Pokémon 3: The Movie

The first Pokémon film to make it to our shores with its plot untampered with… perhaps the whole Pokémon phenomenon would have gotten off on better footing with Christians has the First Movie also kept its original plot, in which the main character is driven to despair when learning that he was not created by God, but by Humans as an experiment. In any event, unless you consider make-believe and fantasy offensive, I’d say that there’s little to be upset over in this film. As always, contests of strength between the many mythical creatures in the film is given the spotlight, but none of the fights ends in any serious injury.

The major theme of the movie talks about the importance of keeping a grip on reality and real relationships. The main character is a little girl who, at the loss of her parents, withdraws from the world with the help of the magical “Unown”, creatures that make dreams come true with illusions. The regular protagonists of the series, Ash and his cute monster Pikachu, try to battle past the literal “walls” the girl erects around herself and bring her back into the real world. One of the better movies, one that I found rather entertaining, though people unfamiliar with the details of “Pokémon” may be bored or confused.
My Ratings: [Good / 3½]

Positive—Pokémon 3 was an amazing movie and it really teaches some godly morals. The main moral I kept seeing was how falseness does not truly satisfy the soul; truth is part of true satisfaction. The violence in this movie was akin to a sport at best; I’ve never viewed Pokémon as a cockfighting propaganda and I have always believed such deceit was slander to the makers of Pokémon and God hates slander. The movie was squeaky clean in terms of sexuality, language, drugs, and alcohol. Molly is not like other movie villains (ex. Grings Kodai, Annie and Oakley) who are evil and power-hungry; she is a lonely child who is desperate for loving parents and she is forgiven for her actions. It’s also better when we learn her father’s OKAY, and her mother comes back to the family (most of this is in the credits).

The song “To Know the Unknown” glorifies that just the right knowledge and love is all anyone truly needs; we do not need to know everything, just the right things is what this song says to me. One area that looks borderline offensive is the Unown. Usually, they are playful Pokémon that just live in ruins, but in this movie, they can use their energy to create a weird world in the Hale mansion. Their dimension might come off as “otherworld” like, but their world is under the limits of time and space; in other words, it’s just a parallel physical dimension. I hear they communicate via electric radiation or something akin to morse code. All in all, they just fantasy, nothing to worry about.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½

…action-oriented violence… nothing in the way of major objectionable material…

…Strong New Age pagan worldview coupled with a solid humanist message or premise, plus many occult elements and some moral elements…

…MESSAGE—You can beat any foe if you fight together as a team…