Pokémon is a franchise that continues to fascinate despite how repetitive the formulas have become for several films. Roughly after the first two trilogies, the writing was already starting to waiver on originality but it was the likable main characters, voice acting and music that kept it mostly tolerable. Now, with way over ten films the level of quality has remained at average. For the devoted casual viewer, it's serviceable. To a diehard and unfamiliar viewer, it is likely to not impress from either side. Reason for this are the narratives not doing anything different or taking risks. Each story execution had roughly the same setups and outcomes, almost to the exact moment with minor variations. The last generation of black and white was not impressive from a storytelling perspective and the recent XY generation wasn't improving much either. Surprisingly, this entry just managed to squeeze by.
Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and adapted in English by James Carter Cathcart, the story is about Ash and company being drawn into the Azoth Kingdom, a steam punk esque mechanical city, only by happen stance. A legendary Pokémon named Volcanion (Mike Pollock) is trying to save a mechanical Pokémon named Magearna being taken by Prince Raleigh (Laurie Hymes). Alongside the prince is Alva (Billy Bob Thompson) who feels he can help bring the Kingdom to its rightful glory. Meanwhile Princess Kimia (Riley Joseph) feels her brother is mistaken. Direction is once again headed by Kunihiko Yuyama and that can also be said for the execution of the story. Let's see, do we have a legendary Pokémon involved? Yes. Does the Pokémon speak English through telepathy? Yes. Are the antagonists attempting to do what past villains wanted to do with a special Pokémon? Yes. Why can't anything different be done with the setup?
For once at least the main characters are dragged into a conflict as opposed to just walking into one, but that's not a big change. Voice acting in general from the cast is fine. This is a standard that has been met consistently though for every entry, thankfully. The few additions like Laurie Hymes and Riley Joseph are both fine, despite Joseph having very few credits. Billy Bob Thompson as Alva works. He has what sounds like the right voice for the role. And for Mike Pollock who's been with the franchise before is by far the more intriguing actor in the film. Even though the use of Telepathic Pokémon is just obnoxious now, Pollock's role as Volcanion is not some cutesy eyed puff ball. Volcanion is like an old crotchety man who has no time for fun with a gruff deep voice. That's a much better attention grabber than the others before it.
It was even more eyebrow raising to see that Team Rocket's Jessie, James and Meowth were way more involved in this story, which hasn't happened in quite a long time too. And of course because this entry is in the XY generation, mega evolution is prevalent but so is this new form called a "mega wave". Also known as a mega evolving hack. Sure, all these minor changes are appreciated and it can keep the interest of the viewer. However, this is still not enough for this story to break the all too familiar rut it's dug itself into. The plotline is very much the same from previous film entries and the reason why the antagonist is doing their evil deeds is the same as other villains before them. Because Pokémon contain a power far greater if used a certain way that unleashes life altering changes to the norms currently held by everyday normal people and Pokémon alike.
Again, visually there are no issues. The animation continues to work in the films favor. For those who love steam punk related themes, viewers should get a kick out of all the mechanical parts and gears flying around the kingdom of Azoth. Cinematography by Aya Aoshima is an unexplained and undetermined credit to the picture but okay sure. As for music the film score was again composed by Shinji Miyazaki and Ed Goldfarb respectively per their country of origin even though only one score exists. So weird. The music to this entry was also unique and different this time with what sounded like incorporated Harpsicord or calliope giving the setting a more medieval feel surrounding the mechanical kingdom. Too bad all the pluses are not enough to make it far better than it could have been.
At this rate, an entry with even small updates seems to be a nice change. That still doesn't make it great though. While it continues to suffer from the same recycled storytelling and villains, the voice acting, animation and music make it okay to watch. Once.
