In the wake of Cardcaptor Sakura's popularity in Japan, it was only a matter of time before it got a movie, and sure enough, Madhouse made one in 1999. Taking place during the events of the first season, as indicated by the absence of Yue and that Sakura still refers to Syaoran by his surname, one day after school, Sakura decides to participate in the local shopping district's year-end lottery for fun. The grand prize is a five-day trip to Hong Kong, though Sakura doesn't think she'll win that. Surprisingly, she draws the winning ball. Alongside her best friend Tomoyo Daidouji, her older brother Touya, her crush Yukito Tsukishiro, and Kero, Sakura heads off to Hong Kong, hoping to have a fun vacation and excited to go outside the country for the very first time in her life. But little does Sakura know, the trip may be connected to her recent, prophetic dreams featuring a mysterious woman and Clow Reed himself, creator of the Clow Cards.

Would you believe me if I told you that I actually watched the two movies before I committed to watching the whole 70-episode anime? I've mentioned my history with CCS before in my review of the manga, but tl;dr for those who don't wanna read that: I initially brushed off the series as a kid, got into the manga later, watched the movies, and then watched the full series in my college years. Kind of a weird watch pattern, I know. It took me years to really warm up to the series and shed my original childish view of it. It's especially weird since I watched the movies before the series, and the movies require you to already be familiar with the characters to really understand what goes on. I do remember enjoying the first movie when I first watched it as a kid, and rewatching it again thanks to owning the DVD that Discotek put out years back, I found that I still enjoy it, and it's aged a lot better than I initially thought, with the exception of a couple aspects.

For one, the animation for this movie is simply stunning. The TV series already had quality animation for its time, but with a movie budget, it really manages to shine brighter here. The animation is amazingly fluid, facial expressions are detailed, and the backgrounds and locales are given a lot of care. I can't speak for the anime's depiction of Hong Kong, as I'm not Chinese nor have I ever visted the place myself, but I did appreciate the movie showing Syaoran's family, as they were only briefly mentioned in both the anime and manga. I do kind of wish the movie utilized the actual setting more, because it's mainly just used as a backdrop for the plot or an excuse to have the characters wear Chinese outfits. The music is also a highlight, having a good balance of the series' most famous pieces and new ones made just for the movie, using everything from energetic jazzy saxophones, soothing erhus, and swelling orchestras to really make it feel more cinematic and epic. I have a soft spot for the ending theme song in particular, as it's a cute, soothing little pop ballad that I always found myself nostalgic for even as a kid.

Considering the movie both focuses a bit more on action than usual and that it takes place during a particular point in the series, don't go into this expecting much in the way of character development. A good chunk of the movie consists of Sakura going around Hong Kong and chasing the two birds that serve as the villain's minions. The movie expects you to already be familiar with and care about this cast of characters beforehand, so if you haven't seen the TV series, you'll probably be lost on who these people are and why Sakura has powers and uses cards. I got around this by reading the manga, even though Meiling was a creation of the anime and I hadn't seen it by that point, but even without prior knowledge, I did enjoy the movie and following the characters. I admit I'm not a huge fan of the villain here, mainly because she's just a one-off who has a really weak reason for doing what she does, and the little knowledge we learn about her proves to be arbitrary and not have anything to do with her defeat, so it's hard to really get invested in her and her conflict with Sakura.

Speaking of the movie's problems, I had no issue with the story, as predictable as it was and even with the cliche villain, but it does contain some contrivances that come out of nowhere and have no explanation. For one thing, somehow, Sakura and Tomoyo, two kids in a very large city, run into Syaoran and Meiling, in the exact same areas, with nobody having any prior knowledge that the other group would be there. Not only are neither of these given any solid explanation, in the case of Meiling, Tomoyo just bumps into her, which is cliche as hell. In Syaoran's case, his arrival comes off as a major Deus Ex Machina because he just appears right as Sakura is about to be swallowed by the sorceress in the well, even though there was nothing that indicated that he knew Sakura would be there, or even that she was in Hong Kong. How in the world did he even know where she would be? Even something as simple as "my magic senses are tingling! I feel Sakura's presence!" would have made it feel less silly and convenient, and it'd make sense since Syaoran is a direct descendant of Clow Reed and has his own magic! But the movie doesn't even do that much!

Plot conveniences and cliches aside, I did enjoy the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie, even if, as an adult, it's very much a predictable children's movie that doesn't affect the TV series in any way. I think I enjoyed it a little more as an adult than I did when I was a kid, since now I actually am more familiar with the characters and saw the TV series. The first Cardcaptor Sakura movie, while not perfect, is a good first leap into the big screen.