Salon Mothers Who Think | "Pokémon: The First Movie"


Arts & Entertainment Books Comics Health & Body Media Mothers Who Think News People Politics2000 Technology - Free Software Project Travel & Food Columnists Current Wire Stories Click here to read the latest stories from the wires. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Also Today For a full list of today's Salon Mothers Who Think stories, go to the Mothers Who Think home page. - - - - - - - - - - - - Search Salon Advanced Search \| Help - - - - - - - - - - - - Recently in Salon Mothers Who Think Unarmed and under fire: An oral history of female Vietnam vets "All we had was prayer. And I did a lot of that." By Austin Bunn [11/11/99] DYR MOM: WY R YOU SO LAVEABL? A nascent writer learns to cast spells. By Gayle Brandeis [11/10/99] Grandma sees "Dogma" A devout Catholic braves alleged blasphemy, much profanity and partial nudity to see Kevin Smith's latest -- and gives it a thumbs up. By Jennifer Foote Sweeney [11/09/99] Grilling our young The SAT test coaching industry goes after kindergartners. Little blank slates mean great big bucks. By Jonathan Fox [11/08/99] What is a Jewish lesbian punk folk singer to do? Neaten her crewcut, put on an apron and sell lots of Tupperware. By Erin J. Aubry [11/05/99] Complete archives for Mothers Who Think - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mothers Who Think by e-mail Sign up here to receive our weekly e-mail newsletter listing recent and upcoming articles and events in Mothers Who Think. Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - -		"Pokémon: The First Movie" The latest kids' movie is taken on by the real critics -- five kids. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Lisa Moskowitz Nov. 12, 1999 \| In the opening scenes of "Pokémon: The First Movie," an entire island goes up in smoke. Fires rage. Humans run for cover. Mewtwo, the most powerful Pokémon in the world, is having an identity crisis. Engineered from ancient Pokémon DNA, this rampaging catlike Pokenstein has no purpose beyond serving as a specimen for scientific study. That makes him really mad. After all, hostile Pokémon with malicious psychic powers have feelings, too. So Mewtwo decides to destroy all humans, enslave all Pokémon and take over the world. But our fearless heroes, Ash, Misty and Brock, and their loyal Pokémon -- Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and others -- find a way to save the day. Seventy-six minutes, 151 fantastically mutated animal-like monsters and five expert points of view later, I'm still not sure I really get the whole Pokémon thing. But I'm an adult, so it doesn't really matter. Now my five experts, they matter -- and they had plenty to praise and dis about "Pokémon: The First Movie." Joey Talbot, 9, thought the movie was pretty cool, although the ending was too predictable. Nora Walsh-DeVries, also 9, called the film "hella tight," but would have liked to see more blood and guts. The special effects were a highlight for 9-year-old Logan Weir, while Walker, his twin brother, loved seeing the Pokémon fight each other. Refusing to kowtow to pop culture, Sydney Benfer, 10, thought the movie was only "OK" and that Pikachu -- a chortling, red-cheeked, yellow fuzz ball of a mouse -- was ugly. Blasphemy. "Pokémon: The First Movie" uses the ruse of good vs. evil to show that fighting is wrong and, as one character put it, "Real strength comes from the heart." Our five savvy critics spotted the cliché right away, and one announced he was ready for a little realism in kids' movies. Wake up, Hollywood: Kids don't fall for happy endings. There's plenty of violence in the movie, but it's the beat-'em-up kind rather than the blow-'em-up kind. Still, I felt a little squeamish when Pikachu was being slapped silly by his more powerful clone. I know Pokémon never die in battle -- they just faint until you revive them -- but I still felt bad for the little guy. The kids weren't bothered by the fighting at all. Nothing, they said, could be as gross as the chicken feet they had to dissect in class that day. Here's more from our five critics on "Pokémon: The First Movie": What did you hear about the movie before you went to see it? Sydney: That they gave out cards. Joey: I heard that they were selling cards, but I never believed it. I was like, Oh my God, no it's not true. Nora: We're going to take the cards to school ... Joey: ... and show off! Next page \| "It wasn't like you were dissecting chickens"


Search..Archives..Contact Us..Table Talk..Ad Info..Investors