Pokémon: The Movie 2000

This sequel is a marked improvement over the first big-screen adaptation of the kiddie-craze-turned-economic-empire. Sure there's more infernally insipid Poke banter, but the animation is crisper and the story line is more adventurous and better told.

In the feature segment, "The Power of One," the world's weather system is thrown into disarray because a self-interested Pokémon collector has hijacked the Titans of Fire and Lightning (giant birds with a lethal discharge). When the guardian of the deep (a majestic bird-seal-dragon thingy) can't restore harmony, it's up to kid Pokémon trainer Ash to save the world; in the process two teenybopper maidens vie for his affections. The cute and cuddly electro-vermin Pikachu gets plenty of screen time (he heads the all-Pokémon short "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure"), and the misfits from Team Rocket drop in too. This is reasonable family entertainment and a sure sign of more to come.

-- Tom Meek