It’s weird (and somewhat depressing given I remember it starting) to think that the Pokémon anime has been going for 20 years. In that time just as many films have been released, but it has been quite a while since they were released in European cinemas. While we might all look back fondly on picking up a special Pokémon Trading Card when seeing Pokémon: The First Movie dwindling box office success has meant the more recent films haven’t had as big a splash - until now.

Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! honours the 20th anniversary by loosely retelling the pilot episode, before jumping into a film of its own right. It is in selected UK cinemas this weekend (5th/6th November) and fans of the series will be sure to want to go along as a limited edition Pokémon Trading Card featuring Pikachu will be given away, which comes with a code to download Trainer Cap Pikachu in the forthcoming Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

As mentioned previously, the film starts by loosely retelling the pilot episode, but sped up a bit. While Professor Oak and Ash’s mum appear in speaking roles, other characters are only briefly shown (and chubby Pikachu is nowhere to be seen). The film features Brock and Misty stand-ins (Sorrel and Verity respectively), with a more callous Gary stand-in called Cross who acts as the main antagonist.

There is some fan service done for the original series, with Ash catching and evolving a Butterfree before letting it go mate into the night and him rescuing a Charmander left out in the rain. Team Rocket also feature, but do little more than repeatedly blast off without really interacting with anyone. They don’t even get to say their motto!

Other than this it is a largely new story (or as 'new' as Pokémon films get) as Ash learns about Ho-Oh and his connection to it after Ho-Oh dropped a feather that Ash picked up. He and his new buddies band together to make their way to a spot on some mountain that legend tells them they should, being stopped along the way by the previously mentioned callous trainer and Marshadow.

Of course, you shouldn’t go in expecting some deep storytelling for this kind of film. It’s light-hearted, fun and has some genuinely amusing moments, mostly in a Roscoe Arbuckle sense, that is aimed at people much younger than most of our readers. However, there is one moment where tonally it didn’t hit in the way the filmmakers hoped, but perhaps that is down to the fact most of the audience were older than the target demographic. I won’t give it away, but when you see it you’ll know what I mean.

There was one sequence that was surprisingly striking and unexpected. At some point Ash has a dream (or a nightmare I guess) of a life without Pokémon and it plays out in a very It’s A Wonderful Life way. Ash is the only one who is vaguely aware of what Pokémon are (he doesn’t know what they are, but knows they exist) and there’s some nice little visual tricks to show how Pokémon represent the real world (he sees a flying Pokémon in the sky, but it fades into an aeroplane). It is the closest Pokémon has come to looking like a traditional school-set anime and a reminder of how much more fun life would be if Pokémon were real and school wasn’t.

Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! is fine providing you’re a fan and aren’t looking for anything too heady. It obviously won’t appeal to a wide audience over the age of 12, but if you grew up watching the anime, or continue to do so, it is worth enjoying a Pokémon cinema treat because it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to do that.

Retelling the pilot as a semi-remake was an interesting way to celebrate the 20th anniversary. I assume it will remain a one-off, but much like other experimentations such as Pokémon Chronicles it is a welcome attempt at doing something different.