The Pokémon franchise has made quite a habit of using their film entries to introduce new legendary Pokémon to their seemingly unlimited roster. One thing though that would be nice is to try something different in structure. Sometimes very slight alterations were made which helped, but very much the overall execution was the same as before. It really could be that the director and writer pair Kunihiko Yuyama and Hideki Sonoda are running out of ideas, or this is what truly satisfies the fan base. For a franchise to go on like this however, there should be something to keep feeling new and nostalgic about it, once time passes on. The earlier films might retain more of that feeling for varying reasons. As for the latest films to come out after the new production company took over, the entries just haven't been as unique.
The plot for this film does actually take another approach as what is being asked here. It's not enough, but credit should be given where a request is fulfilled. The story is about Keldeo (Vic Mignogna), a Pokémon looking to become a sword of justice, which is a group of other noble Pokémon that consist of Cobalion (Tyler Bunch), Virizion (Emlyn Morinelli) and Terrakion (David Manis). All of whom are telepathic, can create a sword-like horn of light out of their head and fight for those in need. In order to become a sword of justice, Keldeo is to train and battle Kyurem (Marc Thompson), the strongest dragon in the world who contains the power of Zekram and Reshram. Oh and it's also telepathic. Really this is Keldeo's movie and character story. Ash and his friends are in this movie too, but are definitely not the focus. Team Rocket just has cameos this time!
So the change in focus is different, that's fine but the amount given is a little drastic. It almost feels like Ash and friends don't even really need to be involved. Can't there be a balance? It can't be all Ash or nothing. As seen in the film though, there really is no development among the recurring characters. So what's their purpose other than to move things along? One thing that's definitely been overdone is the whole telepathic Pokémon aspect. Thankfully, Keldeo is nowhere near the same design as others like Victini, Mew or Celebi, but the design feels closer to that of My Little Pony. That's not an insult, it's more of how the design fits in with other characters. Even more strange is that Keldeo shoots geysers from the bottom of his hooves. That just doesn't look very useful other than for jet propulsion.
Voice acting can't be knocked here. All the voice actors in their recurring roles do just fine now that they've established themselves well. Even the voice actors who voice the swords of justice and Kyurem match what is on screen in energy. It's just weird seeing a bunch of telepathic Pokémon talking to each other with no humans involved. Vic Mignogna is known for voicing Broly in Dragonball Z. Marc Thompson voiced Duke Devlin in Yu-Gi-Oh. Tyler Bunch has also worked as a muppet performer. Emlyn Morinelli has played miscellaneous characters in some Pokémon episodes, while David Manis hasn't done much voice acting at all let alone Pokémon. The right cast members are here to get the job done, it's just the quality of the script that is lacking unfortunately.
Visually the animation is also competently handled. There aren't any noticeable spots that looked unfinished or needing touchups. Cinematography which is again this time taken care of by Shinsuke Ikeda is unclear for what reason. There are some scenes that look like realistic photo backgrounds were used...perhaps that's what the cinematography was needed for? Finally, the film score by Shinji Miyazaki is stock at this point. There really isn't a whole lot to his music right now as it feels like very much the same from entries before. The only good thing is that the runtime on this entry is the shortest of all so far, which makes the viewing experience somewhat painless. Too bad, because that's not how a film should be seen as.
Right now it seems like the franchise is on autopilot with its entries. The production continues to be good whether it be the voice acting or animation. But the music and variety in how the story is executed has been one too many of the same kind presented before. The difference here is, it's about a Pokémon's journey, not Ash and his friends.
