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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
By Daniel Andrade
One of the first video game systems I ever owned was a Nintendo Game Boy, and I got three games to start off my dive into the world of video games: Tetris, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, and Pokémon Blue. And while I certainly had fun playing each of those games, only one really absorbed all my time and energy during countless car rides and late nights, and that was Pokémon. Suffice to say, I’ve been a fan ever since and have played almost every iteration of the game since then, and of course you know I was a fan of the original anime show as well! I collected the cards, I knew the PokéRap, I knew the names of all of the original 151 Pokémon, I even saw the first few animated movies in theaters. I grew up on Pokémon, so when I saw that a live-action Pokémon movie was coming, a wave of nostalgia rushed over me and I knew I had to see it.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is based off of a spin-off video game of the same name, the first game that gave a voice to the iconic Pikachu. Definitely an interesting choice to convert to the first live-action movie in the franchise, but thankfully technology has come a long way that makes something like this possible! So let’s start the review by talking about that. The CGI Pokémon in this movie are absolutely excellent. They look like what you imagine they’re real-life counterparts would look like: the reptilian ones look scaly, the mammalian ones look furry, the birds have realistic feathers, etc. But on top of that, some of them are just genuinely cute as well, with my favorites being Bulbasaur, Jigglypuff, and of course Pikachu. While most of the Pokémon only communicate by either saying their names or making little grunts or squeaks, the animation in their facial features added to the emotions these little animals were able to express (this is especially true in the few hilarious moments with Mr. Mime). It’s actually quite impressive, and as a huge Pokémon fan, half the fun of watching the movie was spotting as many Pokémon as I could (if you remember the game Pokémon Snap, where you play a photographer taking pictures of Pokémon on an island, it was a similar experience)!
But how did the human actors and Ryan Reynolds do? Justice Smith did a great job in his role as Tim Goodman, having fun with it while still being able to portray more serious moments effectively. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to act with a character isn’t physically there with him, but I feel like he made this whole experience seem very believable. Reporter Lucy Stevens was portrayed well by Kathryn Newton, who brought a lot of spunk and sass to the role, which balanced off of Justice Smith quite nicely. Ken Watanabe is always excellent, but he was definitely underutilized in this film for whatever reason; you almost forget he’s in the movie whenever he appears on screen. Bill Nighy does fine with his character, and really gets into it toward the end, but it certainly isn’t one of his best roles. Finally, Ryan Reynolds is fantastic, bringing his trademark humor to this iconic yellow mouse. Admittedly, it is strange at first to hear this character I’ve known since childhood speak like Deadpool, with some light swearing for added affect, but once you get over that initial shock, it actually works surprisingly well. Additionally, he plays off Smith well; they develop an excellent chemistry throughout the film.
Once you get over the Pokémon fan service, however, is there a story that non-fans can get into and understand? For a movie with “detective” in the title, you would expect to have a decent mystery. The overall mystery has a decent twist that surprised me a bit, but was also a bit rushed as well. It also got a bit convoluted with both sci-fi and mystical/supernatural elements. The overall plan of the villain was also a bit confusing, and really only served to reveal the big twist at the end of the movie. There were also definitely a few moments that were a bit overwhelming, with a lot happening on screen at once without really knowing what’s going on. It didn’t detract from the overall fun of the experience, but I would definitely be sure to ask any potential viewers if they are Pokémon fans first before fully recommending this film, as that would be a big boost in their overall enjoyment of the movie.
CONCLUSION: If you are a Pokémon fan, this movie is an absolute dream come true. The Pokémon are adorable and plentiful, and look excellent placed in our modern world living amongst us. The acting is fun and delightful, with great chemistry between our main stars of the movie. While the plot can be a bit convoluted and complicated at times, especially for a kid’s movie, it’s an overall fun experience at the theater, especially for families.
FINAL SCORE: 4/5
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