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Reviews
Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You (2017)
Enjoyable, but a bit choppy
I grew up watching the original Pokémon series and was excited to see how Ash's beginning would be retold. The art and battles in the film were very dynamic, rendering them a pleasure to watch. There was even a scene added that showed a world where Pokémon never existed and Ash was merely a normal school boy yearning for adventure. It was hard not to relate to the feeling. However, as a lifelong fan, I was disappointed during multiple scenes depicting Ash's early days as a trainer.
First, I missed the iconic Brock and Misty. They added flavor to the series with their personalities and back stories. For instance, Brock was a powerful, knowledge and kind gym leader. He was also a womanizer in certain contexts, as well as a father figure who cared for his younger siblings in others. He had many dimensions. In comparison, Sorrel and Verity had only patchy life stories where details were made to seem unimportant. Team Rocket was still around, but they merely appeared briefly in each scene and would disappear as soon as they arrived without much purpose other than a short comical walk- on.
Second, the retelling of older episodes, such as with the charmander and caterpie stories, were typically speedy and merged together in fast montages. While I knew what was happening, my father, who came along hoping to understand what Pokémon is about, was often lost. If anything, this vagueness turned him off of learning more about the anime/games. It was disheartening to me.
Third, I personally disliked parts of the new story-line. In the movie, Ash was made the "rainbow hero" after being gifted with a rainbow wing and self tasking himself with meeting Ho-Oh. He fought tirelessly to deliver Ho-Oh's rainbow feather to the mountaintop only to 'die' temporarily and be given new life by Ho-Oh, which all of the other characters treated nonchalantly. A final showdown with Ho-Oh does occur afterwards, primarily off screen, but the conclusion is never fully shown. Of course, watching Ash finally meet Ho-Oh was amazing, especially given how vivid the artwork was for the legendary bird.
Overall, Pokémon I Choose You is worth watching. In order to appreciate the film though, you need to throw out your expectations based on earlier anime episodes and enjoy the film as a story to itself that also happens to carry over older material. The artwork is lovely and the addition of newer Pokémon to the Kanto based story's repertoire, including Marshadow, certainly made the film more engaging.