Review: 'Pokemon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel' intrigues with a new kingdom

Secret ending: No, but the credits sequence is cute.

Running time: 92 minutes (~1.5 hours)

“Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel” is a Japanese animated fantasy adventure that is the 19th in the “Pokémon” franchise. It has been dubbed into English.

When Ash and his friends are forced to journey with a legendary Pokémon, Volcanion, they discover a technologically advanced city and their greatest creation, a manmade Pokémon. But other forbidden secrets lurk in the city that could threaten everything they’ve built.

It features the voice talents of Sarah Natochenny (Ash Ketchum), Ikue Otani (Pikachu), Haven Burton-Paschall (Serena), Michael Liscio Jr. (Clemont), Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld (Bonnie), Michele Knotz (Jessie), Jimmy Zoppi (James and Meowth), Rodger Parsons (Narrator), and Sean Schemmel (Alva). It is rated.

If you’re watching “Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel” because of Pokémon GO, it’d be advisable to read up on Generation VI Pokémon, because many of the featured Pokémon are from the recent Pokémon X & Y games. Pokémon Go feature Generation I, or the first 151 Pokémon. It’s a cute adventure that’s colourful and comedic, and targetted squarely at children.

Highlights

Steampunk setting

The plot device for “Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel” isn’t the new Pokémon, as you might expect, but a term called “arcane science”. It’s used to explain everything from the at-will use of Mega Evolution that the Azoth Kingdom is capable of to the creation of Magearna. There’s even a sly nod to Nikola Tesla in the form of the Azoth Kingdom’s pioneering scientist, Nikola. In a world of colourful, fantastic creatures, an industrial age setting is a welcome, refreshing contrast.

Costume changes

In a cute costume change scene, we get to see Ash decked out in 19th century garb (made even more amusing by the fact that he’s got a giant set of restraints on), along with the two new Azoth Kingdom royal family members, Chymia and Rali. As with the setting itself, seeing the contrast between their period dressing and the relatively contemporary clothes of Ash and gang makes for interesting visuals. It leaves us wanting to know more about the Azoth Kingdom, which will hopefully appear in a future game or at least, in the next season of “Pokémon”.

Letdowns

Translation needs more work

Mediocre Japanese-to-English translation is a problem that’s plagued “Pokémon” and other English dubs of famous anime for a long time, and it rears its ugly head again here. While I understand the necessity of simplifying the language so that it’s more accessible to children, the problem is that too many lines are reduced to the characters describing what’s happening on screen, and too much screaming of names. Surely some nuances could have been retained or added from the original?

Stale message

As with many “Pokémon” episodes and films, the message is once again about discrimination, and not to paint the whole human race with the same brush just because of a few bad apples. With a starkly different concept like the Azoth Kingdom, it’s a little disappointing to see the same themes being reused. A message about technology or even substance abuse would have gone a long way to unifying all aspects of the film.

Not enough of the Azoth Kingdom

It’s a minor quibble, but I’d love to have seen more of the Azoth Kingdom. In what other ways can technology be used to enhance Pokémon? How come the Azoth Kingdom hasn’t conquered other countries or expanded their territories? What do the other Legendary Pokémon think about the Azoth Kingdom? It raises so many questions, and is ripe for exploration in future movies. We just don’t get to see enough of it in this movie.

“Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel” introduces the intriguing Azoth Kingdom, leaving us wanting more of that steampunk country.

Should you watch this if it’s free? Yes.

Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? If you like Pokemon.

Score: 2.5/5

“Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel” opens in cinemas:
– 24 November, 2016 (Singapore)
– 24 November, 2016 (Malaysia)

Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. He's also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcus and writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.