Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
The Team Rocket leader, Giovanni, has found Mewtwo in a remote area of the Johto region. As Giovanni tries to re-capture Mewtwo, Ash and his friends are kidnapped by Domino, a new Team Rocket member, while trying to rescue Pikachu from Jessie and James. The Clone Pokemon are also captured and are then used as bait for Mewtwo. The situation then becomes a battle between the wills of Mewtwo and Giovanni; and Mewtwo also tries to discover if it and the clones have a purpose in life, even though they are products of science.
Mewtwo Returns is a direct-to-video follow-up to the first Pokémon film, revisiting Mewtwo's existential struggle with diminishing returns. The plot retreads familiar ground—Mewtwo questioning his purpose, Giovanni attempting recapture—without the emotional freshness of the original. Acting (in both dub and original) is functional but unremarkable, typical of the TV series standard. Cinematography is solid TV-grade animation with few standout visual moments, a step below the theatrical film. Novelty is limited as it recycles the central themes of the first movie in a more compressed, less ambitious format. The ending provides a reasonably satisfying resolution to Mewtwo's arc, offering some closure that elevates it slightly above the rest of the production.