Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Pokémon: The First Movie

Play trailer Poster for Pokémon: The First Movie G Released Nov 10, 1999 1h 35m Kids & Family Adventure Anime Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
16% Tomatometer 91 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu face Mewtwo, a bioengineered Pokémon, and the super-Pokémon it has created. With short "Pikachu's Vacation."

Where to Watch

Pokémon: The First Movie

Pokémon: The First Movie

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Audiences other than children will find very little to entertain them.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (91)
Peter Bradshaw Guardian This film is humourless, boring, impenetrable and with animation of such staggeringly low quality that it constitutes an insult to cinemagoers of all ages. Jan 15, 2019 Full Review Paul Tatara CNN.com "Pokémon: The First Movie" is a dose of extremely low-budget "Japanimation" that -- were it only more proficiently executed -- would rival "Scooby Doo" as the most astounding work of art in the 20th century. Jan 15, 2019 Full Review Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Rated: C- Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Rachel Wagner Rachel's Reviews (YouTube) A fun little movie with cute characters and animation Mar 29, 2021 Full Review D.J. Rogers Black Nerd Problems It's simple, and that's not really bad, but doesn't add much for an adult viewer, either. Without the retrospect on it hard, I think this movie is a solid 7.9/10. I wouldn't mind watching it again, especially with my little one. Feb 11, 2021 Full Review Tim Brayton Alternate Ending We know that the makers of this film are capable of something slightly more grand-scale than "video game commercial". They're just not interested in actually doing it. Rated: 2.5/5 Jun 1, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (49)
KEITH S Fantastic movie with lost of nostalgia, watching it in 1999 when it first came out was a highlighted memory that sat deep in the back of my brain. Rewatching it with my daughter who showed the same energy and enthusiasm as I had brought such joy to my heart Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/26/25 Full Review Austin R An absolute classic Pokemon movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/18/25 Full Review Alex O. Amazing art, action, and story about life. Beautiful. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/13/25 Full Review Josh C. Saw this movie in theaters when I was a kid, got the commemorative cards too. Nostalgia outranks everything else when it comes to rating this one, this movie is perfect. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/11/25 Full Review Daniel R Note worthy movie with great themes. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/11/25 Full Review Cam D It may seem redundant to write a review for a 27ish year movie, but I feel it deserves it. This movie changed my life, and I don't mean it sarcastically. I first saw this movie as a kid as I was already a fan of Pokémon. As a grew up I assumed the good thoughts of the movie were all due to being nostalgia blinded. So, when I went back into it, I expected a mediocre movie at best but when I was done, I felt like I hadn't aged a day. The action, lessons, and even the emotions make me feel like the crushing weight of the world was released from me even if it was for a brief time. The art style, ash's sacrifice, and especially meowth's quote all affected the person I grew to be. (I mainly wrote this review to try and improve my writing skills as I felt such a unique reason would help me improve but I truly mean everything that I said. Number 1 movie for me and would recommend.) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/08/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Pokémon: The First Movie

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Movie Info

Synopsis Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu face Mewtwo, a bioengineered Pokémon, and the super-Pokémon it has created. With short "Pikachu's Vacation."
Director
Michael Haigney, Kunihiko Yuyama
Producer
Norman J. Grossfeld, Tomoyuki Igarashi, Takemoto Mori, Choji Yoshikawa
Screenwriter
Takeshi Shudo
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
4 Kids Entertainment, Shogakukan, Pikachu Project '99, Nintendo Co. Ltd.
Rating
G
Genre
Kids & Family, Adventure, Anime
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 10, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 21, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$85.7M
Runtime
1h 35m
Sound Mix
Surround, DTS, SDDS, Dolby Digital
Most Popular at Home Now