A tale of friendship and sacrifice.
The first half of Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You is a retelling of the original Pokemon anime released on September 8th, 1998. The second half of the film takes Ash, Pikachu, and some new friends on an adventure to find the legendary bird Ho-Oh. Together the friends travel to a magical mountain to return a rainbow feather and meet Ho-Oh.
A new legendary Pokemon named Marshadow makes his first appearance in this movie. He plays a minor part throughout, until the end of the film where his character becomes a major role. Brock and Misty do not make an appearance in the film, and are instead replaced by new Trainers Verity and Sorrel as Ash’s companions. These new trainers wield pokemon from the Sinnoh region, which leads many to believe that the next pokemon games will be remakes of Pokemon Diamond & Pearl.
Overall the film kept a good pace. The story line was creative and unique. The voice acting was spot on, and there was something for Pokemon fans of every age. The intro sequence also featured a re-imagining of the original theme song, which got the movie off to a great start. The film focused a lot on Ash and Pikachu’s relationship. It placed value on friendship and kindness, and showed that good always prevails.
Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You is a trip down memory lane.
This movie was pumped full of nostalgia for older Pokemon fans. There are dozens of nods to the original anime, and I heard more adults laughing in the theater than children. Some of the more famous scenes that stood out were from the episodes Bye Bye Butterfree and Charmander: The Stray Pokemon.
Pokemon fans young and old will enjoy this movie. Pikachu is funnier than ever before, but also plays one of his most serious roles ever. In my opinion Pikachu stole the movie. One thing I didn’t expect, but should have, was how Pokemon Company put a dozen short films in front of the actual movie. The audience was bombarded with the past year of Pokemon 20th Anniversary propaganda. It was a good surprise and rather neat to see all of the short film cartoons on the big screen.
If you or your children have ever liked Pokemon, I recommend catching this one in theaters before it’s too late. It’s only available for a limited time, and only at select theaters, but it will also come to home video soon.
In Theaters: November 5th, 6th, 11th, & 14th
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1hr 35min
HFR Rating:
