daisukereds

Set during the golden age during the Tang Dynasty, 500 years after the first movie.. the two immortal-snake- demon sisters are back to repay a kindness to the reincarnation of a man through a human-lifetime of love.

This is the actual sequel (in chronological order) to Lightchaser's White Snake trilogy.. after they released them out of order, for some reason. And while the movie is a beautiful spectacle, the script leaves a lot to be desired (as is often the case with this animation studio).

At least the weird storytelling keeps it fresh, albeit nonsensical in parts. Sadly, the emotional sections feel weightless and there's little to enjoy aside from the action and wonderful visuals. At least the story makes sense this time around.

There's a mystery of a missing dad whose resolution feels like an afterthought, a lead that's allergic to charisma and whose character couldn't be more dull, a threat of purple gas that has no real weight and a cartoon villain with an overwritten plan.

This is purely fan-fiction.

The execution is all over the place, the plot threads don't even connect seamingly, it isn't particularly funny, and the script gives the viewer nothing to connect with. Considering the emotional links are weak, the dialogue terrible and the threat is complete nonsense.. you have to REALLY like PKMN to get anything out of it!

And it is a shame it needs to leans entirely on the brand to draw an audience, while also warping beloved creatures into CGI abominations you can't look away from (for all the wrong reasons). There's actually so little Pokemon elements in this Pokemon movie (and ideas that aren't even canon) that it becomes a nonsensical parody and an obvious cash-grab.

Even rating it as a film, I couldn't stand it.

At least Kathryn Newton works exactly as what she was casted for, and the mime scene was creative enough to be memorable.

A Spaniard comes to America seeking Gold. But will of the Gods have chosen emissaries to do battle.. or something.

Is this supposed to be a proper attempt at sharing a rich cultural event? Does the writer have so little respect for their history that they need pointlessly smear a recognizable IP in a way that doesn't even come close to making sense? Was twisting history into fiction and stripping Batman from all its elements the objective? Or was this genuinely the original vision? If so, how disappointing. I prefer to think that the writers are simply inexperienced or incompetent, as this utterly simplistic film feels like a parody. Even the smallest of things, like how the progress of time does not makes sense..

There's SO little to get from this experience. Considering there's no appeal in the story being told, not even the designs, art style, or animations make this worth the watch. I can see the appeal from an Aztec Batman pitch.. but this was not the way to do it. The setup needed more time, better dialogue and at least having the decency to make it Batman-like, not just using the name.