The Biggest Differences Between Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pokemon: The First Movie
Netflix’s recent release of the 22nd Pokemon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution, comes full circle by returning to the first film of the franchise: Pokemon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back. The original film is likely a cornerstone of many a young millennial’s memory (there are no doubt countless twentysomethings who were traumatized by seeing Pikachu crying as kids).
The twist here is that the new film has been made with CG animation from OLM. The practice of adapting cel-animation to CG is not unprecedented. A CG-animated version of Lupin The Third is on its way, and in the past, Mamoru Oshii’s groundbreaking Ghost In The Shell was remade (before the Scarlett Johansson version) with additional 3DCG animation in Ghost in The Shell 2.0. Netflix’s upcoming Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, a sequel to the TV series Stand Alone Complex, is following suit.
Even with this new method applied, Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution is a deeply nostalgic, shot-for-shot remake that follows the dialogue and plot of the original (nearly) to the letter. The narrative mostly unfolds in the same fashion over a more decompressed running time, with just a handful of updates - we’ve combed through both films to spot the differences. Check out our comparison between the original movie and Netflix's remake in the slideshow below.
1. Mewtwo never communicates with Amber in Evolution
Where the original Mewtwo Strikes Back opted for a 20-minute introduction to the pained backstory of the creation of Mewtwo, Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution favors a truncated opening, establishing the character’s tragic past in around 10 minutes. During the original, Mewtwo was created so that the scientist overseeing the project, Dr Fuji, could “unlock the secret to restoring life itself,” to bring his dead daughter Amber back to life (and maybe even restore his marriage in the process; the first film is surprisingly bleak). Mewtwo communicates with Amber’s clone telepathically, his existential crisis beginning when the new Amber dies, becoming confused by the line between humans and Pokemon and where he falls on that line.
In the new film, his crisis is primarily caused by his knowledge of the circumstances of his creation, made at the hands of scientists driven by hubris rather than loss. In both versions, Mewtwo is haunted by dreams of Mew and his time with Team Rocket leader Giovanni (which also occurs in the first film). This change removes the previous film’s empathy for the scientists who defied nature to create Mewtwo in the first place, and skews more in favor of the tortured, vengeful Pokemon.
2. Meowth is a ship captain, instead of a masthead
In the original Mewtwo Strikes Back, Team Rocket, as cunning as ever, disguise themselves as Vikings on a boat (with their talking Pokemon teammate Meowth tied up as its figurehead), offering to ferry Ash and the gang to New Island, where the self-proclaimed “greatest Pokemon trainer in the world” (and maybe treasure) awaits them. Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution introduces the trio with sailor outfits and song-and-dance, singing a brief number while conveniently rolling up in a Lapras boat captained by Meowth, disguised by a mustache. They still sink, in both instances.
3. More virtual camera movement, fewer cuts
Though CG-assisted in places (such as with the depiction of Meowth’s cloning, or some assorted background shots), Pokemon: The First Movie was mostly accomplished via traditional cel animation. While the handdrawn cels provide more clarity in its backdrops (and honestly, much better-looking characters than the more rubbery entities of Evolution) it favors more frequent cuts over camera movement to block out a scene - one notable exception being a shot in the original that slowly rotates around Brock and Joy. The new CG-animated film, on the other hand, makes use of longer cuts and more frequent and complex virtual camera movement, mimicking zooms, pans, dolly shots and beyond.
4. The post-credits scene
The first film concludes with a brief post-credits scene of Mew returning to the mountain as witnessed at the film’s opening, after a credits sequence that highlights the ongoing journey of Ash and his friends, walking back through the country. The new version also does this through still concept art, but builds towards a final moment that reemphasizes where the film’s sympathies lay the entire time: with Mewtwo. The last moments before the end of the film see him with his new family of cloned Pokemon leaving Kanto behind, flying towards the western region of Johto to find their new home - which is none other than Mount Quena, a location from Mewtwo Strikes Back’s sequel, Mewtwo Returns.
5. Team Rocket are very clearly fascists
Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution hammers home the evil that Team Rocket (the organization, not the trio) represents by using imagery as blunt as in that of General Hux’s speech (and the stormtrooper’s salute in response) in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, whereas in the original Mewtwo Strikes Back, Giovanni is presented as more of an opulent, old-school serial villain. It’s not new territory for the series nor Team Rocket; one episode in 2003, All Things Bright and Beautifly!, had a sequence edited for the English release due to the trio and their subordinates all saluting in a very particular manner.
6. And one major similarity between Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution and The First Movie…
Ash being turned to stone - and Pikachu’s heartbreaking response - remains devastating, no matter which type of animation the scene is rendered in.
What did you think of Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution? Which Pokemon movie would you like to see adapted next? Weigh in below and check out our review of Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution.
