Pokemon: Black - Victini and Resheram / White - Victini and Zekrom (2011)

Before I talk about the plot of the movie, it's important to understand that this movie has two different versions. They have the same plot with some major and/or minor changes, notably the legendary Pokémon that appear, Reshiram and Zekrom swapping roles.

Plot: Ash and his Black and White companions, Cilan and Iris travel to Eindoak Town where they meet Victini a.k.a. the victory Pokemon. They learn that a thousand years ago, a civil war broke out at the Kindgom of the Vale that threatened the destruction of the world, and in order to stop it the king had to use Victini's power to move his sword-like castle out of the Vale to its current spot in order to contain the Dragon Force energy. This also however traps Victini as it can never leave the outskirts of the town, and so Ash promises Victini that he will find a way to set it free. But one of the townspeople, Damon is in league with Reshiram or Zekrom (depending on what version you are watching) who plans to use Victini's power to restore the valley, killing Victini in the process. So it's up to Ash and his friends to find and awaken the other legendary Pokemon in order to try to stop Damon.

For what it was, this movie was good. Its strength mostly comes from the moral dilemma between right and wrong, which also fits with the main idea of the Black and White series/games.

Reshiram and Zekrom basically represent Yin and Yang in the Pokemon: Black and White video games. I only played the Black version and while I honestly hated it as a Pokemon game, I can't deny its story was intriguing in tackling the moral dilemma of the relationships between people and Pokemon which also ends where the antagonist captures either Reshiram in the White version or Zekrom in the Black version. Is the dilemma as intriguing and complex as something along the lines of the Sukovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War? Of coarse not. It may be interesting, but there's only so much that the makers of the games are willing to dive into with something like Pokemon. But it was still smart in giving gamers a story in a Pokemon game where the conflict isn't entirely...well black and white. The same thing can be said with this movie regardless of which version you are watching. What Damon is doing is wrong, but he's doing it with good intentions. In fact, it's a shame that he's not really an antagonist because he could easily be one of the best villains of the Pokemon films. What he's doing to Victini is especially cruel, but at the same time the film gives you the feeling that he's still a good person. This is a very out there argument that I know is flawed given that he's still hurting an innocent creature, but when you look at what happens in the film from beginning to end, it doesn't seems right to call Damon the antagonist. It's a tough call to say the least. If I had one problem with the idea of two different versions it would be that - to me I feel like there should only be one version; the Black version. The key thing about Reshiram and Zekrom is that Reshiram represents truth which Zekrom represents ideals. So it sounds more fitting that Zekrom would side with Damon because of his ideals while Reshiram sides with Ash because of his sense of truth as opposed to the other way around in the White version. I'm sure there's fans who would make strong, philosophical arguments stating that it works either way, but given the goals and motivations from both Ash and Damon, the Black version's story feels much more solid. But this is a personal opinion.

The other characters that Ash comes across are honestly not very memorable. Damon's mother and sister have almost nothing going for them apart from the fact that they're related to him. Sure, his mother fights Reshiram/Zekrom with her own Pokemon, but her Pokemon kept getting its butt kicked so it was pretty useless. Victini on the other hand was a decent character. He's all cutesy, but I still cared for the fact that it's this poor creature that has been trapped for so many years. If there's any characters that I do hate however - and this goes for the other two Black and White films as well, it would be Ash's companions, Cilan and Iris. Now if you watched the Black and White anime and liked it, then good. I'm glad you had fun. But I only watched the first 13 episodes, and I thought it was a mixture of boring and annoying - the latter coming mostly from these two characters. Cilan is connoisseur, so some of his dialogue is nothing but expressing things like he's describing food and it's really dumb to me. Then you have Iris. *groans* It's not that I hate Iris per say... I just want to smack her really, really hard on the face. I say this with confidence because from what I've seen online, a lot of people hate her. The majority of it all comes down to her relationship with Ash. They keep butting heads and she teases him by constantly calling him a kid. It's worse because most of the time it doesn't even make sense. A) she's a kid too, and B) she usually says it when Ash does something that doesn't warrant calling him a kid. Yeah, he'll act childish now and again, but then he does something like informing his companions that he's not hurt or something and she'll still say "What a kid." or "Ash, you're such a kid." and good gravy is it annoying. Ugh, it's a comfort knowing that I'm in the majority when it comes to this character because she is easily my least favorite of Ash's female companions... *sighs then whispers to himself* just two more movies until Serena, H.A.K., keep it together. 

And that's my review for Pokemon: Black-Victini and Resheram/White - Victini and Zekrom. It's a decent movie that has a dilemma that's complex for the story they're trying to tell. I do think the story is more solid in the Black version, but I think it's a nice time regardless of which version you watch. Just do your best with putting up with Cilian and Iris.

Rating: 70%