Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us

It's better than most Pokémon movies. It's certainly better than Detective Pikachu.

Personal point, first: I like the designs for Ash, Pikachu, and Team Rocket. I'd even go so far as to say these are the best designs for them since their original designs.

Compared to previous Pokémon movies...

The story feels a lot more focused.

The humor isn't all that obnoxious.

Ash, Pikachu, and Team Rocket are extra likable.

The side characters are much more likable, especially the scientist. You wanna give him a hug.

There was less bad dialogue. Not to say any of it was particularly stellar because why the hell would any of it be stellar?

And it's never boring.

On top of all that...

The animation is very good.

It's bright and colorful.

It communicated how Risa used to run but doesn't anymore because of an injury with zero dialogue. This happened at the beginning of the movie, too. And when I saw it I was like, "Huh. This seems pretty promising."

Honestly, in many ways it was everything I was hoping Detective Pikachu would be.

That being said, problems that previous Pokémon films have suffered from are still present in this one:

The voice acting was mediocre.

There are familiar plot threads.

The sequence of events was predictable.

There's bad and unnecessary dialogue.

And there are plenty of logistical issues.