Movie Review: "Pokémon Heroes: The Movie"

Synopsis: While walking around a town surrounded by water, Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum notices a strange young woman.  When he follows her, he finds a mystical land where two Pokémon, Latios and Latias, the guardians of the city, reside.  Hot on the two guardians' trail are Annie and Oakley, two thieves who will stop at nothing to rule the world.  When they discover a gem that will give them global domination, it's up to Ash and his friends to thwart their dastardly plan once and for all.

The Good: The best thing I can say about this is at least it was a feast for the eyes.  I sort of remember the anime on television being badly animated, but this one features gorgeous computer generated imagery alongside great hand-drawn animation.  Also, the content is clean...but, you expected that, right?

The Bad: Latios and Latias are the main problem; they're the most annoying characters I've seen in any movie or show in a long time.  Seriously, if you thought Pikachu was irritating, wait until you hear these two.  Also, Annie and Oakley dress immodestly in most of their scenes.  The overall story just feels lackluster; then again, I was unfamiliar with many of the monsters, even though I've played at least one game from most generations of the franchise.

Conclusion: Like most kids of my generation, I got into those "pocket monsters" around Y2K; unlike most of my peers, I continued being a fan for a while, and even played Pokémon games on my Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo GameCube.  Most people I know who were into it back in the day have long since given up on it, but, it holds fond memories for me...to a degree.  However, after watching this, I can see why many parents found the entire franchise positively nerve-grating.  I grew up playing the games, and I was still bothered by this film.  Maybe die-hard pocket monster fans will enjoy it, but, everyone else shouldn't bother.

Score: 2/5