It's probably safe to say with the long history of the Pokémon franchise, none of the returning or diehard fans should be expecting newcomers. The TV series has many seasons and to boot, many movies in between. Any convert would have to start from the very beginning and work their way through all of that just to reach this point. On the other hand, if that is the drive, then fans should be happy that another film in the list of entries remains to have standout qualities for its viewing experience. Know that there are still some aspects that still make it the typical entry for this franchise, but it's not as average as some of the other previous films. At this point it seems like the films are no longer sticking to the TV show timeline which is okay since the movies never seemed to play into the TV show anyway.
This entry drops the audience into Ash Ketchum's world with no indication of time or place, other than around the same time as the shows latest season. Along with him are several other characters that end up weaving their way into the story line which in time cross paths with Ash. Unbelievably, the writer director duo attached to this project is not Kunihiko Yuyama or Hideki Sonoda. This time, it's Tetsuo Yajima directing and Eiji Umehara writing the screenplay. Umehara has other credits to their name but nothing Pokémon related. However, Yajima does go all the way back to season one, so it's nice to know the director has experience with the franchise. The key part of the story and direction that make this film another strong entry is the focus of the plot.
Unlike other films which revolved around a legendary Pokémon and how capturing, controlling or destroying them would disturb the balance of nature or something like that. This time it focuses more on the human characters and the development of their arcs. Since this story has nothing to do with the show now, Team Rocket, Ash and Pikachu are the only main cast to return. Risa (Haven Paschall) is a new trainer who has yet to discover how important the connection is between Pokémon and trainer. Toren (Eddy Lee) is a timid researcher who hopes to be able to speak for himself one day for his love of Pokémon. Harriet (Kathryn Cahill) is an elderly citizen who hasn't learned how to love Pokémon again. Callahan (Billy Bob Thompson) is a lying uncle to his niece Kellie (Laurie Hymes) who doesn't know he lies. Then there's Mayor Oliver (Marc Thompson) and his daughter Margo (Erica Schroeder) who's hiding a secret from him.
The secret is a legendary Pokémon that no one else knows about. This is one of the couple pitfalls to the movie. No matter what, it seems like no movie can stay clear of directly being about a legendary Pokémon. The good thing is again, the main focus is on the human characters and their development. Of course even with some of these characters are tropes that viewers could anticipate what'll happen part way through the story because how obvious it is. The voice acting is also obvious but in a good way. None of the performances heard within the viewing experience sounded wrong, off or read poorly. Much of the cast are voice actors who have taken part in the franchise many times before. Additionally, it would be noticeable if they didn't sound invested in the project.
Visually speaking, the animation is another great part of the viewing experience. The colors and character expressions are as vibrant as ever. There's also fairly good CGI work thrown in as well. What this has to do with cinematography again though goes unknown. This time handled by Kenji Takahashi and Ryou Kujirai. As for film scores, Shinji Miyazaki returns once more as the composer to the project. Also again there is no domestic release for the album but it does contain an hour of tracks to listen to. At this point it would be more of a surprise if it was released domestically only. However, that won't happen considering the country of origin of the franchise. The music sounds good as usual and has its moments memorable tunes.
Showing that films related to the franchise can be entertaining, the viewing experience this time focuses on the human characters. As usual it includes the annoying character familiarities and legendary Pokémon, but also completely new characters, great animation, and consistently pleasant music.
