"I've Marathoned Every Pokemon Movie, and Here Are my Rankings (From Worst to Best) and Thoughts"

Hoopa and the Clash of Ages: It's like Michael Bay directed a Pokemon Movie. Seeing a bunch of legendaries fight is cool but brainless. Hoopa is a cool concept, but he's SO annoying. And why can Latias and Latios mega evolve without a stone?Genesect and the Legend Awakened: The Douse Drive Genesect is an interesting character, a prehistoric creature mutated by evil science with the mind of a child, dealing with the fact that it has no home. But Red Genesect's actions and Mewtwo's existence makes no sense! Call me a nostalgic fanboy (and maybe I am), but I think using the classic Mewtwo would've made this movie stronger. They used the classic Charizard in this film, after all. Also, why can it Mega Evolve without a Mega Stone? If you're going to promote a next gen mechanic, at least make it somewhat accurate.Giratina and the Sky Warrior: I really liked this movie when I was younger, but it doesn't really hold up. The Giratina plot and the Shaymin plot don't really connect, Shaymin is annoying, and the villain is uninteresting and his plans are nonsensical. But the reverse world is a visual spectacle, and it's connection to Rise of Darkrai is unique.Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction: I like the setup of a Disney Princess-like Pokemon going on a quest to find Xerneas and the power to save her kingdom, and the climax with all the thieves attacking at once, and Yvetal's rampage, but the middle is really boring, and there's too much time spent in cities to really give the feel of this being a quest. I do really like how this movie shows the origin of Diancite, and I think it handles Mega Evolution the best out of all of the movies.Pokémon: The Movie 2000: I didn't grow up on this one, so I noticed more of the 4Kids awkwardness. I don't like the chosen one aspect, the wild Pokemon don't do anything, and I question why the villain doesn't use a Pokeball. However, I do really like the atmosphere of the Islands, and the sense of chaos and power the legendary birds emanate. And Lugia is really cool.Pokémon 4Ever: I really love the atmosphere of the forest, and how the wild Pokemon interact with Celebi. I like the nature vs technology aspect of the villain. The plot twist that Sam was Professor Oak blew my mind as a kid, even though it was the only time I saw this movie before the marathon. I do admit it's a bit too slow paced, and the resurrection is a bit too much of a deus ex machina.Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea: I loved this movie as a kid. I love the ocean and Water types, and the relationship between May and Manaphy is touching. Seeing the Pokemon Ranger in action makes me wish the series would come back someday. The Phantom is an entertainingly silly villain. However, I do admit these is a lot of filler, and there aren't really any stakes. I'd probably rank this lower if I wasn't so nostalgic, but I just enjoy this movie too much to dislike it.Zoroark Master of Illusions: The relationship between Zorua and Zorark is really touching. The villain is fairy fleshed out, with a good motivation of wanting to see the future. The fact that he can manipulate the news is fascinating, and ties in well with the idea of illusions. I think Celebi and the legendary beasts tie in well to the movie. All in all, I think it's pretty alright.Pokémon: Victini Reshiram and Zekrom: I love Gen V, and the way Reshiram and Zekrom are handled in the movie are how I wish they were handled in the show. The villain is a legitimately good person who's tries to restore a dead land, but doesn't realize his actions could destroy the world and kill Victini. Victini is very cute, and the fact that his owner died and left him trapped in the city is very emotional. I don't really understand why there are two versions of this movie. They never did it before and they've never done it since, making it an odd film.Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel: I admit my enjoyment of this one might be in part due to recency bias, both with this movie and the XYZ anime. I really like the steampunk aesthetic. I really like the relationship between Volcanion and Magearna, and how the big strong legendary talks but the small cute one doesn't. Volcanion's grumpiness and cynicism is a nice change of pace for the usual cutesy mythical Pokemon. The villian's actually are incredibly shocking, from creating a painful form of mass Mega Evolution to trying to destroy a Pokemon sanctuary to break Magearna's heart to make her a mindless machine. The scene with Ash and friend's Pokemon fighting the Mega evolved Pokemon is awesome, and I loved seeing Ash-Geninja and 10% and 100% Zygarde (although 100% Zygarde does create continuity problems). All in all, I really enjoyed this one.Jirachi Wishmaker: Butler is actually a fairly fleshed out character. A Team Maga scientist who was made a laughing stock and it now desperate to produce Groudon. I like how he's genuinly a nice person, well, when he's not torching Jirachi. The relationship between Max and Jirachi is really touching, and there's a good message in learning how to accept saying goodbye. And the climax with the monstrous fake Groudon is amazing.Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice: There are so many talking Pokemon it might as well be a Mystery Dungeon movie, but hey, I love Mystery Dungeon. I really like Keldeo as a character, going from a brash pupil, to realizing he's gotten way over his head by batting Kyurem, to dealing with the guilt of Iris and Cilian getting attacked for his sake, to finally gaining the courage to battle Kyurem, putting the safety of others before his duel, and knowing when to yield. I like the personalities of the other Swords of Justice, and wish we could've gotten more of them. This movie's short, but I do appreciate it for not having needless filler. I admit it's weird that Kyurem doesn't need to fuse with Reshiram and Zekrom to transform, but I can forgive it as the anime being an adaption, and it does lead to some cool scenes. Overall, this is the best story that's been told with this legendary quartet, and it actually made Keldeo one of my favorite legendaries.Pokémon: The First Movie: There's definitely a cinematic feel from this movie. There are plenty of moments that are just amazing to watch, like Mewtwo's time with Giovanni, the Pokemon crossing the ocean, the battle with the clone starters, the Mewtwo balls, and Ash turning to stone. Mewtwo is a fantastic character, both sympathetic and terrifying. The anti-fighting message is awkwardly handled, but I think it works fine as an anti-hatred message. The fact that Pokemon tears can raise the dead is really silly, but it still gets me emotional. It's got it's problems, but it's still certainly a classic.Arceus and the Jewel of Life: An excellent conclusion to the Sinnoh trilogy. Arceus's voice leaves something to be desired, but his presence is definitely felt. Damos feels like someone out of the old testament, and it's interesting to see the real man vs his reputation as a traitor. The Time Travel is a little confusing, but seeing Arceus's rage finally subsisting is great to watch.Pokémon Heroes: The scenery is beautiful, the villains are entertaining, and the climax is exciting. Latias is really endearing, and Latios's sacrifice is very powerful, especially since it doesn't get undone.Destiny Deoxys: Deoxys is excellently intimidating, and knowing its motivations paints the movie in a new light. Rayquaza and Deoxys's battle is amazing to watch. The real strength of this movie is Tory. Seeing him overcome his childhood trauma and learn to overcome his fear of Pokemon is really emotional. I love how his interactions with Plusle and Minun show his progression. The fact that he's a very introverted child who makes friends with a sentient beam of light is really touching, and the reveal that it was actually another Deoxys is really exciting. The climax with the cube bots is really exciting, and the fact that Munchlax evolves into Snorlax blew my mind as a kid. This was one of my favorite movies growing up, and it definitely hold up, although I do admit it has a filler problem.Lucario and the Mystery of Mew: This was the first time I saw this movie, and the intro alone blew me away. I'd watch a whole movie set in this time period. The rest of the movie's great too. Lucario is a deep character, and his reaction to being released reminded me of Captain America. I like the parallels drawn between Lucario and Sir Aaron and Ash and Pikachu. I love how the details of Lucario's past unfold over time, and the scene where he sees Sir Aaron's last moments while dying is incredibly powerful. This is a fantastic film, although it really bugs me that Mew is technically the villain.The Rise of Darkrai: I really appreciate how it subverts Pokemon lore. Darkrai is often portrayed as a bad guy, but in this movie, he's a hero. He's normally reclusive, but will do anything to protect the garden after Alicia saved his life and showed him kindness. Alice and Tonio are also pretty memorable characters, with a sweet little romance. There's a lot of creativity with dreams merging with reality, and the fabric of space being distorted. Oracion is incredibly beautiful, exactly what a song to soothe the wrath of legendary Pokemon should sound like. The climax with climbing the disappearing tower while Darkrai prevents Roar of Time and Spacial Rend from colliding is fantastic, and although it gets undone, Darkai's sacrifice is very emotional. He is hated and feared, but was willing to give his life for the sake of Alicia's home and granddaughter. And, it was even the start of a trilogy, which was a very well handled experiment.Pokémon 3: Spell of the Unown: I was surprised just how deep this movie is, dealing with themes of grief and fantasy vs reality. The scene where Molly's father gets trapped in the Unown dimension is really disturbing, especially when I was a kid. Seeing Molly using Unown's power to deal with her grief, trying to recreate her family, is really emotional. The imagery of her illusionary world is really creative, and fact that the crystals keep growing and growing is really intimidating. I love how the stakes are simple but personal, with Ash trying to rescue his mother and Molly trying to get a replacement mother. The Pokemon battle are all very well animated, and seeing Molly's world fall apart and become aggressive and she struggles to choose between fantasy and reality is intimidating. Entei's sacrifice to stop the Unown is very powerful. He may have been an illusion, but his devotion to Molly was very real. Seeing Molly get reunited with her parents and getting her Teddiursa is very emotionally satisfying. This is an emotional, dark, exciting and very entertaining movie, and one I didn't truly appreciate until I got older via /r/pokemon http://ift.tt/2iUrvc3