Grade: C+
Right off the bat, I must admit that I am not the biggest Pokémon fan out there. I have played the games on the Nintendo Game Boy for about a grand total of about thirty minutes and casually played the phenomenon mobile game called Pokémon GO when it first landed over two summers ago. Other people are fanatical about the huge franchise. Kids and adults alike. One of my cousins, Alex, has been a fan ever since Pokémon arrived in the United States. He poured numerous hours into the video games and even more boots on the ground hours within Pokémon GO, I believe he has literally caught them all. Or he is very very close to that goal. That being said, I am fairly familiar with numerous Pokémon and I was able to correctly identify a majority of them throughout the new movie, Detective Pikachu. Obviously Pikachu takes center stage among all the numerous types of Pokémon peppered in throughout the hour and forty four minute movie. It was fun to identify others such as Psyduck (who was hilarious!) and Jigglypuff, Bulbasaur and of course Mewtwo to name a few. It brought back some sense of cute nostalgia for me and I can only imagine the level of nostalgia presented for the hardcore fans! A majority of the audience got excited when they spotted their favorite Pokémon and they were laughing along with their respective quirks!
Detective Pikachu is a fun movie about a mystery involving a detective named Harry Goodman. His son, Tim, wants to connect with him again but Tim needs help finding Harry. In Ryme City, Pokémon and humans live peacefully so by chance, Tim runs into Detective Pikachu in order to solve the mystery with his father. Tim has the exclusive ability to communicate with Pikachu and it is pretty cute. Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) can talk normally to Tim (played by Justice Smith) but to others can say nothing but “Pika pika!” Having never played the video game “Detective Pikachu” I was hoping for a toned down Deadpool like performance from Reynolds. While I was disappointed that this role was NOTHING like Deadpool, I did enjoy Pikachu’s attitude and heart that he emotes in the film. While Reynolds did a great job here, I still prefer the Deadpool act more. Needless to say, Detective Pikachu is more for the kids. Either way, I was entertained the entire movie and it held my attention wire to wire. The story was intriguing but I did figure out the twist before it was revealed to me. Was not mad about it, I guess it means that I am worthy to sleuth alongside Pikachu on the next case? Alongside Tim’s father’s storyline, there is the subplot of the destruction of the human / Pokémon cohabitation in Ryme City because of a betrayal. (Can’t get too deep without spoiling it, sorry for being sort of vague.) It was not clear to me as to why someone would want to destroy the peaceful relationship between them but that was what Pikachu and company were up against.
The animation in Detective Pikachu was pretty amazing and beautiful! Everything was done with such detail from the colorful Ryme City to the smallest Pokémon on screen. It was a feast for the eyes throughout. Pikachu really looked like what Pikachu would look like in real life and the animation really brought Ryme City to stunning life! Apparently it is hard to animate some of our favorite characters properly (looking at you, Sonic team) but this animation crew nailed it. One of the most breathtaking animated parts of the movie was when the gigantic Torterra Pokémon pop out and take over the entire screen. It was a sight I will not soon forget! Whether you’re team Team Instinct, Team Mystic, or Team Valor, I think we can all pretty much agree that Detective Pikachu is worth a trip to the movies to watch the mystery unfold! Kids and adults will both have a good time with it. Luckily you do not need to catch all the tickets for the movie, just one for you will do! So grab your Master Pokéball and head over to your nearest theater for a fun filled adventure with Pikachu!!!!