A Pikature for All
By Tejas Raghuram
A spoiler-free review of Pokémon Detective Pikachu
Detective Pikachu (2019), featuring Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, and Kathryn Newton, is a family-friendly summer flick that finally achieves the impossible: making a decent video game-based film. The plot follows Tim Goodman (Smith) as he tries to find out exactly what happened to his father, Harry. While doing this, he runs into Harry’s old pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu (though he is never actually given a name during the movie), voiced by Reynolds. Once they find out that they can understand each other, they join forces to solve this mystery.
The movie was definitely one of the most pleasant surprises of the year so far. Going into it, I was not expecting much, mostly because of Hollywood’s lackluster track record when it comes to video-game movies. For example, there have been movies like Warcraft (2016), which feel like the world of the game, but are total messes story-wise. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you have Tomb Raider (2018), which is a decent action-adventure movie but a terrible Tomb Raider-based movie. And then there are films like Assassin’s Creed (2016), which is just a complete disaster in every sense of the word.
However, Pikachu (2019) is both an entertaining film with a fun story, and also a faithful adaptation of its source material (and no, I am not talking about the Detective Pikachu game). The world of Ryme City, where the film takes place, is developed fantastically well, and it highlights the film’s greatest strength, it’s world building. The sequence when Tim steps off the train and into Ryme City is straight out of Zootopia (2016), and I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw a familiar pokémon pop up on the screen.
The way the film shows the cohabitation of humans and pokémon is enough to cheer any pokémon fan. What makes it work so well, however, is that the script does not call attention to the things that happen in Ryme City. Rather this information is communicated almost entirely through visual storytelling, which makes it feel organic and natural.
Another thing I really liked about the film is the realization of the pokémon themselves and not just Detective Pikachu himself. The CGI used here is fantastic, as all the pokémon feel real, look great, and thanks to the world building, seem like they belong (looking at you, Sonic). Another thing I was surprised by was the expressiveness of the pokémon, especially Detective Pikachu. Ryan Reynolds does a great job voicing the character, which is massively assisted by fantastic facial expressions. While his character does seem Deadpool-lite at times, making jokes that might not be completely appropriate for kids, Reynolds differentiates this character by slightly softening the pitch of his voice. In addition, the animators give Pikachu enough unique mannerisms and character traits to the point where halfway through the movie, I forgot the same guy who plays Deadpool plays Pikachu here.
His human companions are pretty good too, with his interactions with Tim carrying the quieter moments of the film. Smith does a good job with his line delivery, as he is able to hold his own and not get overshadowed by Reynolds. They are also both very funny and contribute to several laugh-out-loud moments in the film. This came as a surprise to me, as the trailers had me very worried. But while Smith does his best with what the script gives him, his characters is not helped by the breakneck pacing of the film and the somewhat abrupt nature of his character arc. The best part of his character was his dynamic with Newton’s character, reporter Lucy Stevens. She is great in the role, and if a sequel is ever made I only hope that the movie spends more time developing her character, as she is kind of sidelined in this movie.
As for the story of this movie, it isn’t anything that hasn’t been done before. Pikachu takes the Saturday morning cartoon approach to storytelling, and I say that in the best possible way. While the villains are most certainly underdeveloped, they work because the movie embraces their campy nature, while still at least attempting to take them seriously. In addition, all of the plot twists are so obvious that literally anyone could spot them from a mile away. However, this does not detract from the movie at all, as it is still very fun to see the events play out on screen.
My one issue with the movie is its action sequences or more accurately its lack of pokémon battles. While the action included in the film is fun, there is not a single true battle between pokémon in the movie. This confused me, as going into Pikachu, the one thing I expected from it was a cool pokémon battle. While there are some interesting human versus pokémon fights, those do not make up for the missed potential here. Regardless, this does not make the movie unwatchable, not by a long shot.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is a fun adventure movie that finally breaks the curse of bad video-game movies. With fantastic world building and excellent CGI, it truly brings the world of Pokémon to life, with a fun story and great performances to boot. If you are unfamiliar with the Pokémon brand, check this one out if you have the time. But if you are a fan of pokémon in any way, you owe it to yourself to watch this movie.
Sources: [collider.com, cnn.com, forbes.com]