The first story focused on Tai and Kari Kamiya four years before their adventure in the Digital World. It shows their first encounter with Digimon and what happened to them (as well as the other children). Tai and Kari wake one morning to find a Digi-Egg that came out of their computer the night before and the egg soon hatches, revealing a Botamon. The Digimon then evolves into Koromon and then Agumon (not the same one that became friends with Tai in the series, and yet, somehow, both Koromon and Kari remember each other), who then goes out and unintentionally destroys a good part of the neighborhood with Kari riding on his back. A second Digi-Egg appears in the sky to reveal an evil digimon, Parrotmon. Agumon then Digivolves to Greymon but isn't strong enough to beat Parrotmon and is knocked out. Tai grabs Kari's whistle and wakes up Greymon, who defeats Parrotmon and disappears with him.
I'm not nuts about shooting hyperactive boys up with Ritalin, but Digimon: The Movie could use about 2,000 cc's of the stuff, injected straight into the projector.
– Stephen Hunter,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
[Parents] may be peering at their watches and sympathizing with the Digimon who wails, 'What do we have to do to stop this fighting?'
– Malcolm Ritter,
Associated Press,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
The animation itself isn't anything special -- not that the target audience cares much about that. But the message is sweet and empowering.
– Nancy Churnin,
Dallas Morning News,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
After about an hour, the picture simply runs out of plot. When another adventure is introduced, you're all but invited to check your watch.
– John Hartl,
Seattle Times,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
The film has an unrelenting staccato quality. Some would say a jackhammer quality.