Pokémon The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back Now

Why? Because they see the same thing: sacrifice. A trainer who loved his Pokémon so much that he stood in the path of destruction for them. The clones realize they, too, are capable of empathy. The originals realize their opponents aren’t monsters. And Mewtwo, for the first time, witnesses something he was never programmed for: unconditional love.

That scene alone taught millions of kids that grief is real, that loss hurts, and that sometimes, the only thing that can save someone is the collective love of those who refuse to give up. Say what you will about 4Kids, but their score for Mewtwo Strikes Back was legendary. From the haunting “Mewtwo’s Theme” to the emotional “Brother, My Brother” by Blessid Union of Souls, the soundtrack elevated every scene. And then there’s “Don’t Say You Love Me” by M2M and “Vacation” by Vitamin C—total time capsules of 1999, yet they somehow work.

When Pokémon: The First Movie — Mewtwo Strikes Back hit theaters in the late ’90s (1998 in Japan, 1999 in the US), fans expected a fun, colorful adventure with their favorite characters. What we got was a surprisingly dark, deeply philosophical meditation on identity, suffering, cloning, and the very nature of existence—all wrapped in a feature-length anime that made millions of kids cry over a Pokémon fight. pokémon the first movie - mewtwo strikes back

The movie’s famous line—“I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”—isn’t just a great quote. It’s the thesis statement for an entire generation of kids grappling with identity, belonging, and self-worth. Let’s be honest: if you saw this as a child, you were not prepared for Ash to turn to stone. The silence in the theater. Pikachu’s desperate, failing Thunderbolts. The tears falling from Pikachu’s face. It was devastating. And when the other Pokémon’s tears magically revive Ash, it didn’t feel like a cheap cop-out—it felt like the movie rewarding empathy.

But the film’s turning point comes when the clones and originals are exhausted, beaten, and still refusing to give up. Ash steps between them. And when he’s turned to stone by Mewtwo and Mew’s combined attacks, both sides stop fighting. The clones realize they, too, are capable of empathy

And when he doesn’t get answers from his creators, he decides to destroy the world that rejected him—not out of malice, but out of existential despair. The central conflict of Mewtwo Strikes Back is brilliant in its simplicity: Mewtwo creates an army of cloned Pokémon (Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, and more) and lures the originals to his island. He forces them to battle—not to win, but to prove that clones are superior.

Let’s talk about why this movie still resonates, decades later. Mewtwo is, without question, the best antagonist the Pokémon franchise has ever created. He’s not trying to catch rare Pokémon or steal a bike. He was created in a lab, cloned from the mythical Mew, and treated as nothing but a weapon by Team Rocket’s Dr. Fuji. When he awakens, his first memory is pain. His second is rage. His third is the horrifying realization that he was born solely to fight. That scene alone taught millions of kids that

“We do have a lot in common. The same air, the same Earth, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what’s the same instead of always looking at what’s different… well, who knows?” — Meowth