Pokémon is a franchise that has been in my life since I was a child. I’ve played all the games as they’ve come out and watched the show religiously every morning. So it’s fair to say that I was equal parts excited and nervous about the series first foray into live-action cinema. The possibilities were endless, but why base the movie on a spin-off game majority of the franchise devotees had avoided? I’m happy to report that I was wrong. Pokemon Detective Pikachu is a great entry point into the live-action Pokémon world that, despite a somewhat paint-by-numbers story, always manages to leave you in awe at the creature realised on the big screen.
Let’s start with the most important point: the Pokémon. A lot of work has clearly gone in to redesigning these creatures to live in the real world. From the more prominent like Charizard, Bulbasaur and the little furry detective himself, to the lesser known like Rufflett and Octillery, a ridiculous amount of attention to detail has been utilised here to make each individual Pokémon seem like a living, breathing part of the environment. I never stopped being wowed by each new creature that stepped into frame and I found myself constantly scanning each scene for hints of new Pokémon. The visual effects team has done a marvellous job and it is a testament to their work that, in a film whose primary draw is to see these monsters realised on screen, this is easily the best and most rewarding part of the movie: trying to catch ’em all as you watch.
What isn’t as jaw dropping, however, is the story. Pokemon Detective Pikachu centres around the disappearance of Harry Goodman, the father of our protagonist Tim (Justice Smith) and partner to Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds). In order to deal with his father’s disappearance, Tim travels to the utopian Ryme City, a place where Pokémon and people live in harmony. He soon teams up with the talkative Pikachu, who he can mysteriously understand, and the two embark on a journey to unravel the mystery of what happened to Harry. Along the way Tim and Pikachu meet up with plucky young investigative reporter Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton) and her Pokémon partner Psyduck, a headache stricken duck who explodes if his stress levels rise. The story is all a bit basic, with twists and turns you can see coming from a mile away. What makes it forgivable though, is that it’s really just an excuse to see a range of Pokémon in their unique environments. While this may seem like an excuse, the cast, especially Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, imbue the story with enough heart to get you through the somewhat lazy writing and on to the next big Pokémon reveal.
Reynolds shines as the titular detective, bringing the same level of humour and heart that he gives to his Deadpool character, albeit toned down here for a PG rating. His jokes, while they feature no swearing, will largely go over most kids heads and are there for the parents. However there are still plenty of jokes and slapstick humour for the little ones, making it a great choice for a family film, instead of something darker like Avengers: Endgame. The motion capture work done by Reynolds is top-notch, with Pikachu conveying a wealth of different facial expressions, whilst always remaining a believable, adorable little Pokémon. Justice Smith gets a chance to prove his acting chops here after a pretty lacklustre turn in last year’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Rather than scream at the sight of anything remotely scary, Smith gets more to work with here – allowing him to show some emotional range as someone who feels abandoned by his father and who has isolated himself from the world and those around him, including Pokémon, as a result. It’s a testament to his acting that he is never overshadowed by Reynold’s yellow furball, holding his own and showing some quality comedic timing – the scene involving the Pokémon Mr. Mime in particular is hilarious, showing some strong physical comedic acting.
Kathryn Newtwon seems like she is in a different movie the first time we see her, playing the intrepid news reporter character very over-the-top, almost to the level of an anime character from the television show. She seems to have a better handle on the character the next time we see her and soon comes to play a major role in the proceedings. Where the acting gets really schlocky, however, is with Bill Nighy and Chris Geere’s father/son philanthropist duo Howard and Roger Clifford. It’s clearly a paycheck movie for Nighy, who channels about a tenth of the intensity from the Pirates of the Carribbean movies, and you can’t help but feel that he doesn’t really have an understanding of what he’s saying when it comes to Pokémon. Geere is, not to put too fine a point on it, ridiculous, making Kathryn Newton’s first appearance seem like she was in The Godfather. The way he delivers his dialogue and his physical acting in scenes is so over the top I was having trouble not laughing out loud at how bad the acting was. Apart from that, Ken Watanabe gives a solid performance as the police chief of Ryme city, and the pairing of him with the grumpy dog Pokémon Snubbull was a stroke of genius and leads to some of the best jokes in the film.
As an introduction and proof of concept of a live-action Pokémon world, Pokémon Detective Pikachu works wonderfully well. Despite a somewhat bland, obvious plot and some shoddy acting, Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith and the army of VFX animators give you enough to fully invest in the world and the main relationship between Tim and Pikachu. I was always engaged by these two characters and was willing to go where the story took them, even if it did get a bit ridiculous at times. As a lifelong Pokémon fan, I was awestruck that my childhood had come to life on the big screen and I had a smile on my face for the entire runtime. I’m willing to forgive a few small missteps in story and acting if it means we get to spend more time in this world.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu stars Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newtown, Ken Watanabe & Bill Nighy – in cinemas now.