Hello, and welcome to "Angel in the Shoulder". What is "Angel on the Shoulder"? Well, this is where I comment and contrast the Nostalgia Critic reviews, giving you a second opinion on the whole thing. Why is it called "Angel on the Shoulder"? Because of the classic cartoon tradition of the little angel and the little demon appearing on the shoulders of the main character.


And, for starters, I'm gonna go with his review on "Pokemon: The First Movie". Now, it shows that Nostie (because writing "Nostalgia Critic" every single time is tiresome on my fingers) doesn't read the comments on his own videos. Most of the stuff I have to say about this video have already been adressed in the comments...but I'll say them anyway.


First,. it's strange that a guy who makes a living reviewing cartoons and movies from the 80s wouldn't know about "Monster in my Pocket", the classic 80s toyline which became a sticker album and then a cartoon show. If he knew about that, he would realize that the reason this is called "Pokemon" is because "Pocket Monster" is just itching for a copyright infringment lawsuit. Remember when the movie "Venom" came out and it had nothing to do with Eddie Brock or Spider-Man? Or how about that movie "Anamorph", completely devoid of aliens, kids turning into animals or X-Men reject actors? Same thing here.


Second, most of the stuff he complained about shows his ignorance about what "A 4Kids" Production REALLY means. 4Kids, in case you don't know, is an American company infamous for picking up violent, mature, dark anime, removing all the blood, gore, swearing, drinking and sex and then making up their own kiddifyed plots to fill the vaccum created by all that "adult" material in the editing room. It's an anime version of Joel Schumacher taking the Batman franchise away from Tim Burton. So, if the movie is kiddifyed and stupid, if the movie's message makes no sense or the characters have nothing resembling a personality, it's most likely 4Kid's fault. I mean, you wouldn't blame Bob Kane and Bill Finger for George Clooney having nipples in his Batsuit, wouldn't you?

 Second, I call fault on the "in Disney, people stay dead" comment. Sure, it happened in "The Lion King", but Tinkerbell came back to life in "Peter Pan", didn't she? Gurgi came back to life in "The Black Cauldron", didn't he? What about Pinocchio in "Pinocchio", Aslan in the first "Chronicles of Narnia" movie (and he was a lion, too!), Megara in "Hercules"? "It's fucking creepy" to bring back people from the dead with tears, but "I believe in fairies" and "I'm gonna swim the River Styx to bring my dead girlfriend back to life" ISN'T creepy?

 And the reason why this doesn't have backstory? It's not made for people like you, Nostie. It's made for people like me, ie. someone who was actually brought up with Pokemon in their childhood. I sure didn't see any backstory and explanation in the "Masters of the Universe" movie, and you clearly weren't confused then. By the way, don't you find a little odd that, apparently, Mewtwo is a Catholic fanatic who is pissed of because he was created by science and not God? I mean, this is a Japanese production. Most Japanese are Buddhists, and Buddhists have no concept of "God" (they have several, named gods, and none of them matches the Abrahamic God)? It's like a Narnia character trying to use the power of Kali. And since when does "God" even exist in Planet Pokemon? As far I know, the Pokemon universe was actually created by a Pokemon (whose name escapes my memory), NOT by God. And I never seen Ash or any character entering a church, much less praying. So, even before 4Kids butchered it, Mewtwo's motivation MADE NO FRIGGIN SENSE.


And am I the only one who gets massive Torgo vibes from the Jenny that serves Mewtwo? "I tAkE cArE oF tHe pOkEmOn WhIlE mEwTwO iS aWaY. He WoUlD nOt aPpRoVe YoUr PrEsEnCe HeRe. No, He WoUlD NoT aPpRoVe."


So, what do I think of this movie? I think that, if you ever played the videogames and/or watched (and enjoyed) the TV show, you are gonna like this. It may not be the best anime movie ever, but at least it's better than the Digimon movie, which is 5 hours long and nothing interesting happens in it. Like "2046", only without the artsiness.