Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution review: One for the kids

Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution recently released on Netflix last month. How does the CGI animated film stack up?

Okay, so technically this isn’t a game. We’re talking about the Netflix Original movie that released recently called Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution.

I’ve read some reviews on this and heard some good and a lot of bad. But a lot of these comes from adults who watched it and I read a LOT of reviews from adults so I tried something different. I watched, and reviewed, the movie with my kids who are aged four and six.

For myself, I was unimpressed by the movie. I thought the CGI was  a little lack luster and made everything look like candy. Plus, I saw the original and I’ll take hand drawn over CGI any day.

My kids, however, were stunned from the very first moment Mew peaks through a leaf at a swarm of Butterfree. They had never seen Pokémon look like this before and they were hyped.

When I listened to the constant exposition from Mewtwo and the insanely goofy conversation between Mewtwo and Giovanni, I rolled my eyes. It was a lot of explaining, a lot of repeating and all very silly — especially when it culminated with Mewtwo donning ridiculous armor.

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My kids, however, took this time to fully respect the power of both Mewtwo and Giovanni. They were thrown off by how serious they were and lost their minds when they saw Mewtwo’s armor. Shortly after when Mewtwo lifted a hurd of Tauros into the air so Team Rocket could capture them, I heard my kids yell, “Whoa, cool!” I actually watched my six-year-old’s jaw drop when he stopped Blue’s Pokémon with one hand.

I watched through this whole movie with my kids in tow and it was a very different experience than what I read. I started off rolling my eyes and going “meh,” but when I watched my kids and experienced it through their eyes — experiencing the story for the first time and just enjoying a raw story with the gravitas of the first movie — it was exhilarating.

That’s when I remembered something about Pokémon. I can enjoy the games, which I do. I can enjoy the cards, which I do. I admittedly get hyped when I see new clothes that are Pokémon themed. But I remembered the rule of the world we constantly forget, not everything is for us.

And this? This is definitely for kids and my kids absolutely loved this.