Ever since the late ‘90s, Pokémon has been a cultural phenomenon. After the original Pokémon Red and Blue game, many games, movies, television series, books, and even a theme park would be created to satiate people’s obsession. Pokémon Detective Pikachu is the most recent film released set in the Pokémon world. It’s based on the Detective Pikachu game from 2016.
The film is about 21-year-old insurance salesman, Tim Goodman, being abruptly shoved into having to solve the mystery of his missing father with the help of his father’s partner– Detective Pikachu. With the help of Pikachu, as well as a spunky reporter and a neurotic Psyduck, Tim explores Ryme City to find clues about the case his father was investigating at the time of his supposed death.
There are some major spoilers ahead, so beware.
I actually really enjoyed this movie. Although it was a PG movie, it had a lot of adult humor to it that was interesting for older audiences– sort of like “Shrek.” It had some genuinely funny moments that even those who aren’t Pokéscholars can understand. Additionally, despite how they used one of the most simple, cliche mystery plots, it was obvious that they were making fun of themselves. The movie didn’t take the plot that seriously which made it really fun to watch. I also have to commend the creators for implementing Pokémon powers into the plot in a really clever way.
Also, the digital animators did a great job with the CGI. When you compare the CGI in Detective Pikachu with the CGI in the upcoming Sonic movie, which looks god-awful, you see a real disparity in the effort put in.
It would have been so easy for them to put no effort into this movie and they’d still attract a large audience of fans. It may just seem like a stupid kids movie– and it kind of is– but it’s also a really fun watch. There’s just something special about seeing Pikachu, voiced by Ryan Reynolds, sobbing uncontrollably while singing the Pokémon theme song.
I’d totally recommend seeing this movie even if you don’t know a lot about the Pokémon world. It’s an hour and forty minutes of good animation, subtle innuendos, and a pretty decent story.
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