Review of the Movie: Pokémon XY: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction

As I've been covering the XY series of Pokémon rather in depth recently, especially where its writing is concerned, I figured that my collection would truly not be complete unless I gave a fair shot at reviewing the movies as they came along where they belong. Thus, the first of these that I'll take the moment to review is Movie 17, or the first XY movie, known as Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction.

Now, usually my movie reviews are very complex, discussing themes, music, animation and all the layers to something, but that's...well, it won't happen here. Partially because there isn't that much meat on Pokémon movies, but also because it's like an extension of a series itself. That said, let's still have a little bit of fun with it.

General Thoughts

This pretty much sums up the movie: potential...
...which quickly disappears, unable to meet it.

The first thing for me to say in regards to this movie, before I even dive into talking about the plot, is that I dislike the movie. It had great potential, but that's about all it can be described with. What the Diancie movie falls to is an utter lack of throwing away what could be used wisely. While the XY show itself is one of the most smartly written series of Pokémon around, the movies are very much less so.

An example of the less than stellar CGI usage in the film

Likewise, I find the animation and music in the Diancie movie rather lacking. Don't get me wrong, the music is...okay. The use of Mega Volt at the beginning is awesome, but beyond that, there's no noticeable leitmotifs and it just falls flat, like the movie in general. On top of this, the animation is...blah, to me. Over-reliance on easily noticeable CGI and the general watered down quality of the models (to my eyes) really drain the movie of enjoyability early on. The action scenes are top notch, for sure, but for anything else...well, let's just say you'll probably blanch at the CGI.

These are just general thoughts, though, on very little of what I usually talk about, so let's talk the movie itself and the story that follows.

Opening

Welcome to Diancie's constant issue through the whole movie

So, where does this movie start? Ten minutes of pure exposition.

This exposition lasts nearly 10 minutes and is repeated multiple times.
We get it: Diancie needs to find Xerneas.

I'm not even kidding. We're introduced to Diancie, princess of the Ore Country, and that she has the ability to create a Sacred Jewel to restore the kingdom for all of the Carbink that live there. In and of itself, it's a basic setup on par with a lot of "coming of age" stories that are often told in Pokémon. But the problem is that it is literally an exposition dump that tells us: Diancie can't create the Sacred Jewel, must find Xerneas to gain power to do so. Great. Didn't need to take ten minutes to tell us this, but okay. The only other thing we learn from this early scene is that Diancie is a problem princess who likes to escape her retainers. Guess how the plot kicks off?

Canon stuff. Ash vs. Astrid. It's really like a footnote,
but does prove that the movie is canon,
with a good opening battle.

But anyway, following Diancie's adventure being kicked off, we're featured to the usual Pokémon montage, but more importantly we come to a town, where Ash is facing off against Astrid. Yes, that Astrid. The Astrid that Alain fought in the Mega Evolution special. Set to Mega Volt...it's one of the best parts of the movie. With a 3v3 set against the backdrop of Diancie running from two bandits, it really works as a great scene. It also lends credence to the fact the films takes place post XY 38, since Froakie knows Cut.

Setting the plot in motion

In any case, the battle is really an establishment of character: Bonnie's proposal gag, Clemont stopping her, Ash loving battles, etc. Plus it shows Pikachu as a boss, while Astrid's Mega Absol certainly proves itself a force against Hawlucha. Anyway, with Ash's loss, Pikachu soon hears Diancie, they find her and protect her from the bandits and escape, kicking off the story...kinda.

Team Rocket's Lurking

Diancie can create diamonds!
Oh wait...we already knew that.

Naturally, TRio is around, too...

Diancie is a like a princes...which she is. Again, redundant.

So, with Diancie rescued, it's not long before the team learns what she is in terms of being a Pokémon that can create Diamonds. Naturally, our favorite thieves, TRio, learn of this and conspire to kidnap Diancie. Three guesses as to how it'll go and the first two don't count. In any case, Ash and the others realize Diancie is a lot like a princess with her behavior. Not subtle, but it works. In fact, the most subtle thing throughout the movie is the Honedge that always seems to be around...constantly. It's almost always watching Diancie, though it doesn't take long before that's revealed why.

This is literally the only use TRio has in this movie

So, TRio captures Diancie, forces her to make diamonds, but she's okay with it. Why? Because they vanish after a small amount of time. Naturally, TRio doesn't know this. It establishes a goal for Diancie, but...we already knew it as the audience. This is just new information for the characters. It comes off as a waste of time and once again shoehorns TRio into the plot despite them literally doing nothing for the plot.

Millis is one of the few characters that actually matters.

In fact, this becomes a general problem for the movie. You could remove TRio, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Riot and Marilyn and the whole movie wouldn't even change. Keep in Ash, Diancie and the Steel family and that's it. This kind of waste of characters makes the movie feel just a bit pointless in general. Hell, the only reason I would say the Steel family is needed is because there needed to be something to trigger Yveltal's awakening later in the movie. That's a serious problem for the film.

Another reiteration, solely for the benefit of the characters.

Getting away from that issue, though, Millis Steel rescues Diancie from TRio, she reunites with Ash and the gang, tells them she's trying to find Xerneas and the quest begins. The real problem is how...utterly pointless this first half of the movie is. We already knew where she was going, that she couldn't create diamonds, etc. The only reason one might give it a pass is that Ash and the group didn't know, but reiterating it so many times...? Yeah, bad move.

Friends and Adventure

Ash shows his kindness and willingness to help people
for nothing in return

Friendhsip creates long-lasting diamonds!

So, with Ash and the gang on board they set off to find Xerneas. Admittedly, the scene on the boat is very nice, along with the camping. Not only does it show how much Ash always supports his friends, even if there's no gain for himself, but it's a nice show of friendship as Diancie creates a diamond. This is the second most subtle thing about the movie: friendship is what creates diamonds that last forever. It's a pretty scene, even if still basic.

Then...we go to a mall.

I seriously wish this wasn't a location in the movie...

Serena gets to show off her Rhyhorn Riding skills.

TRio has heard of the Steels...but this goes pretty much nowhere,
like a lot of the film.

I wish I was kidding. I really do. This scene serves one purpose alone: bring the Carbink retainers into the plot. Other than that...it's boring. Really, really boring. Yes, Serena's into fashion, but spending five minutes on a mall scene gets quite blah. Granting, we do get a solid action sequence with Riot, Marilyn and the Steel family, but it's just solid and is cut quite short. In fact, here again we touch on that missed potential. At this point, we're told that TRio knows about these Steels...so...why do they never encounter them? It seems like such a great plot point they could use, but they don't. TRio is just, as usual, around.

The only purpose of the mall was to bring these Carbink in.

Lots of exposition, most of it not all that new,
and straight to the climax!...wait, what?

With Diancie reunited with her retainers, though, the group travels to the Ore Kingdom now. Information is reiterated...again. But! We do get some new info. Xerneas is located in Allearth Forest, a place where horrible destruction once took place, and where the beast Yveltal shouldn't be disturbed. Again, three guesses at what will happen. In any case, the group sets off for Allearth and meets Xerneas, who uses Fairy Aura to bless Diancie with power. Here is where the climax of the film kicks in.

Yes, you read that right. Despite almost nothing happening in the first hour of the movie beyond reiterated information and going to the Ore Country before coming here, the final battle of the story is here.

Yveltal and the Climax

Yveltal awakens...

...and it's not happy!
(This was kinda cool)

So, with Diancie having this power, who sweeps in but the Steels, who knew this is what Diancie needed the whole time. A big battle chase follows between the four forces of Marilyn, Riot, the Steels and Ash. Naturally, all of them land in the pool where Yveltal lies. That disturbance causes the beast to emerge and start destroying everything (read: turns things to stone). I'll admit, in terms of action with the sequence leading up to and following Yveltal trying to kill everything, it's rather exciting and full of some palpable tension, though not as far as Ash and the crew. You do get a decent sense of how destructive Yveltal is, though, so points for that.

The maxim of the XY series bleeding into the movies.

The power of Mega Evolution and the diamonds
rested in Diancie all along.
Kind of obvious...

Of course, the heroes are put directly in the line of fire and Diancie leaps into action, but still can't master the power, despite Xerneas blessing her. It turns out the answer is inside her, which was kind of obvious from earlier, and when she truly digs deep with the desire to protect her friends, she can repel Yveltal's death ray with her Mega Evolution. Nice enough, but an easy conclusion. I, personally, felt no real emotion from it, having had no investment in Diancie's journey, but to those who did, fair enough.

The only clash between Xerneas and Yveltal.
What a disappointment...

Pikachu gets turned to stone at 1 hour, 5 minutes, 26 seconds.

Pikachu is no longer stone at 1 hour, 6 minutes and 37 seconds...
That's hardly enough time to care.

Then the climax falls apart. First, Xerneas vs. Yveltal. One clash of moves. That's it. If I wanted that, I would watch the first Ash vs. Gladion match...at least that had a little more. This was just sad. Though, it's perhaps sadder that they compensated in the opposite direction in the next movie. This whole thing of Xerneas and Yveltal truly amounted to nothing and was boring. More boring was the movie's attempt to play at heartstrings. Pikachu gets turned to stone, after all! This is a point that isn't bad per se, but comes off as such because it lasts for about a minute before it's reversed. There's barely any time to feel a speck of emotion before it's sunshine and roses again.

Dianice creates the Sacred Diamond! Happy ending for all!

Romance! Not like the anime isn't doing that this season, itself.

Which, the ending of the movie is sunshine and roses with Diancie restoring her kingdom, the diamond she'd created on the boat remaining and given to her as a sign of friendship, and everyone ending happily, even with Xerneas turned back into a tree. Standard happy ending, and nothing to be mad about there. They even slipped some romance in there with Marilyn and Riot (an increasing trend in XY in general). Thus, the movie comes to an end!

Conclusion

To bring this review to a close, the Diancie movie is...well, a bit of a mess. Now, on its surface, it's a fun film with some passable action, palatable message and a nice introduction to XY in terms of movies with a great tie between the main story and the Mega Evolution specials. However, beneath that, many other problems arise. The pacing is horrible, with almost nothing happening for the first half hour and characters are, quite frankly disposable. The legendary fight isn't even a fight and the movie attempts to wrangle cheap emotion from you, but makes it move so quickly you don't really feel anything.

If you want something light in terms of XY, sure, give this one a watch. Otherwise, skip it, because it does nothing for the characters outside of a few trait establishments (Bonnie's gag, Clemont's invention, Serena's Rhyhorn riding, Ash's inspiration and care for his friends). That's hardly enough for anything. If only I could say the next movie was better...

In any case, thanks for reading, and continue looking forward to Part 3 of the full XY review soon!

Dare to Be Silly,
Epicocity