REVIEW | Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)

The franchise has evolved!

Welcome to the new standard of adaptations.

In a fictional world where Pokémon (Pocket Monsters) live among humans, Tim Goodman learns that his father has gone missing in Ryme City — a town where people and Pokémon live together in harmony — and decides to look for him. When he encounters a talking Pikachu detective that only he can understand, they both agree to team up and solve the growing mystery that surrounds Ryme City.

*Minor spoilers for Pokémon Detective Pikachu ahead*

“It’s madness!” the people said,
“It’ll never work” the fans cried,
“Not in a million years!” they claimed.

Despite the doubt and displeasure of risking a beloved gaming property for a cinematic debut, Detective Pikachu manages to bring out the magical and iconic flair of Pokémon’s inherently exciting world.

Nevermind that it’s a 105-min movie about an absolutely adorable electric mouse with a detective hat (yes, that is a real sentence about an actual thing). This movie is smarter than it needs to be, more enthralling than it has to be, and as glorious as it’s expected to be.

Almost like the evolution of a Gyarados from a Magikarp, it successfully trades the ridiculous idea of a Pokémon private-eye premise for an incredible celebration of all your favourite Pokémon across the generations.

Setting everything up for some pretty amazing fan-service.

Starting off as collectable trading cards and eventually becoming an eternal video game franchise — on paper, the idea of making a Pokémon movie would be like writing on very, very thin ice. Will it be as uncharacteristic as the Resident Evils? As undecided as both the Hitmans? Or as unfortunate as Disney’s attempt at Prince of Persia?

So many disconnected examples — and yet, Detective Pikachu has managed to bolt past expectations and meet in the middle of both worlds with the best in either hand. Which makes it among the more prominent video game-inspired movies in recent years.

And speaking of prominent, who better to lead the charge that Pokémon’s poster-boy — Pikachu — and voiced by none other than the comically-charismatic Deadpool (without the R-rating, of course).

I mean, it’s one thing to portray a furry, fan-favourite character — but almost immediately from the start, Ryan Reynolds makes it next-to-impossible for anyone else to play Pikachu on-screen (almost like having Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark).

But apart from his eccentric, foul-mouthed comic book credentials, Ryan Reynolds is also no stranger to the “buddy-cop” dynamic — like when he partnered with Samuel L. Jackson in The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017). But of course, they didn’t have the same kind of fun as a charming yellow mouse would have.

So with a character like that roaming around a clever and creative world like this, the adventure almost writes itself with wacky, wholesome, and wondrous sequences from start to finish.

Honestly, there isn’t a moment where Detective Pikachu isn’t fantastically amusing. Whether it’s what he has to say, what he does in his surroundings, or even just emoting with that irresistibly cute face — you just can’t get enough of this lighting-tailed treasure.

And no, he’s not the only one you want more of.

Because as far as grotesquely-generated cartoon critters go, this movie somehow makes you go “Awww” instead of “Nawww” with its collection of photo-realistic Pokémon. But before we get into that —

— I also want to make it very clear, that this movie could’ve absolutely gotten away with 2-hours of Pikachu just dancing.

Although a case-cracking, coffee-drinking, smart-mouthed Pikachu could make anything a theatrical delight — it certainly didn’t stop the creators from fleshing-out an outstanding backdrop filled with an endless catalogue of vibrant, curious, and lovable Pokémons.

And while most would say that it was lazy to visually translate the colourful cartoonish characters the way they did — Detective Pikachu doubles-down on their timeless design and ingenious approach to bring out its unmistakably unique style.

Seriously, who would’ve thought that big-eyed, multicoloured, elemental creatures roaming around town could be made to feel so natural?

But as much as it makes this movie super-effective —
you won’t need the trading-card knowledge to be welcomed, you don’t need a Gameboy upbringing to navigate this world, and you certainly won’t need to be a Pokémon master to enjoy this film.

And even if they run out of cases to solve for Detective Pikachu, this movie has already established a world so rich and ready, that any character and their Pokémon could have their own terrific, fun-filled adventure.

All things considered, I really didn’t need a cohesive story, I wouldn’t have expected any emotional investment, and I certainly didn’t imagine smiling at more than just cute Pokémon.

And yet — Detective Pikachu is all of those things, and so much more from the world this film serves.

If somehow, ‘Pokémon’ isn’t a household name yet — you could say this movie has definitely taken a huge step in the right direction towards it. Reminding longtime fans of all the great reasons they loved the franchise, while reaching out to newcomers from the magnificent world of Pokémons.

And whether Detective Pikachu ends up being a one-hit wonder or not — I can tell you that it’ll certainly be a critical one.