'Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You' REVIEW: A huge nostalgia bomb for only hardcore Pokemon fa

'Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You' is the twentieth Pokemon movie in the Pokemon movie franchise and is a reboot or a loose retelling of the first season of Pokemon, the animated series. I myself have been a long-time Pokemon fan since the debut of the animated series. I collected the cards, played most of the games and seen most of the movies. I've stopped regularly watching them mostly because of my pursuit of education and have been out of the loop when it comes to the newer games. The announcement of this movie and its premise however has caused a considerable amount of controversy among fans. People thought that this film is going to tarnish the events and characters from the first season of Pokemon and it's just going to be a drawn out version of the first ever episode of Pokemon. For the most part it is, only for the first 10 minutes. The rest of the film though is a seriously nostalgic good time for you Pokemon fans.

If I were to explain the whole concept of Pokemon to the bone for those who have no idea what Pokemon even is, then it's going to take me a long while to write this review. For you fans who do know, basically it's about a boy named Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town has become 10 years old which means he is now old enough to become a Pokemon Trainer. Ash has big dreams about the adventures he will experience after receiving his first Pokemon ever Pickachu from Professor Oak. Both Ash and Pickachu have to bond with each other in order to take on multiple trainers and gyms in order to be the very best.

What sets this movie apart from other Pokemon films in the past is that this looks the best. The film looks far more cinematic than any of the other films we've had until now. The previous ones looked more like they were made for television on the Cartoon Network channel, but the animation here is far more polished and the battle sequences are mostly fluent and epic looking. The voice acting matches well with the characters that we fans know and love. This newest film also introduces new characters which I've grown to like over the course of the film. I never found myself missing Misty and Brock or any of the other companions from the series. The film also makes call-backs to highlights of that first season of such as Ash finding the abandoned Charmander and Ash releasing his Butterfree. The emotional core from those moments of the first season are carried over well into this film which I found really satisfying and actually brought a little tear to my eye surprisingly. For a film that is a recreation of the first season, this film manages to do things that are different and perhaps even boundary pushing to those hardcore fans including myself.

As for negatives, I don't think they'd the relevant here. If you're a long-time Pokemon fan, then you're going to get your money's worth here. The classic antagonist characters Jesse, James and Meowth are in the film, but they never interact with Ash and his gang at all. All they do is mess up and get flown into the sky like in the series which is another good dose of nostalgia.

In the end, you'll get a huge nostalgic kick out of this if you have been a Pokemon fan from the start. For the unconverted, you'll have no idea what's going on and will feel like you've wasted your time. As for me, this is the best Pokemon film I've seen in a really long time. It tributes the old and brings in the new without truly spoiling the continuity of the series. It's a just a good time to be alive as a Pokemon fan.

'Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You' gets an A-