Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

“When ace detective Harry Goodman goes missing, his son, Tim, and Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds), join forces to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together on an epic adventure through Ryme City, they uncover a shocking plot that could destroy the whole Pokémon universe.”

With the success of Pokémon in several different mediums over the past few decades, it’s curious why it took so long for a live action film to get off the ground. Now, I think I missed the cut-off age for becoming enthralled by the original Gameboy release of the game. In 1998, I was too busy with Nintendo 64 and Playstation to care much for Gameboy games. Despite this, Pokémon phenomenon  swept across the country, and even if you’ve never played a single Pokémon game, watched the television series or collected the cards, you know what they are.

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu goes in a much different route than one would expect given the focus on Pokémon pet battling, collecting, and overall Japanese influenced culture. Instead of ‘gotta catch ‘em all’, it’s more of a partnership between Pokémon and humans, working together in Ryme City side by side instead of keeping them in balls and battling them against each other. The world building is basically flawless, setting up this universe in which Pokémon are part of every day lives, from living out in the wild, to bumping into them on the city streets, to even following their directions as they guide traffic. The exposition doesn’t seem forced in the slightest, and as someone who only has a passing knowledge of Pokémon, it all seems like a very natural balance. This direction the film takes opens up the film to all audiences, not just fans of Pokémon.

One of my favorite things about Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is the film-noir-like story it tells. The mystery keeps you engaged throughout the entire film, keeping you guessing at what happened to Tim’s (Justice Smith) Dad, Harry. Tim and Pikachu’s chemistry is what makes the film so entertaining as they try to also sift through the clues of Pikachu’s amnesia. Peppered through this story is a very heartfelt one of the loss of a parent, the relationship between father and son, and one of forgiveness. The ending really ties these themes together nicely with the rest of the film in a way that any audience member would appreciate.

As much as I normally dislike Ryan Reynolds due to the fact he has basically played one character his entire career, and Justice Smith being the most throw-away character in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, I genuinely thought they did pretty well opposite each other here. My initial skepticism came largely due to the fact that cute and cuddly Pikachu, who normally has the highest pitched voice possible, was being voiced by Ryan Reynolds, as I’m sure this was a point of contention with a lot of fans. Unfortunately it’s impossible to go into detail as to why this choice was made, but by the ending it was clear that this was a necessity in order to tell this story, a choice that I ended up being quite happy about. Besides the issues with casting choices, Ryan Reynolds does bring a comedic element to the film that makes it enjoyable for both children and adults, his interactions with other Pokémon are definitely the highlight of the film, especially those with Psyduck, my favorite of the non-verbal Pokémon in the film.

Probably my biggest issue with the film is that it seems more like a film with Pokémon in it rather than a Pokémon film. Being someone, as I said, with just a passing knowledge of Pokémon, if I think the film doesn’t feel quite like Pokémon then I can only imagine what someone who’s been a fan since the original Gameboy game would feel. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the direction it took, but just feel like there’s something missing. I wanted to see more of the old school Pokémon stuff: battles, evolutions, actual special attacks. Additionally, even though I mentioned Justice Smith did just fine as Tim and the lead in the film, he wasn’t anything spectacular. You know when you look back on a film and learn there were other actors up for an iconic role and could never imagine anyone else but the one cast playing the part? Yeah, this isn’t one of those. I honestly think there could have been any number of actors cast in this and it wouldn’t have made one bit of difference.

Video

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.4:1. The film looks great, with a flawless transfer with a nice balance in color. The contrast between the Pokémon’s bright colors and the coldness of the cityscape, namely the film-noir themed visuals that play toward the futuristic detective series is something noticeable right away. They bring a sense of life to an otherwise cold world, something mirrored by one of the themes expressed by Mewtwo.

One of the main reasons I’m sure we haven’t got a proper live-action Pokémon film up until now is the technology needed to flawlessly blend the imaginative creatures in a human world. Here, it gets it perfect. They never look like they’re too CG or too cartoonish. They manage to paint a world in which it’s perfectly believable that Pokémon and humans live side by side.

Audio

The audio is presented in Dolby Atmos. This track sounds great as well, featuring a wide array of different sequences to highlight the benefits of an Atmos track. There is plenty of action to give your surrounds a great workout, never overpowering the dialogue coming from the center channel. No issues to defects of note in the audio track.

Special Features

This set includes a great set of extras to keep any fan busy after they finish the film. These include:

• Detective Mode – Watch Pokémon: Detective Pikachu like you’ve never seen it before and discover a world of hidden clues, behind-the-scenes footage, pop-up trivia, Pokémon facts, fun featurettes, Easter eggs and more!
• Alternate Opening
• My Pokémon Adventure
• Creating the World of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu
• Mime’s Audio Commentary
• Ryan Reynolds – Outside the Actor’s Studio
• Music Video

Pokémon: Detective Pikachu is a fun, entertaining film for all ages that caters to both fans of the franchise and those who know nothing about it. Although it goes a different direction than one would expect, it still manages to present a solid film that I hope grows into an expanding universe to further explore all that is Pokémon.