Movie Review: "Pokémon: Jirachi: Wish Maker"

Synopsis: Ash, Brock, May, and Max travel to a city to see the Millennium Comet; as its name suggests, it only comes once every thousand years.  While there, they meet Butler and Diane, a duo of magicians.  During their magic act, Max hears a voice calling out to him: Jirachi, a Pokémon that supposedly has the ability to grant wishes.  The two of the immediately bond, but, Jirachi can only stick around during the seven days the comet is in the sky.  Worse yet, Butler has a plan to harness Jirachi's powers to complete a once-failed experiment.  Will Ash and friends be able to stop him?

The Good: Unlike the previous "pocket monster" movie I saw recently, this one had a story that kept me interested.  The animation and voice work were very good, and the ending was rather intense.

The Bad: While not as ingratiating as Latios and Latias, Jirachi could still be annoying at times.  Also, though I wanted to see this through to the end, it still felt a little lackluster.

Conclusion: I mentioned in a previous review the history I have with the Pokémon franchise.  Compared to my previous experience with one of these films, this was a step up...but, I'm still not all that impressed by these flicks.  Die-hard fans of those "pocket monsters" may feel differently.

Score: 3/5