Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea

Manaphy: The Movie is the fourth and last film in the Pokemon Advance series. While the film series continued onward with annual releases under a slightly different name, this was the last we saw of May and Max. The first Advance film gave Max some focus, but both characters were generally reduced to supporting roles. Luckily for May, Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy decided to focus on her. And lucky indeed she is, because the fourth Advance film is the only of the four I can consider good without reservations. While the slapstick antics of the titular ranger, Jack, did initially turnme off the film, they're used sparingly. Phantom and his pirate crew border on the ridiculous as well, but just like Jack, they're used in moderation and mostly in good taste. Mostly. One of the major things that make this film stand out from most Pokemon sequels are interesting side characters. The family Ash and company come in contact with this time aren't exceeding strange or special. They feel like normal people and as normal people, they have small quirks which the film uses to flesh them out as unique and interesting - the ways they dress, talk, walk and think. The film succeeds at painting the relationships of the supporting cast as real and fine dialogue makes them interesting enough to follow. Their distinct "house" is given its own visual identity, as well. Because of this, film successfuly indulges into 40 minutes of set up and casual character building. Handled wrongly, Manaphy herself could have ended up as an annoying baby and a catalyst for many frustrating moments. This doesn't happen. In the film, Manaphy bonds with May, and although May isn't interesting here as she is in the fourth season of the regular Pokemon show, she can take the spotlight just fine. While the film is plot driven, a large chunk of the middle half is spent on a journey. Here the focus is on the relationship between May and Manaphy and I'm happy to say - this relationship makes the film shine. And it's accompanied by some quite sophisticated dialogue for a Pokemon film, or at the very least for a later Pokemon film. These scenes are the best that this film has to offer. Some other standout moments are Manaphy's search for May's scarf and the exchange between Jack and Ash with May joining in later. On a less positive note, the migrant family of circus entertainers has enough money for top tier sea equipment, boats and submarines. In the film they proceed to destroy these vehicles and you can't stop and wonder - how rich do they have to be not to even mention the loss? The last third of this film, features a fantastic sea temple and while I've had my rants regarding vague magic in Pokemon before, this one's not a thorn in my side. "A legendary did it" is not the best possible explanation, but considering how the temple was used in the film, it gets a pass. In the last act, the film serves us a nice surprise - Ash acting heroic. There's some neat action and Ash, who usually spouts exposition while his pokemon do all the work, plunges right into the action and saves the day. While the ending could certianly do with some more May, Ash makes it worthwile. All in all, while the whole deal with nonsensical yellow powers at the end does lower the score, the vast majority of the film is nested in the fine-to-pretty-good area. Manaphy and May were an enjoyable pair and the plot was solid, even if a bit barebones. I think that the film could've benefited from the apearance of Phione, but that's a nitpick.

This was another good Pokemon movie. The plot was okay. It started out as a cookie-cutter "steal this Pokemon" plot but things got much more interesting in the second half with the whole underwater temple business, so it was overall fine. There were several other positive aspects as well. There was a lot of funny bits, such as the foreshadowing of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and Phantom's "there are two kinds of people" running gag. The fight scenes were, as usual for the series, very well-done, and there was a nice amount of very well-done emotional and cute moments surrounding May and Manaphy. But the best partabout the movie was the animation and direction. The obvious CGI got annoying after a while, but when it was 2D, it was top-notch. There were so many great scenes here. The absolute highlight was the FANTASTIC scenes with them going through the ocean. The music, animation, and atmosphere mixed perfectly to create some of my favorite scenes in the series. Other highlights included May's dream sequence, and the ending, which while not up to the climaxes of other Pokemon movies was still nicely intense. Ash going Super Saiyan was pretty stupid though... Overall, another good movie, one any fan should enjoy.

Very pleasantly surprised by this film! For me, it's objectively the best since the 5th movie based on Latias and Latios, about which I had also written a review. One thing I have often criticized about Pokémon movies up until now is that they fail to fully realize their ideas. They limit many aspects to maintain Pokémon's family-friendly spirit, avoiding complex plots to not overwhelm the younger audience with too much information. And it's a shame! Each film had great potential and good ideas, but none have exploited them as well as the 5th film and this 9th film. The story is beautiful, moving, even touching. Like everyfilm, the story centers on a Pokémon, in this case, Manaphy takes the spotlight. Manaphy is not as flashy as Jirachi or Deoxys, the Pokémon featured in the 6th and 7th films, but perhaps that’s precisely why this film succeeds. In my opinion, Pokémon movies tend to focus too much on the Pokémon they want to highlight. They try to find a story that showcases the Pokémon in question, which is not the case with this 9th film. Yes, the story centers on Manaphy, but everything doesn’t revolve around him. Manaphy contributes something to the story, and the story contributes something to Manaphy. The two combine to enrich the film's universe and plot, and that, to me, is the biggest difference from previous films. They are not trying to sell us a Pokémon and force us to like it; they are telling us its story and what surrounds it. I also found that this film had a good balance of screen time between the trainers/humans and the Pokémon. One does not overshadow the other; both have their impact on the story, a perfect balance! The animation is also a great success. I was surprised by the risks taken for a 2006 film, but without overdoing it. For example, the 4th film about Celebi overused 3D, making it quite ugly. This film managed to be innovative, did beautiful things, without trying to surpass the technological possibilities of its time. I highly recommend watching this film. It may not be the most appealing when judging by the title or cover image, but you won't regret taking the time to watch it! For the best chronological fit, you can watch it between episodes 182 and 183 of Pokémon Advanced Generation!