If were going to be honest here Pokmon needs no introduction especially when it comes to the anime a boy named Ash Ketchum gets a Pikachu a yellow mouse as a partner leaves his hometown of Pallet Town and travels the world while catching new Pokmon along the way all while he remains ten years old. Well what if we went all the way back to the beginning and started all over? Perhaps Im the worst person to talk about Pokmon I was 10 myself when I ended up being pulled along in the Pokmon craze and by not looking back I have made some Pokmonrelated memories that I will never regret whether its from the game trading cards or anime. When I found out about this franchises twentieth movie however I was skeptical thinking that Pokmon had just caught the recap movie disease however with each new trailer came a promise of a new experience born from something old instead and I got more hyped even though Misty and Brock were still missing. At last I watched the movie in the theatres with all intent on tackling heh get it? it in a review I tried to watch it from a critics point of view instead of a fangirls....but man was it hard Ladies and gentlemen Pokmon Trainers all over here is my review of Pokmon The Movie: I Choose You Pokmon The Movie: I Choose You starts the same way the Pokmon anime series did Ash Ketchum wakes up late all of the starter Pokmon are taken he ends up getting a Pikachu they dont get along well at first they accidentally tick off a group of Spearow Ash tries to protect Pikachu Pikachu knocks all of the Spearow out with a Thunderbolt Ash and Pikachu finally become friends and they see a legendary bird Pokmon fly through the sky. Your childhood memories know the drill here....but heres where the story starts to diverge. As this legendary bird Pokmon Hooh flies away it leaves Ash and Pikachu a rainbowcolored wing the two then make a promise to each other to one day meet this Pokmon. After that Ash travels through the Kanto region collects Gym badges and follows his dream to be a Pokmon Master like he originally had been doing however an encounter with another legendary Pokmon Entei reminds him of his promise. Together with new traveling companions Verity and Sorrel Ash and Pikachu embark on a quest to reach Rainbow Mountain and encounter Hooh. Okay time to try to not fangirl. May I first say that the story was masterfully executed? I personally would have liked to see some of Ashs Gym battles as part of one was actually shown and it was differently executed from the series however with a limited amount of screen time and a different story to tell I fully understand this decision. In regards to this different story it shared some key story elements with the series but even with those integrated the film stays on its own two legs through and through. Although it does start back when Ash is at square one in regards to being a Pokmon Trainer the different direction the story took didnt affect his character development. In fact I dare to say that this film dug deeper into his and Pikachus characters than the series did and gave both of them great amounts of character development as a result. Some of the other characters were likable too but they come with the one flaw Id say this film has they dont get fleshed out enough. Perhaps the biggest offenders of this are Ashs new traveling companions Verity and Sorrel while they are interesting characters with their own respective backstories these backstories arent fleshed out enough for the audience to really get to know them and they are sadly left as mostly supporting characters. The infamous Team Rocket trio of Jessie James and Meowth return but they are also reduced to supporting characters and dont get as much screen time as they did in the series however the scenes of them that we DID get were amusing and retained each of their personalities. Another new character Cross is the exact opposite of the ones I have mentioned he does get enough screen time for his character to be fleshed out but that doesnt mean he came off as likable. As a rival he is definitely a powerful adversary who actually affected Ash emotionally but at the same time the various problems he ends up causing and the things he says just made me want to throw my bucket of popcorn at the screen. What this Pokmon movie lacks in fleshing out most of its characters however is redeemed in its art. Instead of conforming to the new style of the Pokmon Sun and Moon series the art style stays close to what the series was before then which was a wise decision cinematically with what kind of story it was trying to tell using that rather goofy style would have made it look pretty ridiculous. However even with that in mind this is definitely the bestlooking Pokmon movie I have ever seen the animation was smooth and solid the backgrounds were drawn in a beautiful fashion and some shots were masterfully executed. Now I dont care what other people say about Sarah Natochenny voicing Ash all of the voice actors did a stellar job at their roles and there was pure emotion in their performances too. While Im not always one to pay attention to background music I definitely have to give this films background music credit the music always blended in perfectly with what was going on. Finally the opening theme was an excellent remix of the first Pokmon theme song and the ending theme.... OH THE ENDING SONG. I wanted to stay at the theatre just to finish listening to it it was that good Overall Pokmon The Movie: I Choose You is definitely an excellent movie and a challenging one for a longtime Pokmon fan like myself to critique. I wouldnt recommend it to those who cant handle different stories and the fact that Misty and Brock are missing although I do admit it was slightly disheartening not to see them but other than that Id recommend it to any Pokmon fan out there even the ones who havent watched the anime in forever. With this movie being watched and Pokmon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon being eagerly awaited I can tell that itll be harder to critique anything Pokmonrelated from here on out but with that being the case maybe I should just let my inner fangirl out