekrom and Reshiram go into the Dragon Force.... and it somehow closes in on the castle and ..... forces it up into the air? They say that the Dragon Force is acting in on inself.... but... what kind of exposition is that? Come on, Pikachu Project, I didn't need confusing exposition AGAIN – Rise of Darkrai was confusing enough.... I mean, I get that the Dragon Force is powering the Sword much more than Victini ever could, but it still seems a bit odd...

Anyway, due to the Dragon Force going out of control, the Pillars start to close in, and Ash, Pikachu and Victini are trapped, as the Sword of the Vale has ascended to the higher parts of the Earth's atmosphere – GASP! NO! PLEASE DON'T BRING DEOXYS OR RAYQUAZA INTO THIS! THIS IS A GOOD POKÉMON FILM!

Luckily, Deoxys and Rayquaza DON'T show up, but shockingly, we get one of the DARKEST scenes in ANY of the Pokémon films – not only does the castle start to freeze, but the thin, cold air begins to take its effect on Ash...

Ash is SUFFOCATING?! Wow... And I thought the scene where Celebi dies in Pokémon 4Ever, Ash is turned to stone in The First Movie, or Zoroark dying in Zoroark Master of Illusions was dark... If only the bit where Ash cries and his tear freezes didn't seem too much of a ripoff of the scene where Mr Krabs cries in The SpongeBob SquarePants movie....

Victini, like Jirachi did in Jirachi Wishmaker, finally proves that he's not ALL cuteness – using Searing Shot to warm up Ash and Pikachu, and using V-create to destroy the pillars that kept him hostage forever and freeing Ash and Pikachu...

Then, Damon, with the help of Golurk, Reshiram and Zekrom, guides the Sword of the Vale to a new location, near the sea. Victini is not dead, as previously feared, as we see another cute macaroon scene , and Victini shows Ash a vision of him helping out with the restoration of the Kingdom of the Vale, we see that there is a sprout coming from the cliff face – showing hope that the land can still be restored, and not all hope is lost for the People of the Vale , and Damon, remorseful for his mistakes(Wow, like Butler, this villain IS actually sorry for what he does. Makes him more three-dimensional ), begs for forgiveness, but his mother reassures him that his mistakes he made are in the past, and he should put his mistakes behind him and look to the future, and that there is still hope for the Kingdom of the Vale if they work together to make it right.

The plot for this film may not be as intense or as action packed as Zoroark Master of Illusions, and the film may not be AS riveting for me, but I still give the film credit where credit's due. It does have a very cute Legendary Pokémon, the action, while short, is very nice to watch and is well animated, the settings are pretty and I do like the villain of the film quite a lot, especially considering how well they made the villain more three-dimensional and sympathetic at times.

As I said before, the sets in this film remind me quite a bit of the settings in Pokémon Heroes, Zoroark Master of Illusions, Arceus and the Jewel of Life and some other Pokémon films – but still, I really enjoy these settings. The setting of the Sword of the Vale is my favourite – I really enjoy how beautiful it looks – especially how the glowing effects were shown – with the Solosis, Duosion and Reuniclus hordes powering the Sword's energy – now, wait a minute – if they were there, WHY was Victini needed? Couldn't Damon just get more of the Solosises, Duosions and Reunicluses? Or would he need THOUSANDS of the little jelly blobs? And the idea of the whole castle FLYING is pretty cool – I bet the pilots from Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines would be pretty jealous of Damon – using a CASTLE to fly. I think not even ARTHUR PENDRAGON would be able to pull THIS Sword In the Stone...

But I still question the Dragon Force – yes, I know the Dragon type used to be the strongest of the types (I say used to be because now, Nintendo has MAIMED the Dragon type by introducing that stupid Fairy type ), but why is it that the well-being of the land is maintained by a DRAGON Force?! Dragons don't have anything to DO with the land – Grass, Ground and Water would be more suitable.... But DRAGON?! Actually, seen as the Dragon Force starts to go pink or purple when it becomes chaotic... I think I know what this is, destroying the Pokémon world and causing chaos and havoc – THE FAIRY FORCE! Doesn't it make sense?!

.........As you've probably guessed, I don't care much for the Fairy type...

The music is also really pretty in this film – I'm not sure, but I think in the parts that talk about the history of the Kingdom of the Vale, you can hear either organ music or a kind of monastic choir – in a similar way to some of the music in Spell of the Unown.

While the heart isn't quite as strong as the heart in Zoroark Master of Illusions, I still feel pretty sorry for Victini when we see him confused about his old trainer dying (the king ), the dream where we see him being all alone for a thousand years, trapped within the Pillars of Protection (seriously, where those Pillars JUST made to protect the city?! When has there ever been a sign where those pillars were NECESSARY – were there any wars that caused the Pillars to be erected?! Was there some evil person who just wanted to keep Victini contained? ), when Damon reminds Victini of the King and Victini, while confused, backs into the smaller pillars that Damon's Sigilyph uses to draw Victini's power to move the Sword of the Vale, and even where Ash, Pikachu and Victini are running out of oxygen – these scenes show that the film does have some genuine heart to it – and luckily, Victini doesn't die like Latios or Lucario.

The animation.... may not have improved TOO much since Zoroark Master of Illusions, but I still really like how pretty the animation is in this one. I'm not too sure if the animation in the fight scenes is as good as it could have been personally, it doesn't feel quite as flowing as in a film like, say, Spell of the Unown, but I still liked how the fight scenes turned out – especially the timing on how Pikachu's Thunderbolt knocks Gothitelle away when Ash is trying to save Victini.

Victini is a very cute Legendary Pokémon, sure, but I question his design... I mean, he's cute and all, and he's nowhere NEAR as disgusting as Deoxys , but when I looked at him, I first thought of the Billy and Mandy quote –

Billy: 'Look, a pair of BUTT-WINGS!'

I will admit that Victini just seemed to me like a Mew (First Movie Mew, not the EVIL Lucario and the Mystery of Mew version )/Celebi/Jirachi wannabe, but still, I did find the little orange Pokémon cute.

Unfortunately, Victini is ALSO a thief - and STEALS two of Ash's macaroons... WHY make Pokémon we're SUPPOSED to like THIEVES?! THAT DOESN'T WORK! First Munchlax, then the evil Mew, then Shaymin, and now Victini! How is stealing LIKEABLE?! STOP IT POKÉMON!! Victini partially DESERVES IT when he starts choking on the second one he steals.... Choking, or just not liking the taste? I don't know... Either way, he's being punished... Victini even steals a slice of melon from Jessie!

But still, at least it's cute when Ash offers Victini a macaroon and we see Victini nibble it away... I remember when was on holiday once and my sister brought a box of macaroons – luckily, Victini wasn't there....

But still, when Victini uses Searing Shot to warm Ash up... why didn't he use that before? It would have helped Ash out earlier, keep him warm when the Sword of the Vale was ascending... What logic does that make when he doesn't use that before?! And still, he could have used that to attack the pillars before now, I'm sure! If the Pillars of Protection were so much trouble before – with everyone saying how Victini was so lonely, couldn't he have just attacked the pillars with V-create before Ash and his friends came along? I may be thinking too hard about this – but this is an example of a scene in a Pokémon film with almost non-existant logic....

Still, at least Victini is still a pretty cute legendary, and I do feel really sorry for him when we see him dream about his millennia of solitude, trapped within the Pillars of Protection, and I did feel quite sad when we thought that Victini had died, and even though I question why Victini had to be invisible when Ash throws him a macaroon at the end – was it like with the evil Mew in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, who seemed to be messing around with everyone, enjoying watching their sorrow instead of just stopping all of the security goo in that stupid Tree of Beginning - I did feel happy that he was alive and well.

SEE, Rise of Darkrai?! If you had actually made an effort to make me LIKE Darkrai in Rise of Darkrai, I would have mourned him, and wouldn't have been scared that he was okay..... Well, at least the films learned to make the legendary more likeable so that if they did a death fakeout, we actually felt happy that the Legendary was alive at the end.

Also, with Victini, it isn't like Shaymin, where Shaymin just wants to be taken to some stupid flower garden and keeps pestering Ash and friends to take her there – Victini is TRAPPED inside pillars from which there are no escape (at least at the start of the film ) and deserves freedom. So, like Jirachi being taken back to Forina, and Lucario being taken back to the Tree of Beginning (well, not so much Lucario, as his film is WAY too flawed ) we actually see how important it is that Victini is freed from his prison.

Like Lugia, it's a shame that Reshiram doesn't first appear until 45 minutes in, and then it isn't until 60 minutes in when we see him again... But still, we have had Victini to keep us company, and in this film's defence, the title IS VICTINI and Reshiram, so it's not like Rise of Darkrai, Giratina and the Sky Warrior or Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, where the Pokémon at the front of the title has barely ANY screen-time compared to the time they should get in – the Pokémon at the front of the title gets the most screen-time.... But still, I think it's a bit odd how Zekrom gets more screentime that Reshiram does – I mean, it's awesome seeing Zekrom and Reshiram fighting, and then seeing them work together to help Damon push the Sword of the Vale to a new location, but I still think the fight between them could have been a bit longer – I mean, it's animated brilliantly and all, but I still think it is a bit too short, the time it takes for them to knock each other down to the ground, and then seeing how the Dragon Force has gone out of control...

And when they've helped land the Sword of the Vale – I think they could have given a kind of farewell speech to Ash and Damon, instead of just flying off over the rainbow just before the credits roll.... If Lugia and Arceus got one, why can't these two?! Aw well, at least they were awesome..... I also think it's pretty awesome when Reshiram and Zekrom blow away the clouds to reveal the error of Damon's ways, and when Zekrom just acts like a troll and ignores Damon's pleas to get rid of Ash and Pikachu, and just destroys the pillars surrounding Victini.

I still feel if they were going to talk, they could have talked a bit MORE.... Most of the time, they roar and such... So, like Darkrai, why make them talk at all if they don't say much? Well, unlike Darkrai, at least Reshiram and Zekrom MAKE SENSE when they speak, inside of yelling 'Go away!' to the WRONG PEOPLE and pointlessly giving everyone nightmares..... Sorry, it still doesn't make any sense to me... In fact, if I make a Top 15 Dumbest Pokémon Film Moments, I think Darkrai's 'Warning' will make it pretty high on the list....

Juanita, voiced by Khristine Hvam (Alice in Rise of Darkrai and Professor Juniper), is Damon's mother, and Carlita is Damon's sister. While they don't do that much in this film and there isn't really that much that stands out for them, I do like the fact that they all try to help our heroes out and how close their bond to their family member Damon is – but while I do LOVE Juanita's badass Golurk – who not only FIGHTS Zekrom, but he also tries to save Ash, Pikachu and Victini - I feel that Carlita's Hydreigon doesn't do as much as he could.... I mean, first of all – HOW SMALL IS THAT HYDREIGON?! Come on, Hydreigons should be much LARGER than that! Second, while Hydreigon DOES help carry Carlita and Iris to safety (why the Hydreigon doesn't EAT Iris is anybody's guess ), I still think that Hydreigon should have fought a bit more – maybe trying to help save Victini, fight off Zekrom or Damon's Gothitelle.... Come on, you have a really cool Hydreigon in this film – you could at least let him do more – it's like how the Serperior, Samurott and Emboar are pretty lame – being beaten up by Pikachu, Tepig and Oshawott.... Even with Victini's help, I still find it pretty hard to believe that.... Pikachu beating up Serperior is understandable, as Pikachu has been with Ash since day one, and Oshawott has a type advantage, so that's slightly more reasonable... But TEPIG beating up SAMUROTT?! Come on... :rolleyes:

Mannes, voiced by David Brimmer (who also voiced Crasher Wake), is the Mayor of Eindoak Town, and is also a member of the People of the Vale. Not much to say about him, but for some reason, his face design reminds me of Mario, and I like how his Klink, Klang and Klinklang help power his helicopter and his musical machine.

In fact, one of the main things I like about the People of the Vale (I talked about Damon in the story evaluation, so that's why he isn't mentioned again here ) is how close they are – I feel a real sense of family between these people, and they're another culture from the Pokémon films that I really find myself enjoying. They dress like Arab tribes in the desert, and they dress like Inuits in the Arctic climates – so I like how diverse the People of the Vale can be, adapting to their environment, and I like how well they work together at the end, and how they know that Damon was trying to do the right thing, it was just a shame that his method of reuniting his people with the land backfired so badly. But hey, at least unlike Annie and Oakley, or Kid Summers, Damon's actions didn't KILL anyone. Shame Latios and Lucario couldn't have been spared by the horrors the villains they encountered put them through...

Unfortunately, Ash's force-field fetish returns in this film... This time, Ash tries to save Victini, but ends up getting zapped... Come on, Pikachu Project! I though Pokémon Heroes was the LAST we'd have to see of Ash's stupidity when it comes to force-fields, but no, 9 films later, the force-field fetish returns.... I do like the scene where Ash helps out the two Deerlings – that was a very cute scene , and I do like the scenes where he tries to help out Victini – I actually felt pretty shocked seeing Ash almost FREEZE to death, with the foreshadowing on his face which is almost as creepy as the expression on his mom's face when Entei hypnotises her in Spell of the Unown....

Iris.... Oh, GOD .... as you can tell, I don't like her – next to Kidd Summers, she is the absolute WORST female character the anime has thrown at us.... I don't care if she's voiced by Eileen Stevens, the same voice actress who voiced cute little Zorua, the brat is absolutely OBNOXIOUS.... And WHY?!

Three words.... 'WHAT. A. KID.'

Every single time she says it, I feel like biting my fist in anger and punching my laptop screen... She is THAT teeth-grindingly annoying.... She doesn't even do much in the films she's in, except whinge, moan, shout and prove how TERRIBLE a trainer she is... Face it, Iris... your Emolga is a slut, your Axew is never sent out into a fight in this film, Excadrill didn't get a chance to prove himself..... And as for the Dragonite you get later in the anime.... You don't even get him to obey you properly.... You're an even worse trainer than Trip and Georgia– even though he just focuses on training his Serperior, at least his Serperior OBEYS him, and even though Georgia is too proud and obnoxious to take defeat like an adult (seriously, Iris' Dragonite BEAT you in the anime, how can you say that defeat doesn't count?! ), her Beartic and Pawniard are still pretty tough...

As for Cilan.... Well, being voiced by Jason Griffiths (Marcus, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog and Jet the Hawk )is a good thing about him, and even though he's NO Brock, I still like his cooking in the films and the anime. It's just a shame his Pokémon don't appear much in this....

Once again, poor Team Rocket don't do ANYTHING of interest in this one..... All they do is get their melon stolen by Victini, climb up the Sword of the Vale to try to catch Victini, fall off, and then say 'Together, life is good' at the end.... Come on, if you can't do anything important with them, don't do ANYTHING AT ALL, PIKACHU PROJECT!

iconsaysplz: never saw it completely through but the bits I have seen helped keep victini in my favorite legendary spot

I saw Pokémon Black: Victini and Reshiram too. I really did like. Especially how Victini gave Tepig a "Super Ember attack." But Mainil Reshram caught my eye in the movie. xD

Maybe... not the best film to follow Zoroark Master of Illusions, especially considering how great Master of Illusions was for me, but still, it holds up well. Despite the fact how TEETH-GRINDINGLY-ANNOYING IRIS is..... especially seen as she works in her GODAWFUL catchphrase and soils a scene or two in this, and her Emolga is a bit of a whore in this, even if she only gets ONE scene.....

The film makes up for it with a cute character in Victini, some great action, a SURPRISINGLY dark scene where Ash thinks he Victini and Pikachu are going to SUFFOCATE from lack of oxygen, the sets are some of the BEST in Pokémon, the villain is pretty cool, and on top of that, with this villain, you actually feel SORRY for him - he wants to save his people's culture by ANY means necessary - and while he does go a bit too far... I still like Damon.

I still call bulls*** when Tepig, while under the influence of Victini, beats that big tough Samurott, though.... XD

Again, if you feel there's something I've missed and haven't commented on, feel free to suggest areas for expansion.

But other than that, this is still good, and I'm happy I saw it... Not sure if I'd want to see it again, but still, I saw quite a bit if good elements in this film. Or at least, one version of it... Why was a second version made again? Just to cash in? I dunno... But still, for what this film is worth, I still liked it.

Next time, I'll take a look at the most recent Pokémon film that has been dubbed in English, which some of you may not have seen, but I think, like Pokémon 4Ever, Jirachi Wishmaker and Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, it is pretty underrated, and I think you should give it a chance at least.....

Join me next time for Kyurem Vs. The Sword of Justice.