Plot: Ash, Brock and their Pokemon: Advanced Generation companions, May and her brother Max are attending the week long festival revolving around the Millennium comet. During the celebration, they befriend a magician named Butler and his girlfriend Diane who posses a stone that encases the Pokemon Jirachi who can break out of the stone only when the Millennium comet passes by. Once freed from the stone, Jirachi and Max form a close friendship, but it turns out that Butler secretly plans to use Jirachi's power as a means to create Hoenn's legendary Pokemon, Groudon.
While somewhat better than Pokemon 4Ever, this film is nothing special. There are some aspects that I like that I'll talk about more then the bad stuff, but even the good stuff isn't enough to make the film particularly engaging as a whole.
First off Jirachi is a slight improvement from Celebi. He flies around and acts cute, but he does talk which gives him a little more character which helps develop its connection between itself and Max. My only real problem with him is that ironically there isn't a lot of him granting wishes. Aside from two wishes made early into the film, the fact that he grants wishes is almost completely thrown out the window once the evil plot is revealed. There's also more attention with May and Max then I thought there would be. Now keep in mind from here up till roughly when I get to the Pokemon: Black and White films that I did not watch the show around the time of Pokemon: Advanced Generations or Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl. So I have little knowledge about the characters in those particular versions of the show apart from what I do know from reading Pokemon: XY and Z fanfiction. (Yeah I read that, so what? It's fun.) Anyway, May and Max surprisingly have the most development in the film. I may not have watched Pokemon: Advanced Generations, but the makers of the film were kind of smart in making it clear who they are and what is their relationship with each other. They fight a lot as they should be given that they are siblings, but they still care for each other to the point that May does have a maternal side for her little brother. I don't doubt there's much more about them than that, but as far as getting to know May and Max only in these films and not the show, this was a nice introduction. And it especially works here because ultimately this is really Max and Jirachi's story more than anyone else. But even though Ash is not the focus for the first time since the fist movie, he still was still the man of action when he needed to be. Brock and Team Rocket made little to no contribution in the film, but frankly I'm used to it now so it's not that big of a deal for me personally.
Butler is a slight improvement from Annie, Oakley and the Iron Mask Marauder as a villain. He's not doing what he does out of greed, he's doing it out of serving his own ego. That doesn't make make him as complex as Mewtwo or Molly, but it does give him way more dimension than those last three villains. It's also the first time we see a Pokemon story that shows the destructive power of pride, and like with Mewtwo and Molly he's not wholeheartedly evil; there is a sense of good in him. This is backed up by Diane who isn't very complex either, but she keeps the story interesting by establishing that there's more to Butler's character.
The most enjoyable aspect of the movie for me personally was the climax. In a sense, this felt like it was the darkest climax in a Pokemon films since the first movie. It never goes too dark though; it comes back to being a big adventure with Pokemon. But it felt like a Pokemon version of the ending for Princess Mononoke where a forest is turning into a wasteland and people and Pokemon are dying (sort of) and the creature that causes it all has a dark, menacing presence that's not quite as big as Mewtwo, but enough to get into what is happening.
And that's my review for Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker. It's not the greatest thing I've ever seen Pokemon or otherwise, but I give it credit for having a slightly stronger villain then in the last two films, a considerable amount of attention on Ash's new companions and a enjoyable third act. I realize that I said a few more praises then I meant to give this movie, but a mixed bag is how I honestly felt overall.
Rating: 55%
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