If we're going to be honest here, Pokémon needs no introduction, especially when it comes to the anime; a boy named Ash Ketchum gets a Pikachu - a yellow mouse - as a partner, leaves his hometown of Pallet Town, and travels the world while catching new Pokémon along the way, all while he remains ten years old. Well, what if we went all the way back to the beginning and started all over? Perhaps I'm the worst person to talk about Pokémon; I was 10 myself when I ended up being pulled along in the Pokémon craze, and by not looking back, I havemade some Pokémon-related memories that I will never regret, whether it's from the game, trading cards, or anime. When I found out about this franchise's twentieth movie, however, I was skeptical, thinking that Pokémon had just caught the "recap movie disease"; however, with each new trailer came a promise of a new experience born from something old instead, and I got more hyped (even though Misty and Brock were still missing). At last, I watched the movie in the theatres with all intent on tackling (heh, get it?) it in a review; I tried to watch it from a critic's point of view instead of a fangirl's....but man, was it hard! Ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon Trainers all over, here is my review of "Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!" Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You starts the same way the Pokémon anime series did; Ash Ketchum wakes up late, all of the starter Pokémon are taken, he ends up getting a Pikachu, they don't get along well at first, they accidentally tick off a group of Spearow, Ash tries to protect Pikachu, Pikachu knocks all of the Spearow out with a Thunderbolt, Ash and Pikachu finally become friends, and they see a legendary bird Pokémon fly through the sky. Your childhood memories know the drill here....but here's where the story starts to diverge. As this legendary bird Pokémon - Ho-oh - flies away, it leaves Ash and Pikachu a rainbow-colored wing; the two then make a promise to each other to one day meet this Pokémon. After that, Ash travels through the Kanto region, collects Gym badges, and follows his dream to be a Pokémon Master, like he originally had been doing; however, an encounter with another legendary Pokémon, Entei, reminds him of his promise. Together with new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel, Ash and Pikachu embark on a quest to reach Rainbow Mountain and encounter Ho-oh. Okay, time to try to not fangirl. May I first say that the story was masterfully executed? I personally would have liked to see some of Ash's Gym battles, as part of one was actually shown and it was differently executed from the series; however, with a limited amount of screen time and a different story to tell, I fully understand this decision. In regards to this "different story", it shared some key story elements with the series, but even with those integrated, the film stays on its own two legs through and through. Although it does start back when Ash is at square one in regards to being a Pokémon Trainer, the different direction the story took didn't affect his character development. In fact, I dare to say that this film dug deeper into his and Pikachu's characters than the series did and gave both of them great amounts of character development as a result. Some of the other characters were likable, too, but they come with the one flaw I'd say this film has; they don't get fleshed out enough. Perhaps the biggest offenders of this are Ash's new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel; while they are interesting characters with their own respective backstories, these backstories aren't fleshed out enough for the audience to really get to know them, and they are sadly left as mostly supporting characters. The infamous Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth return, but they are also reduced to supporting characters and don't get as much screen time as they did in the series; however, the scenes of them that we DID get were amusing and retained each of their personalities. Another new character, Cross, is the exact opposite of the ones I have mentioned; he does get enough screen time for his character to be fleshed out, but that doesn't mean he came off as likable. As a rival, he is definitely a powerful adversary who actually affected Ash emotionally, but at the same time, the various problems he ends up causing and the things he says just made me want to throw my bucket of popcorn at the screen. What this Pokémon movie lacks in fleshing out most of its characters, however, is redeemed in its art. Instead of conforming to the new style of the Pokémon Sun and Moon series, the art style stays close to what the series was before then, which was a wise decision cinematically; with what kind of story it was trying to tell, using that rather goofy style would have made it look pretty ridiculous. However, even with that in mind, this is definitely the best-looking Pokémon movie I have ever seen; the animation was smooth and solid, the backgrounds were drawn in a beautiful fashion, and some shots were masterfully executed. Now, I don't care what other people say about Sarah Natochenny voicing Ash; all of the voice actors did a stellar job at their roles, and there was pure emotion in their performances, too. While I'm not always one to pay attention to background music, I definitely have to give this film's background music credit; the music always blended in perfectly with what was going on. Finally, the opening theme was an excellent remix of the first Pokémon theme song, and the ending theme.... OH, THE ENDING SONG. I wanted to stay at the theatre just to finish listening to it; it was that good! Overall, Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You is definitely an excellent movie and a challenging one for a longtime Pokémon fan like myself to critique. I wouldn't recommend it to those who can't handle different stories and the fact that Misty and Brock are missing (although I do admit, it was slightly disheartening not to see them), but other than that, I'd recommend it to any Pokémon fan out there, even the ones who haven't watched the anime in forever. With this movie being watched and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon being eagerly awaited, I can tell that it'll be harder to critique anything Pokémon-related from here on out, but with that being the case, maybe I should just let my inner fangirl out!

Even as Pokemon movies go, this one is little more than a bare faced affront to ones intelligence. Despite all of the clear positioning of this film as one harking back to the early days of Pokemon as was clearly evident in the artistic style and most obviously the plot. If you were hoping this was because the Pokemon company were trying to appeal to an older audience of fans who have been fans for years (similar to how they did for the X and Y anime) then either you are wrong for thinking that or the Pokemon company is just completely incompetent. Early on,it didn't think my review would be like this - for the first 1/2 of the film it's actually far better than most other Pokemon films. However it quickly becomes evident that this is because it is effectively a mini anime episode and recap of prior stories as filler because the plot isn't close to being long enough for a film. The film is full of pointless filler - with team rocket appearing in the background, talking for a couple minutes then blasting off with no interaction with the characters or plot multiple times - assumedly just to fill time Then we come to the ending. Like most Pokemon movies, this one treats the plot as an afterthought and a device for showing off the relevant legendaries (in this case Marshadow and Ho-Oh). However as it's ostensibly a kids show it's also completely essential that Ash does something Heroic in the ending and everything goes back to being fine. However in this case it just leads to the tightest knit group of Ex Machinas i've ever seen in fiction. Again, I won't reveal too much, but suffice to say Ash vanishes without a trace in a valiant act of sacrifice. Sure would be sad if he magically reappeared out of another dimension or something - that would really make any emotional investment pointless as well as completely devaluing everything Ash gave up and sacrificed up to to that point. Oh wait, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS! That's not the only instance either, earlier in the finally Marshadow suddenly acts completely out of character for no discernible reason with absolutely no motivation whatsoever. And I won't even get started on some of Pikachu's actions towards the end - which essentially boils down to 'Fuck you, internal consistency'. It's really disappointing because early parts are quite good and in some (what I assume are) dream sequences are wonderfully directed - especially with the fantastic use of colour in them. Those fleeting scenes though barely if at all relevant to the 'narrative' are exceptional and deserve a lot of praise. But overall, the film is a dumpster fire because of what it is. Make no mistake - this is not a film created to be a good film, it's a film designed to show off Marshadow as an advert for the Pokemon games. It really shouldn't be seen as anything else.

Okay, so gonna go part by part here... Story I am particularly impressed how the movie not only retells the original kanto journey, but also weaves back in a once-long-abandoned plot point with Ho-Oh. While weaving the new hotness with Marshadow in felt a bit forced in some aspects, the story had nice pacing and even had some tension at the climax that ultimately was resolved not with raw strength, but by the bond between Ash and Pikachu overcoming those odds. Overall, all that occurred worked quite well even if some of the older parts were abridged for the sake of moving the story along. Art First off, Ash'sdesign seems more in line with his Gen V and Gen VI designs which is a nice change from the excessively cartoonish art style I've seen from his SM exploits. And the character designs of the supporting cast are definitely quite something as well. Secondly, I like how they played around with color and shadows, adding atmosphere and life (or lack thereof) to the film. Not breathtaking or anything, but it worked. Sound Not much to note here. Not too intrusive nor breathtaking persay, and yet evocative when it needed to be. Character Besides Ash and Pikachu's obvious OTP-in-the-making, the other supporting cast actually kept my interest. His traveling companions, both from Sinnoh (Gen IV remake, anyone?), each have their own goals independent from Ash. The female one is determined to show her mother (who I am convinced is Cynthia) that she is worth something, and the male companion is a professor wannabe and seems to be quite knowledgeable in a few things as it is. Then you have the brutish 'rival' character who has Alolan pokemon and the conviction that might makes right in direct opposition to Ash's 'friendship is magic' policy. In any case, I would've loved to see more of these characters and learn their past as well as witness their continued growth in the future. Who knows if that'll happen though. As for the pokemon, again, Pikachu is the center as a support to Ash. We finally learn why it doesn't like to be in its pokeball (which Ash had carried with him all through the film), and they take things a few steps further than they had ever done in the series with their relationship up to this point. As for the other pokemon, the butterfree plot thread becomes a side-story that kind of resolves itself with less investment than the original, whereas the Charmander sideplot comes full-circle in the best way possible. Then there's Marshadow, which again I feel they did kinda push in for...reasons. Maybe would've been better in its own movie, but I guess they saw an opportunity of sorts. Enjoyment It was definitely worth watching. Most pokemon films are just a supplement to the anime, but this effort of retelling and revamping made the Kanto region seem a lot more vast and alive than the prior time around. Hopefully should we travel to it in USUM, it will live up to the hype...and the Pokemon Company can follow this up with something just as nice. Overall, I give this series a 91%.

Pokemon: I Choose You The Movie, is part reboot and part retelling of Ash and Pikachu's first meeting and journey. Some things are kept, but tweaked slightly (or a lot), and others are scrapped entirely in favor of entirely new ones. Notably Ash and Pikachu travel alone for fair bit before being joined by companions who are not Brock and Misty, nor is his rival/antagonist Gary Oak. The Team Rocket trio make sporadic and pointless appearances throughout the film, but never actually interact with Ash or anyone else. They do blast off a lot. Art: An over reliance on bad CG effects and underwhelming animation leftthis feeling nothing like a big budget Pokemon movie. Some things were decent, sometimes it wasn't half bad at all. But there was no consistency and some scenes/things were simply dreadful to look at. Sound: Now while I've heard good things about the soundtrack for the original, the Dub has not been well recieved, and for very good reason. I hope to eventually experience the Japanese version, but for now, the Dub is all there is, and it is underwhelming at its best, and absoloutely terrible at its worst! Ash isn't great but the person playing him does a somwhat decent job that kinda grows on you I guess. His new travelling companions (whose names I cannot remember because they were only mentioned like twice and weren't very memorable for me) are decent and horrible respectively. The girl is okay, and sometimes even pretty good, the boy on the other hand was sooo terrible I cringed every time he opened his mouth. Terrible choice of voice actor, the voice didn't fit, the guy playing him sounded bored, and bad directing made sure that the character was chore to listen to, and that's a shame, since the character himslef wasn't actually that bad. Most of the pokemon were voiced TERRIBLY too, especially charmander, who went from being cute to annoying in terms of sound. Also Meowth (shiver) and James, bleh. ONE OF THE WORST DUBS I've heard in recent years. Characters: New: If the boy companion had gotten a better VA he'd have been okay. Both had an interresting backstory and fairly likable personalities, though with so little development, the boy was mostly bland. The girl was actually decent and had a ton of potential, but since they were given so little development, it was hard to grow attached to them. The girl would have made a great protagonist on her own actually, but as it was, she was pushed aside in favor of Ash, and I doubt we'll ever get to see her confront her past, so didn't really get to contribute much. Neither of them did. The rival, while less obnoxious than the character he was based on, was underdeveloped, let off too easy for his crimes, and overall pretty bland. He also had no backstory whatsoever. Old: Ash was frustrating. Sometimes he was the embodiment of his best self, others he was a huge jerk. Like he did and said some things that series Ash never would have, and I wanted to SMACK him! Somtimes he was a competent trainer, and other times he was just as bad as counterpart/analog could be, but more of a jerk about it. His relationship with his mom was terrible! Just what? Delia Ketchum was never my fav character, but her portrayal in this film was just awful! Professor Oak mangaged to have no real prescense what so ever. He was completely forgettable and also seemed to lack any sort of relationship with Ash, barely knowing who the kid was. Team Rocket were terribly (well I guess Jessie was passable) voiced, and absoloutely pointless to the story. No interactions with anyone, no "genius" plans, just tiny cameos before pointless blastoffs. Story: Maybe they could have pulled it off in a series of OVAs but in a movie, and a short one to boot, it was just too rushed. It wanted to be too many things at once and ended up shooting itself in the foot. Underwelming. It had its moments, kinda, but everything was just too rushed and too many scenes badly handled. So much potential, and they ruined it. Can't say I enjoyed it. My recomendation is to skip the dub entirely, but if the japanese version becomes available, maybe check it out for posterity, I guess, but really I wish I'd just read a recap.

What started as overhyped expectation for a tribute to the classic 90’s anime, a feature length film that promised to shine some light on one of the show’s most discussed fan-theories, ended with affirmation that it’s time for Ash’s journey to come to an end. As to be expected from a Pokemon movie, the visuals were stunning. Like seriously, wow. This film looked incredible, from the lush forests and sprawling mountain ranges to the interior design of the pokemon centers and other buildings, I was never not impressed with the backgrounds and environments. Also stunning was the array of colors. The bright sky blues, the robustred Flamethrowers, and foreboding shadowy purples were a treat to behold. Everything in this show was masterfully animated, and the attention to detail impressed me, especially since they could have easily got away with doing much less. Way to go the extra mile! Unfortunately, this is where the praise ends. The narrative was all over the place. Any time the plot started to pick up, all of a sudden, a new subplot is introduced and then dropped just as rapidly, thereafter abruptly switching gears again with nothing in the way of a transition except for a scene cut. These include, but are not limited to, Ash’s adventures from the show (Butterfree, etc) and anything regarding Marshadow. The action (pokemon battles) were also an area of issue for me. The fights were far too numerous and excessively forced on the viewer (seriously, they can’t go 10 minutes without having some sort of battle). Also, the amount of bullshit taking place in Ash’s battles is insane. In this ~90 minute film, Ash evolves his pokemon mid battle at least 3 or 4 times, and some of his combat strategies are so frustratingly idiotic that despite his plot armor, I’m genuinely surprised they worked. There is NO WAY Pikachu should be able to Iron Tail a Snorlax and launch it 100 feet in the air after being pinned moments ago by a Body Slam. Snorlax is like, 1,000 pounds. How do they get away with this?!?! Even kids have to realize how absurd this is at some point, right? I suppose I ought to at least mention the other technical aspects of the film. Here you go: Sound: SFX were great. Soundtrack was whatever, the remixed medleys from the original series were a nice homage, but still unimpressive. Voice Acting (dub): Some of the side characters were well voiced, but Ash and the usual suspects are as mediocre as ever. Characters: Ash still sucks, but at least his companions were enjoyable. Despite being every single stereotype in the book, Cross managed to be one of Ash’s better rivals, not like that’s saying much though… Visuals aside, I was let down with this film, though I can’t say that I’m completely disappointed because at least I got some (canonical?) insight into the Ho-oh fan-theory. Am I perhaps being too harsh on Pokemon 20XX? After all, it is a “kids” movie. ...I really don’t think so. It is possible to make a good kids movie. Dreamworks and Pixar do it all the time, and the legendary Hayao Miyazaki never fails to amaze. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask of Pokemon company to put some effort into their writing and create a story that can be enjoyed by fans of all ages. I’ve said it for a long time, but the biggest issue holding back the Pokemon anime is the company’s attachment to its protagonist. He’s dried up, and stopped being interesting 10 years ago. There are pokemon fans of all ages, a sizable demographic being in their 20s and 30s. It wouldn’t kill them to make a series, or even a one-off movie, starring a mature protagonist, or at least a teenager more mature than Ash. That being said, it was fun watching Pokemon again after all these years, but after seeing this film, my hiatus will likely continue. I was actually planning on watching some of the other Pokemon movies as well, but until they kick Ash to the curb, it just isn’t worth my time.

"Hey let's rewrite everyone's childhood memory of the series with a reboot movie that only focus on two Pokemon of Ash's team and screw everything else" - TPC Such a shameless excuse for a movie. Ash had Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard, now they removed all of them except for two for no reason. The story is basically the same but they replaced interesting and fun characters (Misty and Brock) with bland, dull and boring characters that do nothing to the plot and literally are just there to show their Lucario and Piplup to sell merchs. Charizard story is a retelling for the worse. Pikachu is cringy and an annoyingasshole as ever. The legendaries have no real plot except of course just being there for nostalgia and of course merchs. The whole movie is a bad excuse to attract nostalgia fans, and you might have fun watching it the first time but overall it's terrible and awful. In the good side, the art and music are good and the action scenes are fun too.

In this day and age of mindless gluttonous consumption of anime season after season we have deluded our tongues to only savor the utmost of the gourmet dishes. We adjust our critiquing glasses and analyze the shows as 'deep', 'fast-paced', 'symbolic' and most of all a 'modern commentary'. In our society of high expecting monkeys comes the 20th Pokemon movie flipping off Einstein and taking us back to the end of the millennia. Story - It's basically the same story that kick started your venture into anime with a few new Pokemon added to still keep it original. Art - We can see some stellar artwork thatis consistent. The colors are phenomenally used hand-in-hand with the story and is just a bonus over your hormonal body. Sound - Nothing extraordinary other than the gargantuan dose of nostalgia injected in you as soon as the opening and Pokemon cries kick in. Characters - The same good old (young) Ash with his trusty Pikachu. Enjoyment - Now forget all the descriptions of the sound and characters and story and all and just ask yourself - Am I a Pokemon fan? If yes, just watch it and join eternal bliss and if not, then why are you reading this review? We have put these highly over the top expectations from anime that they simply can't deliver and a lifetime of gourmet foods will even exhaust your tongue. So relax, remember the pizza you ate when you were 10, how good it was, and nothing would compare. That's Pokemon, nothing to analyze, everything to enjoy.

Too all the pokemon Fans out there, I'm talking about the really OG fans. This I can't help but emphasise that this pokemon movie left me with no feels no reminiese. Just a fairly decent movie which is clearly made to sell to the new nintendo DS pokemon generation, for them to somehow appreciate what has happened in the franchise if any. I mean the very start of the movie I was fully invested to watch but then the new villians flips the script and makes what it is to mean about pokemon something else as if he was actually one of us playing thegameboy advance version of Pokemon Red (He is literally that) Side note to villains Team Rocket was some of the most entertainment I have got from pokemon and to see what has happened to them at the end (nothing happened) is somewhat disappointing. But all in all I only wanted to finish it because it was Pokemon and HOLY FKING SHIZ pikachu!!!! a series that I was practically raise on that turns on me so hard that nurse joy cant help to revive me. I Think most of us has to just accept that pokemon is just a money cow for future generations and on that note we must cherish the good old pokemon series and movies even though that is all we can do at this moment.

For a movie that was neither necessary nor wanted, it was quite an easy watch. Most of it was a slow burn through the basic stories Pokemon watchers know well. It's mostly executed well enough not to be annoying. The plot and characters are middling in every way. They're not interesting, but are a watchable shake up from the dreaded, completely faithful rehash people expected. The only question remaining is, out of all dropped characters, why the hell have they brought Team Rocket back? Technically, it's a competent movie. Most surprisingly, music isn't terrible this time around. Also notable, movie features a remix of the originalJapanese opening paired up with a battle montage. In hindsight, I should've expected this, but I gotta say: it's pretty neat. As the movie drew near a close, I was ready to shrug it off and never think about it again. But then they just had to kill Ash and resurrect him, like in the Mewtwo Strikes Back. Fuck this movie. I'm not going bother making a big review, as there's nothing to talk about. It exists and it exists on the border between an uninspired remake and an unintentional, borderline offensive self-parody. Definitely not recommended.

-----------MASSIVE SPOILERS DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE----------------------- What the heck happened???? I am a true Pokemon fan since I was a kid. I watched the series from Season 1 to the Hoenn Region. I stopped watching it because it was repetitive, the characters are not growing up and so bad right now. Kanto Region arc is my favorite. It was legendary. I thought I give this movie a shot to regain my childhood memories. The first scene is amazing!!!! It DID bring my memories, so much nostalgia. Then I noticed no old characters like Brock or Misty. I was disappointed. There's a lotof conflict in this movie. First, the Celadon Gym. If I remember correctly it was located in the Kanto region and it is placed properly on the timeline. Then I saw a Piplup on Kanto?!?! What the??? Nope. Then I saw legendary dog Pokemon in Kanto..... So confusing, the setting is. The place and region didn't mention on the movie. You all messed the timeline!!! The Pokemon battles gave me a little goosebumps and it is good. Then what really bothered me is the last battle. Pikachu TALKED!!!!!!! Ehhhh...... What a lousy script!!! Dunno if that was a dream or not but it is a huge letdown. The animation is suberb. The story is not new if you have seen many episodes of Pokemon. The enjoyment is a BIG disappointment. The character development is OK. Too much disappointment if you asked me. Could have been better if it is a remake of Kanto Region arc. Ruined potential. I suggest skip this movie. Rewatch season 1 for better story execution.

This movie was... interesting. Not quite what I thought it was going to be. I came into this expecting it to be just one big nostalgia trip-- a recreation of the major events of gen 1, just polished up a little. And we do get some of that. But this movie also tried to tell its own story. I don't have a problem with either of these two points by themselves. But they didn't mesh quite as well as I think the writers wanted them to... I think the idea for the new story had potential. Unless I missed that one, I don't recall there everbeing a movie with Ho-Oh at its focus, even though it's the first legendary the series ever introduces. And on the note of the legendaries, I think the movie does that aspect of the story quite well. Each battle really drove home the difference in power between the legendary Pokemon and the regular ones, something I think the actual series and many of the other movies kind of lost touch with after a while, because the kids interact with them so casually. I didn't mind that they gave Ash new companions just for this movie, but I can't say I was terribly impressed by either of them. That is one point where the callbacks to the original series started to feel intrusive. As cool as it was (at first) to see those scenes all over again, it started to feel like they were taking time away from developing Verity and Sorrel. By the end, I can't say I was really attached to either one of them. And I know that with each new generation, it's a chance to introduce a new era of kids into the franchise, but let's be honest. I think it's safe to say that most of the viewers were going to be older fans, and this problem could have been easily resolved by just using Brock and Misty (though maybe with their stories reimagined as well) who really don't need a proper introduction at this point. All in all, I enjoyed it well enough... Honestly, the original series is one of my least favorite seasons of Pokemon, so maybe the nostalgic scenes wouldn't have really impressed me anyway. I was kind of just expecting this to be a polished recap of the beginning for newer fans, so I did think it was pretty cool that it had its own story. And in the Pokemon franchise alone, I've definitely seen worse.

I’m a big fan of Pokémon and have been for a while now. I loved to watch the Pokémon anime and films with my brother when he still really enjoyed the series. I originally went to see the film during an extra screening in one of the locations the film was being showed at and I went to see the film with my brother (he is younger then me btw) and the film holds a special place in my heart as it brings up memories of playing the games and watching the anime together. While I was exited to see the film, with it beingmy second anime film that I saw in a cinema, the first being a silent voice, I didn’t think that I would be a 10/10. However, I was wrong. STORY: 9/10 Pokemon: I choose you is a loose retelling of the anime’s main character, Ash, journey through the kanto region and the first anime series. It also focuses on Ho-Oh, a legendary that never really got a film of its own. It also was the first anime appearance of marshadow, a mythical legendary. At the start, the story is the same, with ash getting Pikachu (who has his newer appearance, rather then his chubbier look in the older games and anime). However, it ends up diverging with ash getting the rainbow wing from Ho-oh. I didn’t grow up with the first anime or the games but around the diamond/pearl, black/white, heartgold/soulsilver games (I haven’t really got many memories of when I started liking Pokémon), but as someone who didn’t grow up with the first series of Pokémon, I really enjoyed the story as a whole. I feel that the story can appeal to newer fans but also bring enough changes to the story that also appeals to older fans. There were certain parts of the film that actually made be tear up and made me laugh. The whole cinema was laughing at certain parts. Additionally, Although I don’t want to spoil it, there’s one part at the end with Pikachu that took everyone by surprise. Although I reacted the same way, I didn’t really care for it but instead thought it was cute. ART: 10/10 The art is one of the best things about this film. I can’t explain how much I love this film’s art style. While I do somewhat enjoy the sun and moon’s art style, I’m glad that they went with a style that closely resembles the older anime’s art. CHARACTERS: 8/10 When it was shown that Misty and brock were going to be replaced by two new characters, Verity and Sorrel, like others I was worried. As mentioned before, I wasn’t brought up with Misty and Brock and don’t really have much attachment towards them, I was still worried that I wouldn’t like them. Again, I was wrong. I ended up loving these characters and wanted more. The only thing I’m disappointed in is that they don’t really have much character development, as we aren’t given a long time for the two to be developed. I’m secretly hoping that we somehow see these characters again, maybe in another film. From what I understand, the newest film that comes out in 2018 will take place in the same universe as this film, so if they end up choosing to make the films take place in the same universe, there might by a small chance that we do, which makes me happy. There’s one other character that I want to quickly talk about: Cross. Cross is an alright character, acting as the rival to ash. I’m not a big fan of his character as what he did was pretty crappy and made me want to punch the guy. He also nearly ruined Ash’s journey but that’s a spoiler, so I wont mention it. I don’t feel that he should have been redeemed as he was a crappy guy through out the film, but I won’t hate the film for it as it is a kids film so it does make sense that they did do this. I also like how Cross has alolan Pokémon rather then kanto Pokémon, so it makes me think that has not actually from the kanto region rather than from kanto, which is cool. DUB: 8/10 I watched this film in dub, rather then subs like the normally do. After I started getting into anime, I switched to subs. While I do watch dubs every once in a while, the newer Pokémon dubs aren’t the best. However, the thought that it was enjoyable. I was watching it with my brother, so I had no chance. But I wouldn’t mind sitting down and rewatching it in dub rather than sub. I wouldn’t call it the best dub ever, but i feel that all the voice actors did great and I have to give praise. OVERALL ENJOYMENT: 10/10 Overall, this film is now my favourite Pokémon films in a long while. I wasn’t too hyped about this film, but was still excited about it none the less. The cinema I watched it in also showed the Pokémon generation shorts after the film so that was a plus. This film surprised me on the story, art and its characters and I ended up loving it more than I thought I would of. This is my fist ever review on this site and i was wanting to make a review on the film since i first saw it, however, I forgot to actually make it. I hope you like the review and if there is a grammar and spelling mistakes, I'm apologise.

While it may be a nostalgic cash-in, at least it's an enjoyable nostalgic cash-in. The story, which combined elements of season one with a new plot involving Ho-Oh, was pretty thin, but the stuff with Ho-Oh was very interesting and tapped into the "mythical" vibe I so very enjoy when Pokemon does. The rest at least did a decent job convering the bases of season 1. I didn't like Verity, who was bland and had no personality, but his other companion was good, and his voice actor did a great job. There was a lot of good comedy throughout, especially from Pikachu's antics, and there was someREALLY nice emotional moments. And as is the standard to the franchise, the animation was lovely, the action scenes were great and very well-directed, and the climax scenes were Fantastic. So as a whole, it was a good movie, and a fan might like it at least if they look past the Genwunner pandering.

I wanted to watch this movie so bad, and then when I did I was extremely disappointed. I wasn't a huge fan of the retconned story which HEAVILY borrowed from the first movie, and would have loved to have seen Brock and Misty, getting the original trio back together. I also thought the art style looked a little weird, but that could possibly be that I saw this movie on a small SD TV and it was meant for a big screen HD movie theatre. I have to say that I did really like the remake of the original English OP, and the dynamic betweenAsh and Pikachu was really cute.

I don't see why so many people are making a big deal out of the scene when Pikachu speaks. It was a totally harmless scene, and it was indicated to possibly be in Ash's head. Did Team Rocket really need to be "sneaking around" in this film? Don't get me wrong, I like Team Rocket. However, since this is a retelling, and they don't know Ash (yet) or his friends, there's no reason for them not to approach him and say, "Hey, we heard you guys were searching for Ho-Oh. We're looking for him too. Wanna team up?" Sure, Verity (Makoto) had seen a wanted posterof them, so she might've recognized them. Still, that's still they're only fallback. It just seems that the only reason Team Rocket were "sneakily" following Ash was because that's what they do in the main series. No Misty or Brock. :'( That being said, there are some things I like about this film. I remember when Ash saw Ho-Oh in the first episode of Indigo League. Ho-Oh was never the focus of the story. Ash mentioned seeing it in later episodes, but he never saw it again. I like that this retelling is about the quest to find Ho-Oh. Did it need to be a retelling? No, but again why not. This film was made for both old and new Pokémon fans. New Pokémon fans had another movie, and old Pokémon fans get to take a trip down memory lane without Misty, Brock, Pidgeotto, Squirtle, Bulbasaur... Seriously, they did a Pokémon: Indigo League retelling without Misty, Brock, and half the Pokémon on Ash's team!! Well, can't have everything I guess. At least Ash isn't a bicycle thief in this version. :) Although, no one can replace Misty and Brock, I did like Ash's new companions: Verity and Sorrel (Souji). I also like how they split once their quest was over. I also like how the trainer that abandoned Charmander played a bigger role in this story. Cross does see what kind of trainer Ash really is and what his Charmeleon become a Charizard. A powerful one at that. Cross also sees his own mistake when Marshadow possess his...um...main Pokémon. Wouldn't it be nice if Damian saw same thing? Wouldn't it be cool if Damian lost a battle to Ash's disobedient Charizard in a later episode? Sure Pokémon: I Choose You is not a perfect film, but that doesn't make it a bad one.

I was lucky enough to get to enjoy this movie on the big screen twice (dubbed) Last time I did that was over 16 years ago with Pokémon 2. This movie is propably, THE Pokémon Movie we as fans have, been waiting for. As both old fans, Poké Maniacs (Myself included) and newcomers can enjoy) Now ill try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible. Story:8 I went in expecting a loose retelling of the first season and thats not what I what I got. (Which was great) The first 15 minutes or so, is heavely based on the start of the first seasonafter that, it takes the story in a whole new direction, with a plot revolving around getting to a mountain to meet Ho-oH (and the other legendary Pokémon surounding its lore). With Ash is two new characters called Sorrel & Verity. Now im not gonna go in depth with the story, but it went in some pretty dark coners in some parts of the movie (Which I loved) Showing that Pokémon aren´t invincible. Art: 8 What can I say It looked great. The design was good and consistant allround the whole movie. Sound: 10 Starting the movie with a brand new recording of the Pokémon Theme was pretty dope, the rest of the movie everything just kinda fit together. Also the piano cover of the Pokémon Theme is beatiful. So huge kudos to the music crew. Character: 7 Ash: The main character, wants to be a Pokémon Master. Travels with his Pikachu and some other Pokémon he catches along the way. He is still about freindship is strenght (Which is fine) But it just became kinda ennoying a little. Atleast there was character development from start to finish. But most importantly he was actually a somewhat competent battler. Sorrel: A kid who wants to be a Pokémon Professor,Travels with Lucario. The more interesting of the new main characters. Even though both don´t really do much, he atleast stood out as he had more moments than Verity to do stuff, as he knew alot of info about Legendary Pokémon. Verity: A girl who travels with her Piplup. Personally, she was just kinda there. She didn´t do much. But I guess, they needed a girl character. Which was a shame, as she had a lot of Pokémon Lore regarding her background. So If they did a sequel, I would love to see where they take her, and her Mom. Enjoyment: 8 I really loved this movie. It had alot of small details and moments that only the older Pokémon fans & Pokémon Maniacs would really get. Which was really cool, I was practically glued to the screen. Another thing is that the Pokémon Battles are more like in Pokémon Origins, Pokémon Generations & The Pokémon Mega Evolution Speciels (They look coordinated and are pretty fast paced, and a a little more adult oriented) But the most importent thing is that they actually show a more Dark side of Pokémon, which I enjoyed (As it treated us viewers as adults) There was only 2 Minor things I disliked. If you are gonna have Team Rocket in the movie atleast let them do stuff, and there was a scene near the end of the movie that left me with a wierd feeling (Im sure most People that have watched it will know what im talking about) Overall 8: I really liked it. My only beef was the amount of Pokémon Ash catches and uses.(I won´t spoil the Number) But that itself is not something that should drag than the score. Let me say it like this. If you like Pokémon you should like this. You can even see it with a Pokémon Fan or a newcomer.

After the bunch of generic movies that the franchise was bringing (especially XY's), this film felt like a breath of fresh air, a necessary change and an interesting experience. Even so, it could have been handled much better. At first, the film was very ambitious, trying to mix classic elements with new elements in a single story with the classic theme of "chosen by the legendary", which is not bad, but that same ambition made the development of the film was very inconsistent: they added key elements of the first season, such as the way Ash and Pikachu became friends, Caterpie's capture and subsequent release andthe abandoned Charmander, beautiful scenes that contributed to Ash development, but didn't impact as they intended to do (speaking from the perspective of the new generations of fans, which is the main audience to which the film aimed). In addition, the new elements were incorporated in a very superficial way, resulting in a very hasty plot, which handled too much issues: Cross as an antithesis of Ash, Verity and Sorrel, even the same legend of "chosen by Ho-Oh", the old man who wrote the book and Marshadow as an evil being and his world of illusion were treated very superficially. While the subplots were placed "just because", the main plot was developed inconsistently. The plot is not the only thing that remained half developed, the characters too: -Both Verity and Sorrel, although they are not the most original characters in the world, they are charismatic and have interesting motivations, respectively: wanting to show your real value and being a professor due to a traumatic experience that made you see things from a broader perspective, each one was introduced with quite remarkable personalities, but once they joined to Ash, all that disappeared, and they went into the background in such a blatant way that it's offensive, giving the feeling of wanting to see more of them. -Cross and Marshadow were only used as a plot device. The first as the typical edgelord who treats everyone badly, considers that everything is brute force and friendship is useless but without the redemption that differentiates him from others like Paul and Trip, who in the end was the one who unleashed the chaos due to his imprudence. The second as the evil entity that has to stop our characters "just because", if there is a real reason for its participation, this was not very clear or was never explained properly. -On the other hand we have the same Ash as always, but due to the focus they gave him, his development as a newly initiated Trainer was better appreciated, in the best way that has been seen in the franchise so far, as well as his relationship with Pikachu... But yes, the way he "revived" was one of the most cheeky deus ex machina of all the anime, and don't tell me it was Ho-Oh because he was not present and the Rainbow Wing had disintegrated. In short: very ambitious plot, mixing new and old elements in a very superficial way, focusing on some things and leaving aside many others, hasty development and interesting characters but very badly used. As I said at the beginning, it was a renewed experience with respect to the last films, and it was pleasant to see, but it doesn't prevent that it could have been better.

After watching the hoopa & genosect movies prior to this my expectations were rather low. However I was pleasantly surprised, it was pretty good. I had been shown a certain semi-controversial scene near the end of the movie before watching it and was apprehensive about it, but it the movie it fit pretty well. It was a bit weird getting used to this being an alternate time line which incorporated events from the original tv series but also putting new things in it and changed events around. If you watched the original series you'll recognize certain big events but not enough to be called arecap movie. After some pretty bad pokemon movies its good to see they're getting back on the right track.

This review will try it's best to be spoiler-free. To anyone curious about this film, it's more or less a "soft-reboot" of the original Pokémon anime. Catered towards a younger generation, giving them some sort of idea what Ash's adventures were when it first aired (all the while giving its own take on the said journey). Any veteran Pokémon fan would somewhat be disappointed by the cast of characters as they're no longer the original familiar faces we grew up with, but take note that this film is for the newer Pokémon fans. It's a fresh take on Ash's journey per se. Story: 6/10 The flow somewhat has thegist of the original story of the anime, there are noticeable changes if you compare the story of the film to the anime. But all in all, the plot of the movie has the idea of the original but misses some key parts of the original in order to make up with the film's run time. Ash goes back to the beginning of his journey but with more Pokémon from different generations. Art: 7/10 If you've been following Pokémon ever since the first film, you can really tell the improvements of the animation and art style. There are some scenes that are drawn beautifully and battle scenes where you can really feel the battle. Given that it's an anime film, you can expect the animation team to go all out. Sound: 7/10 The soundtrack is amazing you can feel nostalgic with the rendition of the Pokémon theme and some music taken from the series as a whole. Characters: 6/10 If you read the MAL page of the film, then yes. Brock and Misty are no longer Ash's companions. Instead, we get two new characters with different goals and dreams. Depending on how you accept them is purely up to the viewer, but personally I'd take Brock and Misty over the newer companions. It's not the nostalgia that's talking, but its more because they're more memorable than Souji and Makoto. Enjoyment: 8/10 Well, it's Pokémon. Even if they changed the story of Ash in this re-imagining, the fight scenes are always enjoyable. Aside from that, the film also has moments that touch the little nostalgic hearts we have for this series (one in particular made me cry personally, made me remember all the memories I had with the series). Overall, I'd give it a 7, the film is more catered for newer Pokémon fans. From the plot, to the characters, to pretty much everything, it all aims to please young kids that are first exposed to the series. To any older fans out there, the film is somewhat nostalgic, even if everything is changed, the general idea of Ash's first journey still remains the same.

So I happened to stumble into another nostalgic beartrap; well not all that nostalgic, since I do still play the games regularly, but as far as the anime goes, I've been mostly disinterested in most things Pokémon since Sinnoh I guess. Now, since gen VI probably, Gamefreak has seemingly grown progressively more aware of us "geezers", who never could quite put down the game boy and say goodbye to our PG-13 digital armies of "dog fighting"-animals. Next to the mega stones, alolan forms and 3DS re-releases of classic games, this movie is another example of this. Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You is in alot of ways a remake of the original series; a decision, that was met with both praise and criticism from the "gen-wunner"-fan base. Some of them welcomed the possibility of a remake, even if not completely faithful, others just couldn't live with the changes, the film attempted to make. Me, I was as already explained in the intro, initially indiffirent to the movie's existence, but now that I've seen it, I'd honestly dare saying, that (apart from some irritating choices made in the climax of the movie) it is one of the better Pokémon films, if not the best one yet. Let me elaborate; Story (☆): There's alot of re-using of ideas from the source material, but honestly I'd have to say, the writers made their homework. I'm generally not a fan of remaking and re-hashing, but what we get in this movie is pretty well structured and the source material they chose patches together the movie neatly. The premise is basically classic Pokémon; Ash Ketchum is now 10 and can leave his mom and embark on an adventure capturing odd animals with weird abilities, making them fight, collecting badges and trying to become the very best, like noone ever was. Now what the movie did well, is to choose just the right aspects of this journey to make it compelling. The episodes they picked to remake and eventually lead into a new story find a common ground in a story about (big shock) friendship and trust. It's not the most original concept, not new to Pokémon or the genre it is a part of, but it is handled well. Characters (☆): Common complaint about the Pokémon anime is, how bland the characters are and to some degree this is the case in this movie as well. The new side characters serve mostly as plot devices, the antagonist is the classic trainer, who only wants power and considers companionship with his Pokémon unnecessary and Team Rocket are ultimately reduced to comic relief cameos; but at the core of it all, you do have Ash and his Pokémon and their character arcs. Fair enough; alot of people probably won't be able to seperate this Ash from his series' counterpart; the series Ash being way too often the dimwited over-enthusiastic shounen hero, who learns lessons only to forget them within the next 10 episodes, but if you manage to seperate this Ash from that Ash, you might not be as dissapointed in him after all. Well, there's always the classic complaints you can make; "Why is he using, that Pokémon against that Pokémon?" or "Why is he using that attack on that Pokémon", but then again you can't really apply your quantitative experience from the video games in the more layered and less predictable fighting mechanics of the anime. Not to mention this is an Ash with far less experience, then the series' one, so mistakes are always a possibility. Art (☆☆): Not much to complain about here; it's colourful and pleasing to the eye. The artstyle is typical Pokémon movie-artstyle with designs to appeal to all ages, especially the younger demographic. The fights are well choreographed, dynamic and immersive. All in all it's pleasing to the eye. Soundtrack (☆): It's funny, but even though I consider myself a big music nerd, I never really dissect anime soundtrack too much. I can always spot a brilliant soundtrack and voice acting and differentiate it from a complete travesty, but I never go too deep into it (Not that it even affects my overall enjoyment of the anime too much). With that said; Pokémon was fine; decent voice acting, soundtrack you would expect, nothing was off. Final Verdict: As stated in the introduction; I think it's well put together and thoughtout and tells a cohesive story. Ash and his Pokémon are surprisingly the stars of the show with decent character arcs. It's a decent film, but nothing we really needed and as a remake, nothing that does something unexpected, but it is a competent product alltogether. 5/10 Rating system: As seen above, I use a star system (symbols I have stolen from Yu-Gi-Oh!'s entries here on MAL) to rate the series/movie in terms of four categories, which can indicate its quality. Those ratings do affect the final score I give the series/movie, but I do not use a mathematical method to assign the score. Ultimately I weight the final ratings by considering the stars given. I do not consider the categories to be equivalent and value a good story and characters over good art or a cathcy soundtrack. As far as the stars given go, I use a four stage scale: (-) - bad, a series/movie is terrible in this category (☆) - okay, it's fine, tolerable, but likely nothing special (☆☆) - good, it's good, but may have flaws or isn't quite among the best I've seen in the category (☆☆☆) - great, the best rating I can give, when it's truely remarkable in the category