Anime 40881 Pokemon Movie 23 Koko

Pokemon Movie 23: Coco/Secrets of The Jungle made me cry.

I know there will be people out there calling this a Tarzan rip-off, and I'll admit, the concept is nothing revolutionary and the plot can be very predictable at parts, but BOY is the overall execution and heights of the emotions in movie incredible. Its 100% worth a watch, especially for any long-term Pokemon fans out there.

I love this new alternate line of Pokemon movies after the soft-reset that was Pokemon Movie 20: I Choose You and then Movie 21: The Power of Us which seem to focus on a specific theme instead of trying ... to follow the canon storyline of the TV anime. This way, the movies can pack more richness in its characters and concepts without sacrificing continuity. Its really a win-win in my book.

Art and animation are SOLID. Everything in Okoya Jungle looked lush and vibrant and teeming with life. The same could be said about the scenes in Milyfa Town where we get to see Pokemon living together with humans and participate in various events and festivals together. Overall, the Pokemon in this film feel very integrated into the world and strengthens both the world-building and the central theme of the story: how Pokemon and humans coexist to become friends, and even family to one another.

Also while the soundtrack of this movie is not particularly mind-blowing, it works well for what it is. The few insert songs used were quite sappy but effective at conveying the budding emotions that bloom in the climax moments of the movie (where the big cry happened for me).

I won't rant on too much longer because really there is not that much to dissect here. Its a classic coming of age/parenthood story between a human and a Pokemon Zarude. Ash is there as well to propel the story forward. Team Rocket is as adorkably conniving as ever and really helps the protagonists in this movie more than do any actual villainy.

My only criticisms for this movie were some occasionally awkward CGI, especially in some crowd shots, that really weren't TOO noticeable. And also, the main "twist" villain (if you can even call it that) was not interesting whatsoever and could be spotted a billion miles away the moment they appeared on screen. I also wished they built a little bit more on the established lore of the forest and the whole shiny Celebi aspect as I felt like that was almost completely brushed over.

I rarely leave reviews, but I feel bad that this movie, which obviously had a lot of love and passion put into it, was mostly brushed under the rug due to the pandemic. I hope that it will get more attention once it hits streaming platforms here in the west.

Lastly, if you are going into this very good movie expecting to get major backstory on Ash's dad, DON'T. You'll be disappointed haha. Now, go watch the movie!!!

Behold, the final Pokemon movie! It's been a long road getting to the end and there's a tangible feeling of finality to this whole Pokemon thing here. The original anime is finished, Ash is done away with and the movies are, surprisingly, dead and buried. A revival is always possible, but after 24 movies, a living link to the franchise which followed many of us throughout life, is forever severed.

For better or worse, the quality of Koko settles right in the boring middle, an average not easy to write about. Production values follow the expected Pokemon standard without any ambition to amaze. Similarly, the plot ... plays out like a lesser copy of its greater predecesors - most notably, Tarzan.

For such a by-the-numbers production, it's a shame then, that specific Pokemon drama is written and acted out in an extremely clunky way. The dramatic elements simply don't work and many threads are naively resolved in a blink of an eye. There's a conscious attempt to forgo writing emotional character moments and the antagonist's uncomfortably straightforward and long monologues concentrate all the blame at one point. The whole production is moreso uninteresting than bad and a better fit as background noise than an active watch.

Ultimately, being the last Pokemon movie is the only outstanding quality on display here. If you're a Pokemon fan and have seen a dozen other ones, Koko won't hurt you. However, as a cap to the franchise, I'd rather recommend The Power of Us - probably the only good movie this movie franchise has given in its final thirteen years.

Lastly, I'm relieved to be able to write these words:
It's finally over.

Not surprised that this is another terrible Pokemon movie.

Where to begin?
- Unoriginal story, literally a rip off of Tarzan but worse
- Typical cartoon villain being a bad guy because he's a bad guy (also extremely dumb, recording a proof of his evil plot for no good reason as if he wanted to be caught)
- Team Rocket role felt forced and unnecessary
- The humor is just etremely old jokes
- Tons of cliche ideas
- Overused "pokemon and humans must co-exist!" as if this subplot hasn't been used millions of times
- Just like in the previous movie, Ash doesn't do anything for most of the ... movie. It feels like even the writers are sick of him and don't know what to do with him
- The movie tries to be sad and emotional, but nothing that I haven't already seen done in other works
- There isn't even an interesting pokemon fights, you get a pokemon vs big robot that have been used too many times in pokemon before, and in a couple of pokemon movies too

Just like the video games, there isn't any competing writing or direction. It's extremely average product that exists just to sell merchs.
Make your children watch Disney's Tarzan instead, seriously.