Movie Review: Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Pokémon Detective Pikachu *** / *****

Directed by: Rob Letterman.

Written by: Dan Hernandez & Benji Samit and Rob Letterman and Derek Connolly and Nicole Perlman based on characters created by Satoshi Tajiri & Ken Sugimori & Junichi Masuda & Atsuko Nishida & Tomokazu Ohara & Haruka Utsui.

Starring: Ryan Reynolds (Detective Pikachu), Justice Smith (Tim Goodman), Kathryn Newton (Lucy Stevens), Bill Nighy (Howard Clifford), Ken Watanabe (Lieutenant Hide Yoshida), Chris Geere (Roger Clifford), Suki Waterhouse (Ms. Norman), Josette Simon (Grams), Rita Ora (Dr. Ann Luarent), Karan Soni (Jack), Max Fincham (Young Tim Goodman), Diplo (DJ).

 

Pokémon has never been my thing. I’m just slightly too old to have gotten into as a kid, but not old enough that some things haven’t seeped into my mind over the years. And my kids are only sort of interested in them, enough that I learned about them than I ever did before, but not enough to say I’ve learned all that much else about them in the years since. And yet, they were very interested in this movie, and the trailers were cute and interesting enough that I didn’t mind seeing the film either. So I’m coming at this as a relative newbie – without the weight of knowing all that much about them. As a film, Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a better visual experience and a better jokey film than it is as an actual narrative. It’s fun and charming and diverting – and not much else. But it’s fun – and kids love it. And I assume that if you love Pokémon, there’s a lot more references that just flew over my head.

 

The story for the film is pretty much starting from scratch – so newbies like me won’t be lost. It focuses on Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) – whose mother has died, and whose cop father has been in Ryme City for years, and hasn’t seen his son. Although Tim once wanted to be a Pokémon trainer, he’s now working in insurance – and unlike many, he doesn’t even have a Pokémon sidekick. Then he gets a phone call – his father has died in an accident. He heads to Ryme City to close out his affairs – but soon finds himself sucked into the mystery of his father’s death. He eventually meets his father’s Pikachu sidekick – and amazingly finds he can actually talk to this Pikachu in English. No one else can, and he cannot talk to any other Pokémon – but he can talk to Pikachu. Against his better judgment, he starts looking into his father’s death with Pikachu – and eventually a go-getter cub reporter, Lucy (Kathryn Newton) and her Psyduck sidekick. If you think it will eventually have something to do with a billionaire played by Bill Nighy, well congratulations, you’ve seen a movie before.

 

In terms of world building, Detective Pikachu does a wonderful job. Ryme City is a fascinating utopia – a place where Pokémon and humans live side by side (it reminded me of Zootopia or Who Framed Roger Rabbit). This is a noir city though – full of neon lights, rain and darkness. The film, directed by Rob Letterman, looks great. The Pokémon have been remade to look somewhat more realistic – as much as these kind of creatures can – but in some strange ways. Pikachu has been designed for maximum cuteness – he has essentially been made to look like a plush toy, and he is absolutely adorable. Some others have the same process done – and others are made to look rubberier. Sadly, I think the least interesting visual character is probably Mewtwo – made out to be the bad guy – who looks fake, even by these standards.

 

As a narrative, Detective Pikachu is pretty much on rails – you know where it’s going, and it gets there without much in the way of deviations. And yet, the movie is able to hold your attention – not only because of the creative visuals, but also because of the appealing performances. Kathryn Newton is adorable and charming as Lucy – the kind of perky young reporter you expect her to play, but she does it well. Justice Smith has a kind of difficult job of grounding this film is some kind of recognizable human emotion, and he pretty does that. The star, of course, is Ryan Reynolds – a great voice performer who is dynamite as Pikachu. You could say he’s almost playing Deadpool, with less swears, but it’s a performance that works wonders – and is downright charming and hilarious.

 

Overall, Detective Pikachu works as what it is. Yes, I wanted the narrative to be more involving – although I recognize it is a film designed for kids, and I think the film goes darker than I would have thought, although not as dark as I would prefer (not gritty – we don’t need a growling Pikachu with a Christian Bale Batman voice, but something a little deeper). It hits that sweet spot of nostalgia for kids who loved this when they were young, and now have young kids who also love it. I’m a little outside that zone, so that’s perhaps why I’m not quite as enthusiastic as some fans would be.