Pokemon 4Ever (Pokémon 4: The Movie) (2002)

As a parent of a child who has loved, collected, and chattered about Pokemon for more than ten years, I was never a fan of the TV show or the first four movies because of their gossamer-thin script, storyline, and artistic quality. (My biggest complaint can be summarized in the following capsulization of every Pokemon script: Ash cheers yet again "I'm going to be the best Pokemon trainer in the world!" while Pikachu -- or any other Pokemon creature -- repeats its name over and over.) I've gradually made peace with Pokemon's presence in my family, however, so I've learned to accept each TV episode and movie for what it is and to understand each character's motivations through their challenges and successes. (It helped that the artwork began to get better with Pokemon 4ever and beyond.) In th fourth Pokemon movie, we have a story that develops organically and the landscape animations are often quite good. As a result, I am upgrading my rating of this film from 1 star to 3 stars. (1-17-11 posted 1-25-11)