As a child, Pokémon was one of my favorite series, and I also played the video games for it. I trained my favorite Pokemon Bulbasaur until it evolved into Bulbasaur and could not only do poison but also some Psychic attacks. Even later in college, I rediscovered Pokémon and watched the seasons and continued training Venusaur when I wanted to shy away from studying for exams. Procrastination Pokemon Edition.
But the new Pokémon film “The Arceus Chronicles” has little to do with the original Pokémon. After all: For the retro feeling, Ash’s old friend Rocko from the very first seasons has a guest appearance. Brock is now a Pokémon doctor and has a small spaceship that he can use to fly around to home to sick Pokémon. The popular Pokémon Pikachu, Goldini and Magikarp are also included.
But this time the focus is on the special prehistoric Pokémon Arceus. Ash and his friends want to find it and have all sorts of adventures along the way. As good as always. But not much is left of the former Pokémon charm. Protagonist Ash is about to grow up. And it should probably look more contemporary. The Pokédex (a device that can identify all Pokémon) is now a smartphone. And Ash likes to pose for selfies.
Otherwise, everything seems a bit like deliberate science fiction: the villains from Team Galactic are looking for holes in time and suddenly throw around terms like space-time shifts and different dimensions.
It’s a shame, because “The Arceus Chronicles” could have fitted in well with the current streaming and cinema trend of revivals and spin-offs. “Sex and the City” came back as “And Just Like That”, “Top Gun” as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “How I Met Your Mother” as “How I Met Your Father”. To name just a few recent examples. However, they were strongly based on their predecessors in order to create a certain nostalgia. And they were successful with the audience.
Unfortunately, the new Pokemon movie does that (not enough) and so I soon tuned out again.
