Review of Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) by Colginator — 10 May 2019

When they first announced a live action Pokemon movie, there was instantly a concern that the film could end up being a disaster. Largely because it seems like such a difficult thing to translate all of their 2d designs into a 3d environment without having them end up looking incredibly creepy. Just look at the goombas in the Super Mario Bros. or whatever that blue thing was in the trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and you’ll see how bad these kind of adaptations can go. But here, the VFX team and conceptual designers behind this movie nailed every one of these designs, bringing these Pokemon in to a live action world without losing any of the charm of the original designs. Beyond the visual aesthetic, they do a fantastic job at establishing all of the Pokemon’s personalities. There are so many little touches that show a real appreciation for the franchises lore, like Charizard's weakness being his tail or mentioning Cubone wears his mother's skull. Plus there are so many great gags and moments through seeing the Pokemon interact with the world, like Machop organising traffic around a napping snorlax or a team of squirtles working for the fire department. Seeing the way they adapt their world around these Pokemon is sure to satisfy any long time fan of the franchise. But for people who didn’t grow up with the games, there’s probably not going to be much here. Unlike something like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where even without all the animated characters there’s still a cool noir inspired mystery, the rest of Detective Pikachu doesn’t really hold up. We have a basic setup where after a detective goes missing, the detective's son arrives in the city to find out what happened. Whilst there he bumps into a Pikachu who is a detective and sets out to help him find out what happened to his father. They quickly uncover your typical conspiracy and realise that they need to save the city.

There’s a lot of inconsistencies throughout the film that don’t really add up and you’ll probably be able to guess most of the plot within the first 20 minutes of the film. Although there is one goofy twist with one Pokemon which I won’t spoil but did get a few great chuckles out of me. As much as I’m still hoping for a Danny Devito dub of the film, Reynolds did a pretty great job as Detective Pikachu. He infuses a lot of his own personality in to the role, but still keeps it distinct enough so it doesn’t just feel like another Deadpool. But whilst all the Pokemon characters are all colourful and memorable, all the humans are just very bland by comparison. Kathryn Newton was pretty funny early on, playing her role as ridiculously over the top as a live action anime character should be, but it felt like her role simmered out as the film went on. Then the rest of the human felt like they were only there to move the story along and didn’t have enough of a personality to leave any real impression. This film is probably going to split audiences into two categories. If you’re a fan of the franchise, there’s enough comedy and fan service that you’ll probably have a good time. But if Pokemon’s never been your thing, this isn’t the film that’s going to change your mind. I guess it may technically be the best movie based on a video game. But when the competition includes the likes of Uwe Boll movies, Max Payne and Assassins Creed, that’s not really much of a compliment.