As geeky as I have been throughout my life, I was just a little too old to catch the Pokémon craze back in the late ’90s – early ’00s. I always saw it as a version of Magic Cards for the type of people that like anime. I was never above the show, movies or games. I certainly have geeked out on far weirder things. It just didn’t appeal to me. Though now, Legendary Pictures attempts to jumpstart the zombified video game movie genre with an actual attempt at quality.
This live-action animation hybrid is based on the 2016 spinoff game, Detective Pikachu. This movie focuses not on the popular Pokémon battles that the original series is based on, but a near-utopian world where humans and Pokémon live side-by-side in a functioning society. Sure, these Pokémon only communicate by saying their names repeatedly, but they fulfill their part in everyday society.
We follow Tim (Justice Smith) as he hears some tragic news about his father. Though, what seems to be a tragic accident turns out to be a villainous scheme. In his investigation, he is joined by a Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) that he can understand. Together, they explore Ryme City and attempt to solve the crime.
In a world where Sonic exists spotty CG characters appear in live-action movies, I take my hat off to Legendary Pictures for making a world where these larger & smaller than life animals live amongst us. The Pokémon look fantastic. Even those with basic designs that seemingly could only work in 2D art are brought to life and are great to see fully realized. For long-time fans, it will be a blast to watch every minute of screen-time to see every lesser known Pokémon and every Easter egg from the games and cartoon.
Though, beyond the great CG designs, this movie has very little going for it. The major selling point in the movie is that Ryan Reynolds voices Pikachu, but it’s a massive failed experiment. Just because he is the selling point of the Deadpool franchise, it doesn’t mean he can carry any project. He pulls every punch and feels limited in this role. This is (meant to be) a kids movie. Though Reynolds manages to sneak in a few swears just because it seems shocking when uttered by this adorable yellow creature that typically only says “Pika!” Shocking might be something, but there’s very little humor or care in the writing. The kids at this screening were largely silent throughout the movie. Adults only laughed when it showed a reference to a movie from over 20 years ago.
I’m not quite sure who Detective Pikachu is for. I don’t imagine the filmmakers know either. It’s a PG movie, but this is far from an entertaining light-hearted movie that I’d care to see as a kid. The greater conspiracy and somber tone seem tailored for older viewers that have played the game for 20 years. But if it was created for an older audience, why wasn’t the writing better? It’s a lazy script with lazy conveniences.
The human cast is serviceable. Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) is decent in the role as a guy who’s well past caring about Pokémon battles and the thrill of it all. He’s somewhat of an outsider in Ryme City because he’s the only person to not have a companion Pokémon. Kathryn Newton plays a peppy reporter looking to break the big story about what’s really behind recent accidents. Bill Nighy shows up to play Bill Nighy, but it was still a fun surprise to see him in a movie like this.
Plot-wise, there’s no real push or motivation to find out why we care about Tim’s father or what greater conspiracy is happening in Ryme City. In the end, it echoes the plot of Zootopia and has the ending of Batman ’89.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu had the potential to be the first better-than-average video game movie. The world is bright and colorful and the adventures could be endless. Though, outside of the cool creatures, this is a bland movie that doesn’t have anything more to offer than a slightly muggy Ryan Reynolds. Honestly, this movie would have been far better with Ash, Misty, Team Rocket and the gang. This detective can’t solve a case. C-
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