Review of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!

I don't see why so many people are making a big deal out of the scene when Pikachu speaks. It was a totally harmless scene, and it was indicated to possibly be in Ash's head. Did Team Rocket really need to be "sneaking around" in this film? Don't get me wrong, I like Team Rocket. However, since this is a retelling, and they don't know Ash (yet) or his friends, there's no reason for them not to approach him and say, "Hey, we heard you guys were searching for Ho-Oh. We're looking for him too. Wanna team up?" Sure, Verity (Makoto) had seen a wanted posterof them, so she might've recognized them. Still, that's still they're only fallback. It just seems that the only reason Team Rocket were "sneakily" following Ash was because that's what they do in the main series.

No Misty or Brock. :'(

That being said, there are some things I like about this film. I remember when Ash saw Ho-Oh in the first episode of Indigo League. Ho-Oh was never the focus of the story. Ash mentioned seeing it in later episodes, but he never saw it again. I like that this retelling is about the quest to find Ho-Oh. Did it need to be a retelling? No, but again why not. This film was made for both old and new Pokémon fans. New Pokémon fans had another movie, and old Pokémon fans get to take a trip down memory lane without Misty, Brock, Pidgeotto, Squirtle, Bulbasaur... Seriously, they did a Pokémon: Indigo League retelling without Misty, Brock, and half the Pokémon on Ash's team!! Well, can't have everything I guess. At least Ash isn't a bicycle thief in this version. :)

Although, no one can replace Misty and Brock, I did like Ash's new companions: Verity and Sorrel (Souji). I also like how they split once their quest was over.

I also like how the trainer that abandoned Charmander played a bigger role in this story. Cross does see what kind of trainer Ash really is and what his Charmeleon become a Charizard. A powerful one at that. Cross also sees his own mistake when Marshadow possess his...um...main Pokémon. Wouldn't it be nice if Damian saw same thing? Wouldn't it be cool if Damian lost a battle to Ash's disobedient Charizard in a later episode?

Sure Pokémon: I Choose You is not a perfect film, but that doesn't make it a bad one.