By Jasmine Durst
An engineered Pokémon was to take over the world for an evil mastermind, but it seemed the Pokémon it was cloned from had other ideas.
Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back is the first feature-length Pokémon film, focusing on the creation of Mewtwo and its struggle with identity, power, and purpose.
It debuted in Japanese theaters on July 18, 1998, and then made its way to North American theaters on November 12, 1999.
The following synopsis is from Bulbapedia, the go-to website for finding Pokémon-related information about Pokémon, the movies, the show, or really anything that has to do with the franchise:
Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, had ambitious plans to take over the world, involving his latest experiment, a powerful clone of Mew: Mewtwo.
Mewtwo is very powerful, and also very smart; smart enough to not want to be controlled by Giovanni.
It escaped from the lab, and now Mewtwo begins to concoct its own scheme, clandestinely inviting a number of Pokémon Trainers to the ultimate test.
Of course, if it’s an event for talented Trainers, Ash Ketchum will be right in the front row.
Ash’s excitement turns to fear and anger when Mewtwo reveals its plan for domination, creating powerful clones of all of the kids’ Pokémon so it can even the “imbalance” between Pokémon and their trainers.
Despite Ash’s protests, Mewtwo refuses to believe that Pokémon and people can be friends, but faced with the determination of a young Trainer and the love of his Pokémon, Mewtwo just might have to reconsider, especially when pitted against the power of the mysterious Mew.
Kira Dancik said, “It’s pretty goofy, but it’s got a good message.”
I said, “This movie brought back many childhood memories because I used to watch several of the Pokémon series growing up, and I am rewatching them and understanding the concepts more than just being a fun, cute franchise.”
This movie was shown on March 11, 2026, in Faylor Hall during Film Club’s weekly meeting.