Review of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (2017) by Leon B — 29 Apr 2018

Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!

(2017).

Plot:

When Ash Ketchum oversleeps on his 10th birthday, he ends up with a stubborn Pikachu instead of the first partner Pokémon he wanted! But after a rocky start, Ash and Pikachu become close friends and true partners and when they catch a rare glimpse of the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh in flight, they make plans to seek it out together, guided by the Rainbow Wing it leaves behind. Trainers Verity and Sorrel join Ash on his journey. Along the way, Ash catches an abandoned Charmander, raises a Pokémon from Caterpie to Butterfree and then releases it to follow its heart, and meets the mysterious Mythical Pokémon Marshadow. When they near their goal, the arrogant Cross, Charmander's former Trainer stands in their way! Can Ash and Pikachu defeat this powerful Trainer and reach Ho-Oh as they promised, or will their journey end here?

Review:

I've never really understood what was so amazing about these Pokémon movies, because I personally found them quite awful. In this movie the graphics looked cheap and the storyline was extremely poor but I'm sure that people who follow the franchise would love it. I'm also not a big fan of anime movies, so I'm not the best person to review this film. Anyway, the film is about a 10 year old boy, Ash, who is now old enough to become a Pokémon trainer but he wakes up late and ends up with Pikachu, who he originally didn't want. He strives to become the best Pokémon trainer but it takes some time to come close to Pikachu, who is stubborn and disobedient. He soon works out the secrets behind Pikachu, and he challenges other Pokémon on his travels, and he soon realises that becoming the best isn't all what it seems. That was the only bit of the movie that I really understood, because I didn't really pay that much attention to it. I lost interest earlier on in the movie, maybe because I didn't really know that much about the back story of the Pokémon, and I also wasn't that impressed with the action scenes, which seemed quite amateur to me. I know that there will be a lot of people who disagree with this review, mostly from the Pokémon followers but I really couldn't get into this movie and the weak storyline. Poor!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, who also brought you various other Pokémon movies, which I totally haven't heard of. Judging by the popularity of this franchise, and the various merchandise on the market, the Pokémon craze has certainly taken off around the world, and the movies have made quite a profit so it obviously has a big following. I've come into the whole Pokémon thing pretty late, and I can't see myself going back to the beginning, as I wasn't that impressed with this film. That's not to say that it was a bad movie but it just wasn't for me.

Budget: N/A.

Worldwide Gross: $37.5million.

Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure.

Cast: Unsho Ishizuka, Rica Matsumoto, Sarah Natochenny, Megumi Hayashibara, Inuko Inuyama, Shin'ichiro Miki and Ikue Otani. 1/10.