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Parents' Guide to

Pokemon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened

By Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Pokemon movie has fighting but focuses on friendship.

Movie NR 2013 72 minutes
Pokemon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

In POKEMON THE MOVIE: GENESECT AND THE LEGEND AWAKENED, Ash (voiced by Sarah Natochenny), his pals, and their Pokemon friends venture through a huge Central Park-like area in a huge city, where a new Pokemon habitat has been built. While exploring, Ash and Pikachu (voiced by Ikue Otani) meet a creature they have never seen before, a "Genesect." It explains that it wants to go home; Ash promises to help. Unfortunately, the powerful Mewtwo (voiced by Miriam Pultro) has also encountered the Genesect, including their wary, red leader, and was attacked. So now Mewtwo has tracked the newcomers to the habitat, and an all-out battle begins. It's up to Ash and his cohorts to determine the source of the misunderstanding and convince the combatants to be friends.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (6 ):

This movie feels like a fairly lightweight entry in the Pokemon series. It's not particularly focused on characters -- Ash, Pikachu, and their friends don't seem to matter much in the grand scheme of things -- and the action stays largely in one place. Most of the drama in Pokemon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened revolves around the misunderstanding between Mewtwo and the Red Genesect. And since much of it has to do with Mewtwo's anger over having been created by humans in a lab, it will be hard for human audiences to identify with her plight. However, the movie does a good job of establishing the decent motivations of all the characters; there are no bad guys here, just miscommunication. The ultimate goal of finding one's place in the world and learning to trust and become friends with those around you seems a good and heartfelt one. Moreover, the movie does not focus on collecting and battling Pokemon, as many of the previous entries have done. This decent message arguably overrides the movie's shortcomings.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Pokemon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened's violence. Does there seem to be too much or too little? How does it affect the story?

  • Why are Mewtwo and Red Genesect fighting? What's preventing them from being friends?

  • Is it true that everyone can be friends, like Ash says? Are you always friends with everyone? What do you have to do to maintain friendships?

  • Does this movie make you want to collect more Pokemon games and toys?

Movie Details

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