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Maybe the smaller scope? 2000 as a movie wasn't all that great (I'd say the only really good Pokemon movie was the Entei one) but because it was a story about Lugia and not a tool to shill the new generation or flavor Pokemon of the month like most movies starting with the Latis movie, that might give it a different vibe than later films which are fully entrenched in marketing schedule.
Of course all Pokemon animated media is just an ad for the games, getting nostalgic over them and going "MY ad is better than YOUR ad" is a little embarrassing but I agree the vibe is different nowadays.