The first live-action Pokemon film, Pokemon Detective Pikachu is entertaining for audiences of all ages and Pokemon background to watch. I went into this film with a basic knowledge of Pokemon and never felt like I was lost. Although Pokemon Detective Pikachu excels in world-building, it does lack in other areas that have a significant effect on the overall production.
The director, Rob Letterman, does a great job of immersing the audience into the world of Pokemon. The colourful cinematic experience with adorable creatures roaming the world actively keeps the audience’s attention. The story takes place in Ryme City, where Pokemon co-exist with humans. Most of the humans are paired with a Pokemon that helps them with their daily duties.
The main character Tom Goodman, portrayed by Justice Smith, grew up wanting to be a Pokemon trainer. With that dream unfulfilled, Goodman is now a young adult working as an insurance agent. His friend Jack, portrayed by Karan Soni, continues to help Goodman live up to his dream. In the scene where we are first introduced to a Pokemon, Jack tries to get Goodman to capture a Cubone but it quickly ends badly. This scene captures the potential of what the story and script could have been for the entire film.
Soon after, Goodman finds out that his father has passed away and has to go to Ryme City to collect his father’s possessions. When Goodman arrives at Ryme City, he runs into his father’s partner Pikachu, who has no recollection of what happened. Pikachu only has his hat, which has Goodman’s father’s address on it, to go off of. They quickly find out that the death of Goodman’s father was no accident and they go out together to find out what really happened.
The cinematographer, John Mathieson, does a brilliant job of filling each frame with a neon vibrancy to create that noir atmosphere or having a hazy glow to bring the audience out of the dark and gloomy setting. The few nods towards film noir are there but they fail to fully pan out. They are thrown into the mix of things without being fully fleshed out.
The other characters in the film are very one-dimensional. The roles of the reporter Lucy Stevens, portrayed by Kathryn Newton, and antagonist Howard Clifford, portrayed by Bill Nighy, fail to be more than simple characters. The actors are trying to do their best with the weak script at hand, but their stories remain incoherent and uninteresting. Compared to the whole Pokemon world at hand, the script is lazy and uninteresting.
The film is a dedicated family film. Those who got excited that Ryan Reynolds, who is known for playing the humourous and incredibly crude Deadpool, is the voice of Pikachu might be slightly disappointed that this film is quite a bit cleaner. The script is weak but Reynolds does a great job with what he is given. He succeeds in finding a tone that properly fits Pikachu and engages both children and adults.
Pokemon Detective Pikachu fails at having a coherent storyline. The detective genre and film noir feels out of place, the script is weak, and is only carried somewhat well by Reynolds. Other than those few holes, the film is entertaining to watch and it has an affirming message of belonging.
