Pokémon: The First Movie (1998)
★★★½ — Pokémon: The First Movie (1998)
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in Japanese cinemas in July 1998, at the absolute peak of what was then a genuine cultural phenomenon, with the Pokémon franchise having swept through Japan and begun its assault on Western markets via the Game Boy games and TV series. Director Kunihiko Yuyama had been steering the Pokémon anime series from its 1997 launch, so the feature film was very much a continuation of that world rather than a separate creative vision. OLM produced it on a reported budget of around $30 million, a substantial figure for an anime feature at the time, and the gamble paid off handsomely, with the film grossing over $163 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing anime film released in the West up to that point. The English-language dub, handled by 4Kids Entertainment, made a number of edits to the original Japanese cut, including removing an opening prologue sequence that was later restored in a 2019 Netflix recut.
Holy nostalgia blast. I first saw this as a wide-eyed 9-year-old, and it felt like cinematic magic. Years later, I got to show it to my own 9-year-old daughter and somehow, it still held up… kind of. It’s goofy, a little cheesy, and the plot is basically just “gods fight,” but there’s something undeniably charming about it. The animation is bright and bold, the music hits hard when it needs to. And let’s be real, no matter how many times you watch it, you still tear up at the Ash statue scene. No shame. That moment is pure childhood trauma and heart in one shiny, crybaby package. Not a masterpiece, but a milestone. A must-watch for anyone who grew up with Pokémon… and maybe a rite of passage for the next generation too.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 1998 | Watched: 2025-07-18
Where to watch (UK)
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon UK
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