Pokemon: The First Movie

A good case could already be made that the television series, card game and video games of "Pokémon" are too violent for many of their young devotees.

But should there still be any lingering doubts, "Pokémon: The First Movie" will probably remove them once and for all.

Simply put, this feature-length, animated adventure is just plain violent and dark — and even a bit disturbing, especially for what's supposed to be a G-rated film. At least a handful of the youngsters in attendance at a local screening of the movie seemed to be frightened by scenes of their favorite "pocket monster" characters getting pummeled.

So parents should be wary — even if their youngsters enjoy the television program, the movie still might be inappropriate for them.

(That being said, none of the film's violence is explicit and gory, though much of it is lacking the almost slapstick tone of that in the cartoon series. In fact, aside from the violence, the biggest problem is the film's noticeable lack of humor.)

"Pokémon: The First Movie" introduces a new pokémon to audiences: Mewtwo, a biogenetic experiment that is threatening to take over the world. Having escaped from the laboratory that created him, Mewtwo has awesome psychic and telekinetic powers and he isn't afraid to use them.

Enter young pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum (voiced by Veronica Taylor), who is still hoping to become the best at his trade. Needless to say, Ash is excited when he's invited to a remote island to participate in a pokémon tournament.

Once he gets there, however, he and his friend discover that their mysterious benefactor is Mewtwo, who's hoping to battle other pokémon and judge whether he has enough power to make good on his threat.

As you can probably guess, this is building to a showdown — one much more violent than you would expect, even considering the source material.

Also, if you're going to bring something like this to the big screen, the animation quality should at least be a notch better. But aside from some digital effects and a handful of painted backgrounds, the animation here is not particularly inspired.

The sole bright spot — at least for youngsters — will probably be the 25-minute short that precedes the film, "Pikachu's Vacation." Though the animated hijinks may not amuse parents, it's certainly better, sweeter and more appropriate for young audiences.

"Pokémon: The First Movie" is rated G, though it contains violent pokémon battles (though without gore) and some sequences that could scare very young audiences.