Review - Digimon: The Movie (2000)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. In the entertainment industry, whenever one studio has something popular, other studios will make the effort to have something similar to capture the same success as the succeeding studio. For example, in the late '90s, when Kids' WB and 4Kids Entertainment began airing their English dub of Pokémon, Fox Kids and Saban would follow suit with an English dub of Digimon, an anime that focuses on seven kids at summer camp that get sucked into the Digital World, where they meet the Digimon (Digital Monsters) and befriend several of them. And unlike Pokémon, which was ongoing and a constant journey, Digimon had a story to it, with a beginning, middle, and ending. On top of that, Digimon had genuine character development with its lead characters over the course of its season. 

        But, after the success of Pokémon: The First Movie at the box office in 1999, Fox saw a potential marketing opportunity to put Digimon on the big screen as well. However, unlike Warner Bros and 4Kids who actually HAD Pokémon movies, Fox only had a pair of Digimon shorts and a two-part OVA which was unconnected from the first two segments in terms of story. But, Fox wanted to replicate the box office success Warner Bros had with Pokémon, so they spent $5 million to Frankenstein the three shorts together, loosely link them together with a single narrative, and wrap it up with a soundtrack of late '90s pop rock and ska rock. Market it with advertisements narrated by the legendary Don LaFontaine, and you get Digimon: The Movie. So, let's break this movie down. 

       So, the first segment is titled...oh, wait. I forgot the movie opens with an Angela Anaconda short, where Angela Anaconda and her friends end up at a local movie theater to watch Digimon: The Movie, only to be in the wrong theater and watching a French romance movie instead whoops. And, by the way, the Angela Anaconda short wasn't just a joke for the theatrical audience. It's on EVERY home video release of this movie. 

       Anyway, it's here where we get to the actual movie with the first segment, Digimon Adventure directed by Mamoru Hosoda. It tells the story of how one night, Tai and Kari Kamiya, who lived with their parents in Tokyo, Japan, and had a massive egg emerge from their computer screen. The egg hatches the next day and reveals a Digimon called Botamon, which shortly evolves, or rather Digivolves, into Koromon, and later into Agumon. While traversing through the streets of Tokyo, Agumon, Tai, and Kari eventually see a large egg in the sky, which unleashes a massive Digimon called Parrotmon. Agumon fights off Parrotmon, but is outmatched. However, upon his Digivolution, Agumon becomes Greymon, and is more able to better defeat Parrotmon, and the two massive Digimon disappear. Of course, this means that Tai and Kari, as well as several other kids who witnessed the fight, would become the Digi-Destined. Oh, and apparently in America, another kid named Willis got an egg, referred to as a Digi-Egg, at the same time Tai and Kari got theirs. But, we'll get to that later. 

        Four years pass, and we come to the segment Our War Game! also directed by Mamoru Hosoda. In this segment, Tai's friend Izzy discovers a Digi-Egg located within the Internet, which hatches into a Digimon infected with a computer virus. The Digimon eventually Digivolves into Keramon, and Izzy and Tai are contacted by their partner Digimon Agumon and Tentomon, along with Gennai, Biyomon, Patamon, Palmon, Gabumon, Gomamon, and Gatomon. And much like their human friends, the Digimon are worried about the virus-infected Digimon in the Internet. So, Gennai sends Agumon and Tentomon into the Internet to fight the rogue Digimon. 

      Unfortunately, various technologies in the real world, including phone service and grocery store computer systems, are on the fritz because of the rogue Digimon. Agumon and Tentomon do their best, Digivolving into Greymon and Kabuterimon, and eventually into MetalGreymon and MegaKabuterimon, but are defeated when Keramon Digivolves into Infermon. Luckily, Tai and Izzy are able to get ahold of Matt and T.K. for help, and the two brothers head to a local barbershop to access a computer, and Tai and Izzy send word for Gennai to send Gabumon and Patamon into the Internet, where they team up with Agumon and Tentomon. Upon reaching Infermon, Agumon and Gabumon Digivolve into their Mega-Level forms of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Unfortunately, Infermon also Digivolves into its Mega-Level form of Diaboromon, and the battle takes a nasty turn, caused by a flood of emails sent by kids around the world. Also, two missiles were launched by the Americans, most likely caused by Diaboromon. 

         In their final confrontation with Diaboromon, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are pretty heavily crippled, and Tai and Matt somehow enter the Internet themselves, and give them the push to eventually fuse together in the first on-screen example of a DNA-Digivolution: Omnimon. Omnimon takes down Diaboromon's duplicates, eventually finding the real Diaboromon to destroy it. Izzy forwards the kids' emails to Diaboromon, slowing it down and allowing Omnimon to strike the killing blow, saving the world. Unfortunately, somehow, the virus escapes the Internet, finds Willis in Colorado, and infects one of his partner Digimon, Kokomon. 

          And, now we jump ahead another four years into the final segment, Hurricane Touchdown!!/ Transcendent Evolution! The Golden Digimentals. The segment starts with T.K. and Kari in New York City with Patamon and Gatomon, where they see Willis being confronted by the corrupted Kokomon, which is fought off by his brother Terriermon. Heeding the words of Kokomon, Willis and Terriermon decide to return home to Colorado, with T.K. and Kari following suit. Kari decides to send for their fellow Digi-Destined Davis, Cody, and Yolei, who are enjoying a beach side holiday with their Digimon Poromon, Upamon, and Demiveemon. 

         While traveling to Colorado, Davis, Cody, and Yolei and the Digimon find Willis and Terriermon, and they all befriend each other. Unfortunately, Davis and Willis get separated from Yolei and Cody, and end up attacked by Kokomon. Demiveemon Digivolves into Veemon, and eventually Armor Digivolves into Flamedramon, followed by Terriermon Digivolving into Gargomon. The two put up a decent fight, but Kokomon disappears after telling Willis to "go back to the beginning," whatever that means. Anyway, thanks to Veemon Armor Digivolving into Raidramon, Davis and Willis catch up with Yolei and Cody, and an argument between Davis and Willis breaks out. 

         By themselves, Willis reveals the whole story to Davis. Eight years ago, the Digi-Egg that held Terriermon and Kokomon appeared from his computer and hatched into the two Digimon. Wanting more, Willis decided to make a Digimon on the computer, which got infected with the computer virus which mutated it into Diaboromon, which was destroyed by Omnimon. However, the virus went after Willis and infected Kokomon into the monstrosity he is. Davis, now understanding the position Willis is in, decides that he, as well as Cody and Yolei, will help Willis stop the virus corrupting Kokomon. 

        The Digi-Destined stand together against Kokomon, and a massive fight ensues, with Kokomon Digivolving at least twice, and T.K. and Kari arrive with Patamon and Gatomon already Digivolved into Angemon and Angewomon, respectively. Kokomon, in a unusual move, turns the clock back, reverting the Digi-Destined into little children. Davis and Willis realize that "go back to the beginning" meant to go back to a time when Kokomon was first infected with the virus. Angemon and Angewomon take on their Mega-Level forms to release the all-powerful Golden Digi-Eggs, which Davis and Willis use to Armor Digivolve Veemon and Terriermon into Magnamon and Rapidmon, respectively. Both of them go inside of Kokomon and work to destroy the virus infecting him. With the virus destroyed, Kokomon is purified and fades away. 

         The Digi-Destined return to New York, and Willis parts ways with them. Some time later, Willis is sent a new Digi-Egg, with Kokomon inside of it. And, the movie ends with Kokomon dancing around for absolutely no reason whatsoever, all while "All-Star" by Smash Mouth is playing over the scene. 

        Okay, so just to get it out of the way, the first two segments were fantastic, especially the Our War Game! segment. The third segment, however, which was originally a two-part OVA, was a bit of a downer. The producers at Fox and Saban had to work hard to connect it to the first two, and the end result was a mixed bag in terms of story. The soundtrack? An absolute cornucopia of late '90s pop rock and ska rock music. Seriously, look at the line up of songs: "All-Star" by Smash Mouth, "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies, "All My Best Friends are Metalheads" by Less Than Jake, "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "The Rockafeller Skank (Short Edit)" by Fatboy Slim, "Nowhere Near" by Summercamp, and a cover of "Kids in America" performed by LEN. Top it off with Digimon original tracks performed by Jasan Radford and Paul Gordon, as well as the "Digi Rap" performed by MC Pea Pod and Paul Gordon, and yeah, that's the movie's soundtrack. 

         But, at the end of the day, was Digimon: The Movie any good? Well, I won't say it's completely terrible. I do recommend it for hardcore Digimon fans. However, I don't think non-fans will appreciate it on the same level as the hardcore fans of Digimon, pointless soundtrack, bad jokes, and all. I give Digimon: The Movie a rating of 4.15/5. 

         At the end of the day, this movie was a money dump project for Fox in an effort to continue to cash in on the success Warner Bros. was having with Pokémon. But, luckily, the Digimon franchise has shaken off the stink of this movie, and is still popular to this day. Is it a global phenomenon like Pokémon? No. BUT, it is appreciated by anime fans the world over, and is still a ton of fun to watch. 

         Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I will see you guys on Saturday with my next review.