Review of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!
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.