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Pokémon Heroes

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Pokémon Heroes
Japanese theatrical release poster
Directed byKunihiko Yuyama
Screenplay byHideki Sonoda
Based onPokémon
by Satoshi Tajiri
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • July 13, 2002 (2002-07-13) (Japan)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office$27.7 million (Japan) $746,381 (US)

Pokémon Heroes[a] (formerly titled Pokémon Heroes: The Movie) is a 2002 Japanese animated fantasy film, and the fifth film in the Pokémon series. The English adaptation was produced by 4Kids Entertainment and distributed by Miramax Films and was released in the United States on May 16, 2003.[1] The film is directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and written by Hideki Sonoda. The events of the film take place during the fifth season of the Pokémon anime.[1]

Pokémon Heroes focuses on the main characters, Ash, Misty and Brock, arriving in the city of Alto Mare, which is based on the real world city of Venice, Italy. The group end up in opposition to Team Rocket operatives Annie and Oakley, who seek to capture the Pokémon Latias and Latios in order to power a superweapon named the D.M.A.

The film was released in theaters, with a limited theatrical run in North America. The film grossed US$27 million in Japan and $756,381 in the United States, becoming the lowest grossing film in the Pokémon franchise. The film was met with primarily negative reviews, though retrospective reviews have been more positive.

Plot

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The city of Alto Mare is protected by the dragon siblings Latias and Latios. Their father, also a Latios, is said to have saved the city from an evil Pokémon Trainer and their Pokémon, causing Alto Mare's streets to become canals. The father Latios died protecting the city, leaving behind the Soul Dew, said to contain his own soul. The citizens of Alto Mare built the Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare (D.M.A. for short) to protect the city if necessary, using the Soul Dew as a power source, which was hidden away to prevent its usage.

In the present day, protagonists Ash Ketchum, Misty, and Brock are visiting Alto Mare. Ash and Misty participate in a race through the canals. An invisible Latias attempts to help Ash win, though Latios sabotages them and causes Ash to crash. Later, Team Rocket agents Annie and Oakley corner Latias, attempting to capture her to gain access to the D.M.A. Ash rescues Latias, who is disguised as a human, from an attack by Annie and Oakley, though Latias disappears after being saved. After a visit to the museum, Ash spots a girl named Bianca, who resembles Latias's human form. Ash chases her, leading him to a hidden garden, where he meets Latias. The museum's curator and Bianca's grandfather, Lorenzo, explains the Soul Dew to Ash, unaware that Annie and Oakley snuck a drone into the garden.

Annie and Oakley sneak into the garden later that night, kidnapping Latios and stealing the Soul Dew. Latias escapes to get Ash's help. Oakley initiates a citywide lockdown using the D.M.A to prevent interference and revives the evil trainer's Pokémon from the dead. The lockdown traps Brock and Misty inside the building they're staying at. Ash and Latias evade the Pokémon and the lockdown and confront Annie and Oakley at the D.M.A. Latias frees Latios, but the Soul Dew shatters from its use in the device, causing Alto Mare's water to flow out to the ocean and return as a tidal wave. Latias and Latios combine their power together to destroy the wave, but Latios dies in the process.

Several days later, Ash, Brock, and Misty plan to leave Alto Mare. As he does so, a girl, possibly Bianca, runs up to him and kisses him, though it is left unclear as to whether the girl is Bianca or Latias. Ash departs Alto Mare. In a post credits scene, Annie and Oakley are revealed to have been arrested for their crimes.

Cast and development

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The city of Alto Mare is based around the city of Venice, Italy, and many Italian words are used in the film's dialogue as a result.[1] The film is directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and written by Hideki Sonoda.[2] Yuyama chose Venice as an inspiration for the film in order to convey the feeling of entering a mysterious world.[3] The film's title was officially announced on January 30th, 2002 in Japan, at a production presentation held at a hotel.[4]

The film's English dub includes Veronica Taylor as Ash Ketchum,[5] Eric Stuart as Brock,[5] and Rachael Lillis as Misty and Jessie.[6] The film's Japanese voice cast includes Uno Kanda as Annie, Yumiko Shaku as Oakley, and Yuzo Gucci as Lorenzo.[4] Rica Matsumoto reprised her role as Ash.[4] The movie was aired alongside the short episode "Camp Pikachu," which introduced the Pokémon Wynaut to the franchise.[4] Yuka narrated the short episode.[4] A prologue, which describes the history of Alto Mare, was cut in the film's English language dub. The English language dub is additionally in full-screen, while the Japanese film is in widescreen.[1]

Reception

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Pokémon Heroes received primarily negative reviews from critics, earning a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 19%.[7] Desson Howe of The Washington Post stated that "This one's for kids and no one else",[8] with The Austin Chronicle's Marc Savlov also giving the film a negative review.[5] Retrospective reviews were more positive. Pedro Hernandez of Nintendo World Report stated that while the film's animation was not the greatest the series' movies had, he found it to be a visually impressive film, additionally highlighting the design of the film's main location of Alto Mare.[1] TheGamer's Eric Switzer found the film's plot to be confusing, though felt it was better executed than the series' prior film, Pokémon 4Ever. Though he disliked the sound effects used to verbally represent Latias and Latios's speech, he stated he "was still pleasantly surprised by how much personality and charm these otherwise forgettable Legendaries had," additionally highlighting Latios's death scene.[9] Callum May of Anime News Network highlighted the film's "iconic" opening, additionally praising the relationship between Ash and Latias and the overall character work in the film.[10] The identity of who kissed Ash at the end of the film became a highly debated topic among fans of the series.[11]

The film's environment and characters were referenced in later Pokémon media. The anime season Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series featured cameo appearances from Bianca and Alto Mare, marking one of the few times the franchise's films appeared in the main anime series.[12][13] In 2017, The Pokémon Company hosted a fan poll to celebrate the release of the 2017 film Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! in order to determine fans' favorite film, with Heroes ranking in first place on the poll.[14] As part of a celebration of the Pokémon anime's 25th anniversary, selected movies were voted on by fans to be shown in theaters as part of the "25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival." The films that were selected in theaters were decided by a poll of 200,000 votes, with Heroes being among the three films selected.[15][16] A Pikachu, based on Ash's, was distributed in the games Pokémon Sword and Shield alongside showings of the film.[15] A Latias was also distributed to celebrate the film's re-release. This Latias had a special attack named "Lovely Kiss," a reference to the film's ending.[11]

Box office and release

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The first three Pokémon films, Pokémon: The First Movie, Pokémon: The Movie 2000, and Pokémon 3: The Movie, were released outside of Japan by Warner Bros., but the distribution rights for Pokémon 4Ever and Pokémon Heroes were given to Miramax on April 2, 2002, by The Pokémon Company. Miramax was rumored to have bought the rights for $1 million and by giving up 75% of the profits. Harvey Weinstein stated that Miramax could "reinvigorate the franchise".[17]

The film opened on July 13, 2002,[1] at the same time as Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in Japan (where it had opened at number one), and failed to out-gross it. It later fell to ninth place at the Japanese box office behind Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Stuart Little 2. The film grossed US$27 million in Japan.[18] In North America, the film had a limited run in theaters, only opening in 196 theaters.[9] The film released in theaters on May 16, 2003,[1] and grossed $756,381, resulting in the film becoming the lowest grossing in the series.[9] The film was later released on VHS and DVD on January 20, 2004,[1] and later made available on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.[19] The film was later re-released in theaters from August 11th to August 18th in 2022 in order to celebrate the 25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival.[15]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Originally released in Japan as Pocket Monsters the Movie: The Guardians of Altomare (劇場版ポケットモンスター 水の都の護神 ラティアスとラティオス, Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā Mizu no Miyako no Mamorigami Ratiasu to Ratiosu, lit. "The Guardian Gods of the City of Water: Latias and Latios")

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hernandez, Pedro (May 16, 2011). "Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias - Feature". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Miller, Cameron (December 24, 2023). "10 Best Pokemon Movies Of All Time". TheGamer. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  3. ^ "ポケモン映画第5弾「水の都の護神 ラティアスとラティオス」 第4四半期に、350種類以上のポケモンが登場するGBA版を発売へ". Game Watch. 2009-04-26. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  4. ^ a b c d e ASCII. "ポケモン映画最新作、今夏公開――ゲスト声優陣もシリーズ最強". ASCII.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  5. ^ a b c Savlov, Marc (May 16, 2003). "Movie Review: Pokémon Heroes". The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  6. ^ Mandell, Sean (August 12, 2024). "'Pokémon' voice actor, who played Jessie and Misty, dead at 46". New York Post. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  7. ^ "Pokémon Heroes (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  8. ^ Howe, Desson (May 9, 2003). "Action Heroes Reloaded". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Switzer, Eric (September 19, 2021). "In Pokemon Heroes, Ash Smooches Latias And Becomes A Dad". TheGamer. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  10. ^ May, Callum (August 19, 2024). "The Best and Worst Pokemon Movies Of All Time". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "『ポケモン』映画イベントで「サトシのキスシーン論争」がついに決着！？お相手はカノンかラティアスか…". Inside Games (in Japanese). August 20, 2022. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  12. ^ Coulson, Josh (March 22, 2023). "Ash's Final Season Brings Back Alto Mare From Pokemon Heroes Movie". TheGamer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  13. ^ Peters, Megan (March 20, 2023). "Pokemon: Ash's Final Season Drops a Major Movie Throwback". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  14. ^ Sherman, Jennifer (August 19, 2024). "Pokémon Heroes - Latias & Latios Tops Fan Poll of Favorite Franchise Film". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c "『ポケモン映画祭』上映3作品決定 ラティアスとラティオス、ジラーチ…入場者プレゼントも実施". ORICON NEWS. 2024-06-25. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  16. ^ "【25周年ポケモン映画祭】投票結果を発表。再上映されるのは『水の都の護神』『七夜の願い星』『ディアルガVSパルキアVSダークライ』 | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  17. ^ Eller, Claudia (April 4, 2002). "Miramax Acquires Rights to Two 'Pokemon' Sequels". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Macias, Patrick (2003). Japan's Movie House Masterpieces. DH Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 9780972312448. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  19. ^ "「ミュウツーの逆襲」から「ポケットモンスター ココ」まで！ポケモン映画32作品がAmazon Prime Videoで一挙配信". Inside Games (in Japanese). January 31, 2022. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
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