Okay okay, it's really cute that these little animals can only speak their names. And yes, every time "Pikachu" uttered hers, I was charmed. However, during the 20 minute short "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure" I just wanted to tell those little guys to "Shut up already!"

Forgive me for the crassness, I'm embarrassed for it. Really I am. Usually, I love kid's flicks. I champion them. But, perhaps this one was for a littler kid than I'm used to. In fact, one small tike left the theater saying, "I liked it! I liked it! I liked it!" And trust me, he was much more the target demographic than I. So, if your You JR. loves these cartoon animals ... go ahead and take him/her/them. They'll be happy, though you should prepare yourself for having to limit your fun to watching your kids enjoy theirs.

Fortunately, the real movie has humans that make actual sentences. Never mind that they utter them swiftly and deliberately like the old "Speed Racer" series, they are full sentences. Seems paradise is disrupted when some guy in a flying machine "collects" Pokemon controllers of Fire, Ice and Lightening. Ash Ketchum and his pals happen across a touristy Island in the area and with weather conditions spiraling to disaster, the Earth turns to Ash ... Ketchum, that is, as the chosen one.

To an adult (namely me) the first half of the film offers little to keep the attention. But the second half is admittedly much more compelling. Total, there were maybe three references in the dialogue that an adult might find clever or cute.

So ... I reluctantly grade this flick a B-. But that's for us old farts. Young farts might just love it.

Trivia: First a Game Boy game in Japan, then comic book, then TV show, the imaginative world of Pokemon was conceived by Satoshi Tajiri, based upon inspiration he drew as a child from watching the complex interactions of various insects he would catch and keep. Oh, and if you didn't already know ... Pokemon is short for pocket monsters.