It’s been 21 years since Pokemon: The First Movie released in Western cinemas. Last year, we reported on a remake of the film releasing in Japan, Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution, and it’s finally heading West on Netflix February 27. It will be a Netflix exclusive.
Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution isn’t quite a 1:1 remake of the original film. It trades the series’ traditional anime style for slicker CGI effects. While we’re still not entirely sure that’s a good thing, it certainly makes an old film feel fresh. And it seems to be a growing trend in Japanese films based on video games, with last year’s Dragon Quest: Your Story — also coming to Netflix — adopting a similar style.
On top of that, Evolution expands a bit on Mewtwo’s backstory, subtly integrates a few later-generation Pokemon references, and adds more for Jessie and James to do.
There’s quite a bit of video game movie adaptation goodness going around on Netflix, with Ni No Kuni, The Witcher (technically based on the books, but still), and Dragon Quest. Now, we have Pokemon. It’s probably a trend we can expect more of too, what with studios like Sony opting for more movies and TV series based on their game properties moving forward.
Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Pokemon and video game movie news as it develops.
