Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You

So on Pokemon Day, Fans gathered together and celebrated the colossal and heartwarming series that is Pokemon. Along with that, the Official Pokemon Website released the 20th film in the series. Wow. . . I cannot believe there's been that many. and to be honest I haven't even given each film a watch. The thing that struck me as odd though, was the amount of views the film had on the official website. I watched this thing a week after its initial release date and it only had about 50,000 views but I guess people could have viewed it from different sources. Anyway the story revolves around Ash. Beginning his journey in the same way the Original Anime began. Ash wakes up too late and because of this he has only one choice as his Starter Pokemon, Pikachu. It takes the two a little bit of bonding over almost losing their lives to some crazy Spearow to build their friendship. This was the main reason I decided to watch this film as it gives me nostalgic feelings of when I was a kid watching this very same guy bond with his first Pokemon 20 years ago. Now this film takes a sharp turn and does not follow the original Anime to a tee. For Instance, we only see three of Ash's Pokemon throughout the entire film. This being Pikachu, Caterpie and Charizard. And while out on their Journey they meet Trainers Verity and Sorrel. Instead of Misty and Brock. Sorrel talks about how he is studying The three legendary beasts Raikou, Entei and Suicune (who all make a brief appearance in the film.) I thought the way they developed these characters was great and you almost don't even miss Misty and Brock here. I mean, Why should you? I feel the whole point of this film was to go another direction. You get a look into their past and see who these characters are. And this was one of the most solid points of the film. They were pretty relatable too. Ash and Pikachu see Ho-oh like in the Anime. Instead Ash is given the Rainbow wing meaning he is the Rainbow Hero Chosen by Ho-oh Itself. The story goes from here and doesn't have much of a direct plot except that the follow of Ash on his Journey in kanto. We meet Charmander and he's been left behind by a shitty trainer like before. This guy named Cross. In my opinion, this guy is the typical villain trainer who thinks strength is more important than friendship blah blah blah. . . . . Ash takes Charmander under his wing, He evolves and proves the Trainer wrong. I found a lot of the things that were brought from the original anime felt noticeably rushed. Like when Caterpie evolved into Butterfree and then meets his mate and then leaves for mating season. I found it funny at one point when the Primeape were attacking them, Sorrel recommends (metapod clip) Yeah. . . .that wouldn't go well in the video games. . . Another thing featured in this film was Marshadow following ash through his shadow. He gives Ash a glimpse of how important it was to be a good Trainer and the destruction it can cause if you were like Cross. Team Rocket even makes a few appearances throughout but in my opinion they didn't even need an appearance.

hey don't serve any purpose to the plot and don't even make any funny remarks. Haven't we had enough of Team Rocket throughout the series? Please just be off. Also one thing that sort of ruined it for me, was Prof.Oak's voice. . . . Yeah no... I know he wasn't featured for very long... but why couldn't ' Stuart Zagnit ' or ' Stan Hart ' return?. . So The story at times seems very Lazy and they just threw in little parts to give us all Nostalgia. But wasn't that the whole purpose of the film? It was released on the 20th anniversary of Pokemon and the writers probably felt free to throw in whatever they wanted to fit. I enjoyed it for what it was but it was no grand achievement. The little throwbacks here and there are what makes it so enjoyable for me. If you didn't watch Pokemon when you were young, you probably won't get a kick out of it. My Favorite parts were the battle between Charizard and Incineroar and the moment when Charizard saves Cross and the Explanation was that "charizard hasn't forgotten you were once its Trainer." The main thing I MUST mention here is the artwork and animation. This was absolutely my favorite thing. Everything looks so beautiful and updated and it's great to see Kanto this way. I Loved the parts with Ho-oH and seeing all the rainbows and bright sunlight. If you've been a Pokemon Fan since day one, why not give it a watch?

This movie took me back to all the memories of this series and my childhood, it was not the plot but the feeling and the memories that got me into tears three times. Made me warm with that feeling only pokémon can.

This is my new favorite Pokémon movie. Way more better than these other modern Pokémon movies.

I'm 23. You might wonder why I'm telling you this, but that is not without significance.

When I was 6 years old I would get up every Sunday morning at 07.00 to see the latest Pokemon episode, and it was some of the happiest Sundays I spend watching, and because of that I was very nostalgic watching this movie.

NOW FOR THE REVIEW

What doesn't work:

1st off The movie is very fast paced, and because of that, some of the touching moments in this movie, some new, some recognizable doesn't really pay off.

2nd The animation has some of the old style, but also some new style which doesn't come off great. One moment you're like: Wow, that's like the old days, and in another: ugh that's not good.

3rd Because it rekindles some moments from the old days, you feel bad for the moments left out, which leaves you feeling a bit annoyed and cheated.

4th Team rocket is utterly wasted in this movie. They could have left them out, but they kept them for comic relief, which was a HUEEGE MISTAKE! WHAT A WASTE!

5th It's not for hardcore Pokemon fans. If you're deep into Pokemon new gens and hate the old stuff, this will leave you unsatisfied and feeling like they f**ked the community over.

What works:

1st off The movie is a mix of nostalgia and new gen Pokemon's and characters, and they actually made it work. Kudos.

2nd. If you are anything like me, an OG Pokemon fan and a bit of a GENWUNNER, this is gonna be pure nostalgia love-fest. Right off the bat you're taken back to pallet town and you know where this is headed, nostalgia adventures. You get to see some old legendary encounters and some heartfelt moments, which sweetens this roller-coaster ride.

3rd. We finally gets some closure an in depth story regarding ash an Ho- Oh. The chapter I waited for so long as a kid is finally here.

A MUST WATCH for GENWUNNERS and people who are nostalgic for the old seasons.

It gets a 6/10 and a +1 for nostalgia.

On a last and more serious note. This could have been a 9/10 Pokemon if they made it an hour longer. That would have allowed them to slow it down, focus on story and would have made the heartfelt moments pay off more than they did.

Over 20 years after its debut, it seems that Pokémon is not a fad and will be here to stay for the long haul. Of course, considering the mania surrounding the first games in the series back in the mid-1990's, by now enough time has passed for nostalgia to be a contributing factor to the franchise's continued success. The children who grew up with Pokémon are now adults in their late-20's and early-30's (i.e., "millennials"). In an attempt to cash in on this nostalgia, Pokémon's latest movie, I Choose You! recounts some of the memorable first moments of the anime, but with a slightly different storyline.

Initially, I was worried that this plot would be a pared-down selection of key moments from the anime, much like what has been done with other anime movies like One Piece's The Desert Princess and the Pirates (2007) and Episode of Chopper Plus(2008). Fortunately, this film managed to capitalize on some hindsight that ended up linking the first few episodes of the anime to significant plot points introduced in the second generation of games. Granted, this semi-ret-conning diverges from the anime plot (to a point where Team Rocket is completely uninvolved), but at least it provides a more cogent conclusion by the end of the film.

Some have bashed this movie for the controversial decision to give Pikachu an actual voice, but the nostalgia in me (partly from the anime, as much as from the first Pokémon movie) got chills during the climax of this film. That being said, I had trouble getting used to the new voice actors for this movie, which pulled me out of the nostalgia every now and again. In the end, the plot of this film probably follows a lot closer to the actual Pokémon games than the anime ever did, which is probably a plus considering some of the complaints many fans have about the anime.

A nostalgia trip for the millennials who grew up with Pokémon, I give I Choose You! 3.5 stars out of 5.