Plot: Between the dimensions of time and space, the legendary Pokemon, Dialga and Palkia start fighting. Palkia is injured and so flees and secretly hides in the Sinnoh city, Alamos. Meanwhile, Ash, Brock and their Diamond and Peal companion, Dawn travel to Alamos where a mysterious Pokemon named Darkrai is lurking in the shadows and giving people and Pokemon nightmares. The Baron of the city is attempting to capture Darkrai, but with the help their new friends Alice and Tonio, Ash, Brock and Dawn may discover that there's more behind Darkrai then he appears.
So this is the first of the Diamond and Pearl movies and is said to be another one of those films that some people view to be their all time favorite Pokemon movie. So... is it really a crime that I don't share that view? *viewers booing* Yeah, that's what I thought. Honestly, I side with Il Neige that this movie has some really good ideas but they don't take full advantage of them.
Let's start off with Darkrai himself. On the one hand, he is a creepy Pokemon. His design is intimidating, the fact that he gives people nightmares is menacing, and he all around gives this movie a sense of a horror movie...at least as much as a Pokemon film can. But aside from that, it feels like there's more that they could have done with him. Without giving too much away, the film gives the idea that Darkrai isn't really a threat. Now how we discover that is interesting, but the same time I feel like we needed more of him having an intimidating presence. When we get the big reveal, it feels more like all the interesting and menacing aspects about him are thrown out the window just for the sake of the plot. On top of that, it feels like he didn't have much of a connection with the characters. It has that small connection with Alice because he knew her grandmother and that's about it.
The film also gives an implication early on that there's going to be a love triangle between Alice, Tonio and Baron Alberto. Not to say that this could have been the most complex or important thing in the movie per say, but I was kind of looking forward to it. I mean come on, we haven't had love triangle in any of these films since technically Pokemon 2000. But it's resolved in a matter of seconds as Alice declares her feelings for Tonio. The relationship between them is interesting enough that I still root for them as movie went on, but their relationship never grows. We find out why Alice has her feelings for him, which is further justified in the climax, and we get the feeling that maybe something happens between the end...but the key word there is maybe. Again I'm not saying that this has to be one of the most important aspect about the movie, but I still get the feeling that I wanted more out of them whether there is a love triangle or not.
Another missed opportunity was more time for Dawn in particular to shine. As I said before, I never watch the Diamond and Pearl series, but from what little I do know about Dawn as a character from seeing a couple of YouTube videos and some Pokemon:X and Y fanfiction, she sounds like she's a relatively cool character with a fun platonic relationship with Ash. Sadly however, there is little to no focus on her. We do get the sense of her having a platonic relationship with Ash during the climax as they are working together to try to save the day, but that's all we get. Here's to better luck hopefully in the other films.
The climax was in some respects fairly intense. You have this city trapped in between dimensions, it's slowly being destroyed, and the legendary Pokemon are clashing against each other relentlessly. But after watching Il Neige's review and thinking more about it, the battle between Dialga and Palkia and Darkrai was very repetitive. They're just shooting lasers on each other and Darkrai is trying to interfere and then they do the same thing over and over again.
If there's anything that I sincerely enjoyed in his movie, the first thing that comes to mind is that the animation is gorgeous. Maybe this is the case with some other films and I'm only noticing because I saw this in HD, but some of the locations in the colors of the sky and/or the lighting stood out exceptionally well. Every now and then, there would be a shot that made me feel like I was watching a scene from When Marnie Was There. I also liked Alamos and the mythology behind it. The landscape was interesting and the Time and Space towers had a unique look.
And that's my review for Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai. I enjoyed the animation and the design of Alamos, but the film is met with ideas like Darkrai and the romance that I felt they didn't take a whole lot of advantage from. It's another mixed bag to say the least.
Rating: 55%
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