Detective Pikachu (Review)

Detective Pikachu is a movie that, for what it is, works. It’s a relatively inoffensive kids film that has impressive VFX, a few cheeky jokes here and there, and is a totally unique take on “Pokemon”. But for me, it wasn’t all that much. Right before I went to see it a friend of mine who had seen it the day before told me he thought it was a bad movie but that that was okay. I didn’t really know what he meant, and because I didn’t want it spoiled I didn’t push for more information, but I think I understand now. The film is… lightweight.

Ryan Reynolds lends his voice to the character and it adds significant personality to what would’ve fallen apart had a good voice not been chosen, but the film itself feels really empty (for lack of better term). Not enough happens in the film to justify the already brief runtime. The villain isn’t so much telegraphed, as he is flat out told is a villain to the audience. I know it’s a kids movie, but kids aren’t idiots, well most aren’t.

The only character that is really fleshed out is the central protagonist, Tim Goodman, while everyone else (including the plucky reporter sidekick/love interest, the villain, Mewtwo, and even the titular Pikachu) get basically no arc besides a weirdly implemented Harry and the Henderson’s moment towards the beginning of the third act.

While unrelated to the actual quality of the film I’d like to mention one scene in particular in which a mysterious chemical makes a troop of friendly Aipoms go berserk and attack Tim and Pikachu in a dark alley/rooftop. The only reason I mention this scene is because of how sudden and oddly out of place it is in an otherwise “Kid-friendly” squeaky clean film. The Aipoms are rendered in such a creepy and terrifying way that I’m surprised we haven’t seen headlines about parents who had to walk out of the film with their kids due to the shocking nature of the scene. Oddly enough, the one “poke battle” scene in the film doesn’t even involve two fighting pokemon, but instead a single drug-crazed Charizard and Pikachu himself who for some reason has lost the ability to use his powers. (so why make him a pikachu at all?)

Watching their puffy, cartoon hand-tails squeeze themselves under the door has "Roger Rabbit” written all over it. In the worst possible way. Do not want.

The only other thing worth mentioning is the place the movie holds or doesn’t hold in the larger Pokemon universe and whether or not there’d be a sequel. Without spoiling the movie, I don’t think it’d be very easy to have a logical continuation of the story based on the ending, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to see one. And as for where the movie physically and chronologically exists? Frankly, I don’t know. Hints are dropped that the film takes place around 20 years after Mewtwo’s escape, which means it must take place about 15 years after Mewtwo Strikes Back but other than that one detail the movie is purposely sparse of details about the larger pokemon world.

Apparently finding hi-res screenshots of the movie this early on is impossible. Grrrr

I want to be clear that I liked the film, but it really felt like a Disney Channel Original movie, or some other made-for tv special. The writing isn’t bad but it’s C+ or B- at best and it didn’t possess much of a theme other than ”give people a second chance” which is kind of crammed in at the last second. I really can’t shake the Nickelodeon/Disney Channel vibe the film had, and that’s not inherently bad, but it’s really noticeable.

This moment is really cute.

This movie’s VFX are really something to behold. It really does feel like looking at “real” pokemon. They don’t look photo-realistic, and their proportions are purposely kept identical to their cartoon counter-parts but because of this the movie has a dream-like quality. Some of the Pokemon (Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Gyarados, Ditto, Cubone) look very natural in 3D. Others are more questionable (Snubble, Mr. Mime, Charaizard, and Mewtwo) and some of them look borderline freakish (Gengar, Psyduck, and Aipom).

The Pokemon designs are based on the work by RJ Palmer, a professional digital artist who’s made a series of “realistic” pokemon images that have been shared all over. The film, however, takes a more literal approach with the creatures instead of trying to base them off of real animals, like Palmer’s, the film instead makes the Pokemon much more similar to their cartoon counter-parts. With weird proportions and all.

Being over the age of ten, the movie wasn’t surprising or challenging (well except for one pretty fun surprise during the third act) but it was still entertaining. And I think, much like Big Hero Six, I would’ve adored this movie as a kid.
Truthfully, it’s okay to make kids movies for kids. But we shouldn’t be afraid to make them a little darker, and little more challenging. A movie can still be family friendly with those traits. GO see Detective Pikachu with the biggest pokemon fan you can find, assuming they haven’t gone already!

PSSSYYYYYYYYY