Pokemon Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

My journey through the Pokémon films continues with Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life, the 12th film in the series. This movie concludes a story arc that began in Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai. The story follows Ash, Dawn and Brock as they arrive at the town of Michina, where strange events are taking place. In the distant past, Arceus, a legendary Pokémon with the power to create worlds, lent some of his power to revive the land Michina is built on in the form of the Jewel of Life. But when the time came to return the jewel, Arceus was betrayed, the jewel withheld. Now, thousands of years later, Arceus has returned to judge humans for their betrayal. But once again, things are not as they seem and it is up to Ash and his friends to uncover the truth.

Going in, I could’ve sworn that I never saw this particular film before. But as the story played out, it dawned on me that I remembered certain parts, so while I don’t remember the exact date, it seems I have seen Arceus and the Jewel of Life before, so it was great to revisit the story a number of years later.

It was fascinating to see how Arceus and the Jewel of Life ties The Rise of Darkrai and Giratina & the Sky Warrior together. The film’s explanation that it was Arceus awakening that set everything into motion makes sense and it answers a question I hadn’t even thought to ask while watching The Rise of Darkrai, which was WHY had Dialga and Palkia encountered each other in the first place?

Once again, the plot of this film reminded me of a previous Pokémon film, in this case the story reminded me in part of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. Like that film, Arceus and the Jewel of Life requires our heroes to find out the truth of what happened in the distant past. Unlike the Lucario story, Ash and company actually get to travel back to the distant past with the help of Dialga. And this is where I have my one big problem with this film. As you might expect, Ash and his friends succeed in changing the past and returning the Jewel of Life to Arceus, who gratefully leaves. But when everyone returns to the present…not only is Arceus still there, he’s still angry and fighting everyone. This makes NO sense to me. The general rule about time travel is if you change the past, you change the future at the same time. By returning the Jewel of Life to Arceus in the past, there would’ve been no reason for Arceus to be there in the present, so he should’ve been gone when Ash and his friends returned. I understand there needs to be a dramatic climax but this went way over the line of believability in my opinion.

I also have to say, I really like how the designs of Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina complement each other. When all four are together, you can tell they kind of belong to the same “family” of Pokémon creatures. I mention that because I think it’s a really cool example of attention to detail.

Once again, I finished a Pokémon film that I really liked by the time it was over. Arceus and the Jewel of Life is definitely one of the better films in the series, and it caps off an excellent story arc. Definitely watch this one if you get the chance (but make sure you watch the others first for full effect).

Let me know what you think about Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life in the comments below and have a great day!

My Thoughts on: Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (1999)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon 3: The Movie: Entei – Spell of the Unown (2000)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon 4Ever- Celebi – Voice of the Forest (2001)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias (2002)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker (2003)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2005)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2006)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (2007)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon: Giratina & the Sky Warrior (2008)

My Thoughts on: Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

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After a lengthy delay (largely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that temporarily killed any desire to watch and review anything), my quest to watch all of the Pokémon movies continued with Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. This is the eighth Pokémon film in the series and it came out in 2005. The story follows the ongoing adventures of Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max as they help a Pokémon called Lucario unravel the mystery of why he was sealed away by his master, Sir Aaron, a thousand years ago. And oh yes, did I mention Mew puts in an appearance?

I’ve yet to see a Pokémon film that I didn’t like, but this definitely has to be my favorite after the first three films (which in my mind will always be the best). The story is fairly straightforward: Ash and company stumble onto an adventure, Team Rocket inevitably tags along, and Ash must to do something to save the immediate area. The story’s setting is out of this world. There’s a beautiful castle, the phenomenal Tree of Beginning that looks like a tree but is actually made of stone and crystal, and (I can’t mention this enough) some completely adorable scenes with Mew. I’ve loved Mew ever since the first Pokémon movie and this story has more than enough of the adorable critter in it.

I really like how this story uses “time flowers” as a way of looking into the past to find out what happened without resorting to true flashbacks every five minutes. It’s really interesting how the story actually seems to employ the “unreliable narrator” trope. That is, it forces you to question if you can really believe the accepted version of what happened to Sir Aaron, or if Lucario’s version of events is actually correct. The truth, once it’s revealed, is pretty heart-wrenching (but I’m discovering that’s par for the course for Pokémon films).

My favorite visual in the film has to be the secret world inside the Tree of Beginning. It’s amazing how many of these Pokémon films involve secret worlds where Pokémon thrive without any interference from humans. This one is particularly well put together, and I genuinely wished it was a real place I could explore, that’s how beautiful it was. On a separate note, it’s also fun to watch all of the Pokémon interact with each other. Even though all they do is repeat their own names, you still get an idea of what they’re saying.

The one character that surprised me the most in this story was Kidd Summers. When she initially started snooping around the castle, I was convinced that she was the bad guy for this film, the kind that would ingratiate herself with Ash and company before revealing her true colors. But not only was that not true, now that I think about it, there really isn’t a villain in this story (and no, Team Rocket doesn’t count, they don’t even really try anything this time). That shows what a good film this is, when you get totally engrossed in the story despite there not being a villain for our heroes to go against.

If you’re looking for Pokémon films to try outside of the first three films, I highly recommend watching Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. The story was excellent and the animation was spot-on. This was truly a great story about the world of Pokémon and I hope you get the chance to check it out.

Let me know what you think about Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew in the comments below and have a great day!