Why does everyone complain about the "long" fight scene, which lasted about 3-5 minutes or less? I think this film is pretty meaningful.

The latest Pokémon movie is simply a big mess, and is in my opinion, the worst one yet. It has too many new concepts that just don't work and it's just overstuffed with too many legendary Pokémon.

Hoopa gives Shaymin a run for his money as the most annoying Pokémon ever. He never shuts up and I absolutely cringed every time he said "Were you surprised?". The "alternate" Hoopa is equally annoying.

There were far too many legendary Pokémon, and the "big battle" at the end is very all-over-the-place and mainly felt like an extended advertisement for the games. You could have sworn that it was directed by Michael Bay.

A lot of Pokémon movies have their share of stupid scenes, but this one has some of the worst. It includes the people somehow being entertained by the legendary Pokémon instead of being afraid, the guy at the stand telling the giant Hoopa to pay for the food it ate, the gang wanting to go to a big city just to have some doughnuts, the many teleport scenes with Hoopa, and several more.

The script is pretty weak, and the Arceus-ex-machina at the end was really poorly done.

The whole thing just feels overstuffed and recklessly thrown together. This is perhaps the worst Pokémon film of them all, just barely beating out "Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice". Like that film, only the most die-hard Pokémon fans should bother with this one, but everyone else should skip it.

RATING: D

If you've seen any of the other seventeen(!) Pokémon movies (and if you haven't, stop reading this, and get thee to the Mewtwo!),Hoopa and the Clash of Ages won't hold a single surprise. The franchise has its formula of scant story, frantic melodrama, and epic, destructive battles anchored on teasing a new legendary Pokémon pre- international gaming release down to a science, and Hoopa isn't one to rock the Poké- ball. More discerning adult viewers might find this staunch formula irritatingly lazy by this point, but it's hard to overrule the abiding thrill of hearing that theme music kick in once again for fans young and old. Hoopa and the Clash of Ages may be one of the more forgettable entries into the Poké-pantheon, but the fun force is still strong with it, making it a daft but pleasant enough way to while away 70 minutes.

Standouts within the past crop of Pokémon films are usually determined by moments that are iconically epic (holla Mewtwo and Lugia, circa-2000),or deliriously surreal ("YOU. ARE. MAMA!"). If anything in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages stands the test of time, it'll be the glut of (almost) every Gen II-V legendary Pokémon it conjures up for its battle royale - which, being a nod to their transportation by Hoopa ring in the ORAS games, doesn't even feel excessively gratuitous. It's wise to share the spotlight, as Hoopa itself is far too irritating, awkwardly voiced, and thinly drawn (in both tiny, impish and massive, sh*t-destroying forms) to anchor and entire movie on otherwise. Still, its teleportation-fuelled mayhem is quite fun to watch, owing a debt to the portal-spamming Blink from X-Men: Days of Future Past (who was probably the highlight of that movie as well). Watching gigantic Hoopa Unbound grappling with its teleporting six arms against a tag-team of Lugia and Mega Rayquaza, smashing across a city skyline? About as awesome as it sounds.

As with its predecessors, Hoopa's animation is a step up from the show's calibre, and its realm of pseudo Middle Eastern desert temples turned technological oases are impressively etched with detail. But, with the trumped up production values come storytelling and voice acting several steps below par. Apart from Hoopa's infuriating chirping, the English dub of each of the core humans are dopily flat, especially Ash, who sounds more like a placid middle-aged woman than ever here, and James, whose replacement voice actor is cringeworthy. Mee-ouch.

Story-wise, Hoopa's weird, schizophrenic disembodied rage "shadow- self" and dubious, cultist spirituality/magic subplots are treated so disposably, it's hard to imagine even the screenwriters not laughing them off as transparently nonsense. There's little of the show's zany humour, which is a bummer (even Team Rocket's requisite flyby has never been staler). Similarly, the geography is fairly stationary, which restricts the "Who's that Pokémon?" background cameos, though a climactic appearance by an adorably heroic Hippopotas goes a long way. But a final battle against a disembodied rift in space/time (which, lazily, doesn't even seem to have anything to do with Dialga and Palkia, who are right there, nonsensically shooting energy beams into it trying to stop it)? Sure.

Whether Hoopa and the Clash of Ages is worth its weight in Pokéblocks will depend on the viewer's tolerance for the unyielding Pokéformula. It's a lot of nostalgic fun for indulgent Pokéfans (though monstrous Hoopa Unbound verges on being too scary for young kids),but liable to the leave the uninitiated wishing they could borrow a Hoopa ring to disappear into a different movie. But, let's be honest: as Hoopa queries ad nauseum, "Were you surprised?"

-6/10