Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

RATING: C

This movie did not sound like a good idea when it was first announced. A live-action Pokemon film? "Detective Pikachu?" Why? Since when is Pikachu a detective? (Wait, that's actually a real Pokemon spin-off game? Ugh.) And they have Ryan Reynolds voicing Pikachu? What is this supposed to be, Deadpool for kids or something? It's certainly a bizarre idea to try and start a franchise with (because come on, that's always the end goal with these kind of movies nowadays). The Pokemon series hasn't seen a movie with a wide release since the turn of the millennium anyway, and those were more extensions of the TV cartoons than anything.

And then the trailers came out and it actually seemed sort of okay. Perhaps even funny. Despite the fact that I was never really into Pokemon, I figured I'd give it a go. Of course, with my knowledge of Pokemon being limited to playing the Super Smash Bros series and watching a couple of TV episodes, I was going in without much knowledge--but hopefully the movie will be understanding of that, right? Well... mostly no. 

If you know absolutely nothing about Pokemon, good luck. If you've at least had some minimum exposure, you might get by. It helps to know at least who some of the major ones that are included in this are--namely Pikachu, Charizard, or Mewtwo. But overall, this film does sometimes feel like it was made for Pokemon fans than for the other moviegoers. Which is sort of fair, I guess. It's a big enough cultural phenomenon that there aren't going to be a lot of people watching who *aren't* already fans. Unless they just want a Ryan Reynolds fix while waiting for more Deadpool or something. But the powers that be can only do so much to acclimate those few outside viewers while still pandering to their core audience.

The good news is that you don't have to know any preexisting human characters at all going in. No Ash to be found here. This story centers around one Tim Goodman, whose father is missing and presumed dead--and when he checks up on his old apartment, he encounters a Pikachu--one that he can understand in English, instead of just hearing "Pika pika!" And also one that has amnesia. And this Pikachu believes Tim's father is still alive, *and* that he was on the verge of discovering a plot that could threaten both Pokemon and human alike. And he wants to help Tim find him.

The main obvious draw here is that we have a talking Pikachu who only one person can understand; and this Pikachu is voiced by Ryan Reynolds/Deadpool. (I mean... they're basically the same person at this point, right?) These things are played for some good comedic effect at times, though it does feel like most of the best gags were used in the trailers.

What does deserve attention here is how well the CGI Pokemon are rendered into the real world. This is something that sounds quite difficult to do, which is part of why a live-action Pokemon movie would sound terrible at the outset. But for the most part, they manage to blend in stunningly well. They don't feel like they're not a part of the real world, but they still retain the basic looks of their cartoon counterparts--everyone is easily recognizable, and hardly anyone looks like a CGI abomination. This was actually an impressive feat.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of great things left to say about the film at this point. Part of the problem is poor writing; namely, some of the early dialogue before Pikachu shows up feels rather forced. And while the concept of the film is interesting, the plotline itself doesn't hold up that well. There's also some cliches to consider, such as a rather silly use of a fake-out death. Also, the human characters aren't really that compelling or appealing--not bad, just uninteresting.

There's also not a whole lot of Pokemon action in this. The film spends so much time on the comedy and the sort of mystery angle that there's not a whole lot of time for much else until the final act, which centers around two main Pokemon (one of whom is possessed). Granted, there's some pretty awesome stuff in that final act. But it makes you wish that we'd seen more of that. What we're left with primarily is a the Pikachu/Charizard fight we saw in the trailers where the former forgets how to use his powers, thus leaving it played for laughs. There's also an extended rather wacky action scene involving another Pokemon where you're definitely likely to feel the continuity lockout if you aren't very familiar with the series.

Detective Pikachu isn't really bad by any means. The main problem is that beyond a Ryan Reynolds Pikachu plus Mewtwo, this film doesn't have a whole lot to offer besides impressive special effects. It's very possible that fans of the series will enjoy it more than non-fans like myself, but even then that doesn't elevate the movie a ton because of its lack of noteworthy plotting or writing. If you're not into Pokemon that much, it's probably not worth it--but then again, one could definitely do worse this year.