Review
JAMIE EAST AT THE MOVIES
Ryan Reynolds is easily the best thing about Detective Pikachu
You don’t need to know anything about Pokemon to enjoy Detective Pikachu, but chances are you already do
YOU don’t need to know anything about Pokemon to enjoy Detective Pikachu, but chances are you already do.
The franchise that has already made $90billion off its multiple video games, TV series’, cartoon movies and mobile apps and if you’re aged between 10 and 40, you will almost certainly have spent some time in the universe.
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Rather than just a straightforward live action re-telling of the original cartoon movies, we have here a crime caper that is essentially a modern-day version of Roger Rabbit.
Detective Harry Goodman has caught wind of something exceedingly corrupt in Ryme City - a place where Pokemon and humans live side by side (even going as far as feeling a little Philip Pullman daemon-esque).
After he goes missing, his 21-year-old estranged son Tim (Jurassic World’s Justice Smith) attempts to find out what happened.
Whilst investigating, he bumps into his dad’s Pokémon partner, a very cute Detective Pikachu - the unique difference with the pair being they can understand each other (Pokemon’s usually only pick up on their human’s emotions).
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Voiced by a Ryan Reynolds very much in his wise-cracking element, Pikachu helps Tim get to the bottom of the mystery, with the help of a few friends they pick up along the way, including a great performance by Kathryn Newton as Lucy.
Whilst you don’t need to know your Squirtles from your Charizards, the filmmakers assume a certain level of understanding around the mythology.
There are references to Pokemon ‘trainers’ left unexplored more than I think the casual viewer would like - and the vast majority of the many Easter eggs will go unnoticed - but for the millions of avid fans, this is a real treat.
The plot is as straightforward as they get - the twists could have done with some more twisting and the script assumes such a basic level of concentration they in it they explain everything to you in the form of flashback, character monologues, Rita Ora (stop trying to make Rita Ora happen please Hollywood) or, the worst cinematic crime in history, a news reporter giving it the old “You join us as X is just about to Y because of Z!”.
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It also suffers from a really bad (in a not great to watch) bad guy - I know I bang on about this aspect a lot, but I really think writers should pledge to working on the foes as much as they do the heroes. Look at Thanos and follow suit!
The CGI tends to fall apart the more action we see at once - but I’m shouting into the bottom of a well here - it’s a perfectly fine and fun film cleverly aimed at the young fans who can now afford their own cinema tickets.
It’s very much a nostalgia fest and although it doesn’t stand up to too thorough an examination - Ryan Reynold’s furry version of Deadpool has enough charm and wit to pull it off (there is also an absolutely genius set piece involving Mr. Mime that brought some serious guffaws).
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Reynolds has been afforded just the right amount of freedom to goof off in the recording booth (a lot sounds improvised) and is easily the best thing about the film.
Given the fact that the last movie to attempt this modern-day Roger Rabbit was the utterly execrable ‘Happytime Murders’, consider yourselves lucky - the genre has been
refreshed accordingly!
Detective Pikachu (PG)
★★★☆☆
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